Comparativo entre os métodos de dimensionamento de pavimentos flexíveis DNIT e MeDiNa

Abstract

The pavement is the structure through which most of the Brazilian cargo travels, and paved roads are the major links in this continental- sized country. Given such economic, social and logistical importance that the pavement has in Brazil, it is of interest to society that there are studies on its structure and technological advances in the area. Thus, this paper proposes to compare the two design methods for flexible pavements currently in force in the country, namely the DNIT and MeDiNa methods. The DNIT method, which has been consolidated in the territory for 50 years as the method responsible for the design of flexible pavements, is empirical, this is, it considers data from studies and science to support its structural analysis. On the other hand, the MeDiNa method emerges as a new solution based on an empiricalmechanistic logic, this is, the union of empirical and practical knowledge. To achieve this goal, research was conducted on executive paving projects that included traffic studies and information on the materials that make up the layers of the structure. With this information, an evaluation of the pavement proposed in the project was performed using the MeDiNa program. Based on the results obtained in this stage, the pavements were designated as good or undersized, the latter being those that did not preserve good conditions of use after the design period. For these, new alternatives were proposed, with new layer thickness measurements. Among the five projects analyzed, three were considered undersized because they presented a high percentage of cracked área, consequently, their layers were resized in MeDiNa until reaching an analysis considered acceptable.