This work presented the development and validation of an analytical method to predict the transient temperature field in the asphalt pavement.The governing equation for heat transfer was based on heat conduction radiation and convection.An innovative time-dependent function was proposed to predict the pavement surface temperature with solar radiation and air temperature using dimensional analysis in order to simplify the complex heat exchange on the pavement surface.The parameters for the time-dependent pavement surface temperature function were obtained through the regression analysis of field measurement data.Assuming that the initial pavement temperature distribution was linear and the influence of the base course materials on the temperature of the upper asphalt layers was negligible,a close-form analytical solution of the temperature in asphalt layers was derived using Green's function.Finally,two numerical examples were presented to validate the model solutions with field temperature measurements.Analysis results show that the solution accuracy is in agreement with field data and the relative errors at a shallower depth are greater than those at a deeper one.Although the model is not sensitive to dramatic changes in climatic factors near the pavement surface,it is applicable for predicting pavement temperature field in cloudless days.
In order to simplify the boundary conditions of pavement temperature field,the "Environment-Surface" system which considered the natural environment and pavement surface was established.Based on this system,the partial differential equations of the one-dimensional heat conduction in the pavement were established on the basis of the heat transfer theory.Furthermore,the function forms of the initial and boundary conditions of the equations were created through the field experiments.The general solution of the pavement one-dimensional heat conduction partial differential equations was acquired by using Green's function,and the explicit expression of pavement temperature field under specific constraint conditions was derived.For the purpose of analysis,the pavement temperatures in different seasons were calculated using the explicit expression of pavement temperature field,and the calculation accuracy was analyzed through the comparison between measured and calculated values.Then,the relationship between fitting accuracy and calculation accuracy of pavement temperatures was analyzed.The analysis results show that: the usage of "Environment-Surface" system simplifies the calculation of pavement temperature field; the relative error between calculated and measured values is generally less than 7% and is seldom influenced by seasons; there is a positive correlation between the calculation accuracy and the fitting accuracy of pavement surface temperature; high fitting accuracy would result in less error of pavement temperature prediction.
