Estimated remaining fatigue life of flexible pavements based on the normalized comprehensive area ratio deflection parameter

2020 ◽  
Vol 47 (5) ◽  
pp. 546-555
Author(s):  
Karthikeyan Loganathan ◽  
Mayzan M. Isied ◽  
Ana Maria Coca ◽  
Mena I. Souliman ◽  
Stefan Romanoschi ◽  
...  

A lot of pavement deflection data are available that may be utilized as a tool to evaluate the structural capacity of pavement structures at network and project levels. Falling weight deflectometer (FWD) is one of the most widely utilized devices in pavement deflection testing. Under FWD testing, deflections generated at several lateral locations as a result of surface loading application are recorded. One of the major downsides of the static FWD testing is the traffic disturbance due to the required lane closures during testing. As an effort to reduce the amount of the required FWD testing on the network level, this study aims to run an advanced computer simulation analysis to mimic the FWD deflection bowl obtained from the field. The entire simulated FWD deflection bowl was utilized in the development of the new comprehensive pavement deflection bowl area parameters. The tensile strain at the bottom of the asphalt layer was successfully related to the developed normalized comprehensive area ratio parameter ([Formula: see text]) and to the number of load repetitions to fatigue failure. The newly developed parameter was evaluated utilizing data for 35 long term pavement performance sections in Texas. The newly developed [Formula: see text] can be easily implemented and utilized as a tool in any pavement management systems.

Author(s):  
Sameh Zaghloul ◽  
Zubair Ahmed ◽  
D. J. Swan ◽  
Andris A. Jumikis ◽  
Nick Vitillo

The falling weight deflectometer (FWD) is commonly used to perform project-and network-level structural evaluations. Some highway agencies perform network-level FWD testing as a part of their pavement management systems to assess in situ structural capacity, remaining service life, and current rehabilitation needs. Through prediction models, future condition and needs are also estimated. In contrast, project-level FWD testing is typically performed as part of the rehabilitation design process. Calibrated FWD equipment provides repeatable data for a pavement section (i.e., data obtained with the same unit, at the same location, and under similar conditions). However, different FWD devices manufactured by the same or different manufacturers do not necessarily provide similar deflection basins when they test the same section, even if they are calibrated. This paper summarizes the results of a study performed for the New Jersey Department of Transportation to assess the differences among the FWD devices available in New Jersey and to correlate the results obtained with the different devices. Two rounds of testing were performed on flexible and rigid pavement sections located in the FAA William J. Hughes Technical Center in Atlantic City. The first testing cycle was performed in November 2002, and the second was performed in May 2004. The analysis results indicate that significant differences in repeatability and reproducibility may exist between different FWD devices.


Author(s):  
Riaz Ahmed Khan ◽  
Khaled Helali ◽  
Andris A. Jumikis ◽  
Zhiwei He

The ability to systematically collect and record as-built data for pavement layers benefits highway departments in many aspects. A well-established database of as-built pavements provides a tool for maintaining an up-to-date corporate record of the physical pavement structures, keeping track of unit construction costs, and reducing the amount of pavement excavations during pavement investigations. A reliable as-built database also provides inputs for falling weight deflectometer analysis and calibrating pavement performance models in pavement management systems (PMSs). A task within the development of the second-generation PMS for the New Jersey Department of Transportation is to review and analyze the existing pavement as-built database for completeness and quality. A computer program was developed to scan and categorize the as-built data into five status levels: complete, partially complete—missing original construction data, partially complete—missing recent rehabilitation data, questionable data, and no data. The results of this analysis can be used to recommend improvement for the data-collection process and to guide further investigations, such as coring and ground penetration radar tests. The general approach used in the analysis is described, data status levels are defined, results for distribution of the pavement as-built data are provided, and the significance of the analysis for PMSs is discussed. Recommendations for improving completeness and quality of the pavement construction history database also are provided.


Author(s):  
Edgar Camacho-Garita ◽  
Robinson Puello-Bolaño ◽  
Piero Laurent-Matamoros ◽  
José P. Aguiar-Moya ◽  
Luis Loria-Salazar

This paper reviews the use of pavement structural condition indicators determined through deflection measurements as a means to monitor structural capacity. The deflection measurements were performed with a road surface deflectometer and a falling weight deflectometer on the various test tracks of an accelerated pavement test (APT) facility. The indicators estimation was based on the deflection data collected from different structures, and it was observed that it is feasible to improve the backcalculation analysis and help overcome some of the limitations associated with such a procedure. For this research, Radius of Curvature, AREA, Normalized AREA, BLI (Upper layers), MLI (Middle layers), and LLI (Lower layers) were the analyzed parameters. Each parameter is related to the structural condition of particular pavement layers. Therefore, the parameters allow general characterization of the pavement layers, and make it possible to detect deteriorated layers. The pavement structures were trafficked by means of an APT at the PaveLab facility at the University of Costa Rica. The deflection parameters were calculated through the APT data, showing the possible use of these indicators at the pavement management system level in Costa Rica, helping the categorization of the pavement structures in service, mainly because the parameters require few input data, and are useful where the available structural condition information is limited. The data presented in this paper show the variation of the different condition indicators throughout the service life of the analyzed pavement structures. The data are also used to compare different structures, their characteristics, and the change in their stiffness associated with damage.


Author(s):  
Mostafa A. Elseifi ◽  
Kevin Gaspard ◽  
Paul W. Wilke ◽  
Zhongjie Zhang ◽  
Ahmed Hegab

Because of costs and the slow test process, the use of structural capacity in pavement management activities at the network level has been limited. The rolling wheel deflectometer (RWD) was introduced to support existing nondestructive testing techniques by providing a screening tool for structurally deficient pavements at the network level. A model was developed to estimate structural number (SN) from RWD data obtained in a Louisiana study. The objective for this study was to evaluate the use of the Louisiana model to predict structural capacity in Pennsylvania and to compare the results with those of existing methods. RWD testing was conducted on 288 mi of the road network in Pennsylvania, and falling weight deflectometer (FWD) testing and coring were conducted on selected sites. The prediction from a model used to estimate SN from RWD deflection data was compared statistically with the prediction obtained from FWD testing and from roadway management system records used by the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation to calculate SN. The results of this analysis validated the use of the model to estimate the pavement SN according to RWD deflection data. In general, the predicted SN was in agreement with the SN calculated from the FWD. The original model with the fitted coefficients developed for Louisiana showed an average prediction error of 27%. However, after the model was refitted to the data set from Pennsylvania, the average error dropped to 19%. Results indicated that the model developed for SN prediction from the RWD provided an adequate prediction of SN for conditions different from those for which it was developed in Louisiana.


Author(s):  
A. Samy Noureldin ◽  
Karen Zhu ◽  
Shuo Li ◽  
Dwayne Harris

Nondestructive testing has become an integral part of pavement evaluation and rehabilitation strategies in recent years. Pavement evaluation employing the falling-weight deflectometer (FWD) and ground-penetrating radar (GPR) can provide valuable information about pavement performance characteristics and be a very useful tool for project prioritization purposes and estimation of a construction budget at the network level. Traditional obstacles to the use of the FWD and GPR in pavement evaluation at the network level used to be expenses involved in data collection, limited resources, and lack of simplified analysis procedures. Indiana experience in pavement evaluation with the FWD and the GPR at the network level is presented. A network-level FWD and GPR testing program was implemented as a part of a study to overcome those traditional obstacles. Periodic generation of necessary data will be useful in determining how best to quantify structural capacity and estimate annual construction budgets. Three FWD tests per mile on 2,200 lane-mi of the network is recommended annually for network-level pavement evaluation. The information collected will allow the equivalent of 100% coverage of the whole network in 5 years. GPR data are recommended to be collected once every 5 years (if another thickness inventory is needed) after the successful network thickness inventory conducted in this study. GPR data collection is also recommended at the project level and for special projects. Both FWD and GPR data are recommended to be used as part of the pavement management system, together with automated collection of data such as international roughness index, pavement condition rating, rut depth, pavement quality index, and skid resistance.


Author(s):  
Sameh Zaghloul ◽  
Zhiwei He ◽  
Nick Vitillo ◽  
J. Brian Kerr

The experience of New Jersey with pavements, like that of many other states, goes back to the last century. Highways constructed early in this century are still in service. During these extensive service lives, several maintenance and rehabilitation activities were applied to keep the pavements in good condition. These activities ranged from patching to full reconstruction. Also, most of New Jersey pavements have been widened at least once. With all these factors, it is difficult to identify the limits of homogeneous sections that should receive the same rehabilitation treatment. In 1996, the New Jersey Department of Transportation started a limited network level falling weight deflectometer (FWD) program. This program has short- and long-term goals. The short-term goals include identifying the limits of homogeneous sections (sectionalization), assessing the pavement structural capacity, estimating the remaining service life, and determining the future rehabilitation needs. The long-term goal of the project is to use the FWD measurements for the ongoing development and refinement of the models used to predict remaining structural life for use in economic evaluation models. The procedure followed to achieve the short-term goals of the project and an outline of the findings of the project are summarized.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 174-181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nur Izzi Md. Yusoff ◽  
Sentot Hardwiyono ◽  
Norfarah Nadia Ismail ◽  
Mohd Raihan Taha ◽  
Sri Atmaja P. Rosyidi ◽  
...  

In pavement management systems, deflection basin tests, such as the Falling Weight Deflectometer test, are common techniques that are widely used, while the surface wave test, i.e. the Spectral Analysis of Surface Wave test, is recently employed as an alternative technique in pavement evaluation and monitoring. In this paper, the performance of both dynamic non-destructive tests on pavement subgrade investigation is presented. Surface wave propagation between a set of receivers was transformed into the frequency domain using the Fast Fourier Transform technique and subsequently a phase spectrum was produced to measure the time lag between receivers. Using the phase difference method, an experimental dispersion curve was generated. Inversion analysis based on the 3-D stiffness matrix method was then performed to produce a shear wave velocity profile. The elastic modulus of pavement layers was calculated based on linear elastic theory. In the Falling Weight Deflectometer test, seven geophones were used to collect in situ deflection data. Based on a back-calculation procedure with the ELMOD software, the elastic modulus of each flexible pavement layer can be obtained. Both techniques are able to comprehensively investigate the elastic modulus of the subgrade layer in existing pavement non-destructively. The elastic modulus between the Spectral Analysis of Surface Wave method and the Falling Weight Deflectometer test on the subgrade layer is observed to be in a good agreement. A correlation of the elastic modulus of thesubgrade layer from both techniques is also presented.


2014 ◽  
Vol 620 ◽  
pp. 55-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xin Qiu ◽  
Xiao Hua Luo ◽  
Qing Yang

With the popularization of falling weight deflectometer (FWD) to calculate the stiffness related parameters of the pavement structures, non-destructive evaluation of physical properties and performance of pavements has taken a new direction. FWD backcalculation is mathematically an inverse problem that could be solved either by deterministic or by probabilistic approach. A review of the currently used backcalculation procedures indicates that the calculation is generally based on a homogeneous, continuous, and linear elastic multi-layer system. Identifying effective data of dynamic deflection basins seems to be an important task for performing modulus backcalculation. Therefore, the main objective of this paper was to discuss the distribution features of dynamic deflection basins of asphalt pavements with crack distresses, and present the reasonable criteria to filter the testing data of FWD deflection basins. Finally, the study aims to validate the established criteria by conducting in-situ case study.


Author(s):  
T. S. Vepa ◽  
K. P. George ◽  
A. Raja Shekharan

The evaluation of remaining life is necessary to make optimal use of the structural capacity of in-service pavements. It simply represents the useful life left in the pavement until a failure condition is reached. Knowledge of remaining life facilitates decision making in regard to strategies for reconstruction-rehabilitation of roads, thereby leading to the efficient use of existing resources. Several methods proposed or used by various agencies to estimate the remaining lives of pavements are reviewed. They are classified under two categories: functional and structural. Making use of the Mississippi Department of Transportation pavement management system data base, survivor curves are developed for seven classes of flexible pavements with from thin to thick structures. By using these survivor curves a novel method for estimating remaining life is proposed. The reasonableness of the selected methods is examined by putting them to use in calculating the remaining lives of each of eight rigid and flexible pavement sections, all of them from the Mississippi global positioning system sections of the Strategic Highway Research Program–Long-Term Pavement Performance project (LTPP). With the structural details, falling weight deflectometer deflection data, and the distress information compiled from the LTTP information management system data base, the authors use two and four methods for rigid and flexible pavements, respectively, to determine the remaining lives. The remaining lives calculated by two methods for rigid pavements are comparable. Three of four methods for flexible pavements also generated comparable remaining lives. The authors were encouraged by the results and recommend that the survivor curve approach be explored further for network-level remaining life calculations. The reliabilities of various techniques currently available for the remaining life calculation are discussed.


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