Assessment of Falling Weight Deflectometer Data for Stabilized Flexible Pavements

2000 ◽  
Vol 1709 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander K. Appea ◽  
Imad L. Al-Qadi
Keyword(s):  
Resilient Modulus ◽  
Ground Truth ◽  
Monitoring And Evaluation ◽  
Structural Condition ◽  
Base Layer ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Structural Capacity ◽  
Pavement Monitoring ◽  
Aggregate Base ◽  
Falling Weight

Backcalculation of pavement moduli through the utilization of the falling weight deflectometer (FWD) is used for pavement monitoring and evaluation. The performance and structural condition of nine flexible pavement test sections built in Bedford County, Virginia, have been monitored over the past 5 years using FWD. The nine sections include three groups with aggregate base layer thicknesses of 100, 150, and 200 mm, respectively. Sections 1, 4, and 7 are control, whereas Sections 2, 5, 8 and 3, 6, 9 are stabilized with geotextiles and geogrids, respectively. The FWD testing used five double-load drops ranging from 26.5 to 58.9 kN. The deflection basins obtained from the testing have been analyzed using the ELMOD backcalculation program to find the pavement structural capacity and to detect changes in the aggregate resilient modulus. The analysis shows a reduction in the backcalculated resilient modulus of the 100-mmthick base layer. The reduction was 33 percent over 5 years for the nonstabilized section compared with the geosynthetically stabilized section. The reduction in base layer resilient modulus may have resulted from subgrade fine migration into this layer as confirmed by excavation. The study confirms the effectiveness of using woven geotextile as a separator in a pavement system built over weak subgrade. This supports the continuous rutting measurements and ground truth excavation conducted in late 1997.

Relationship Between Backcalculated and Laboratory-Measured Resilient Moduli of Unbound Materials

2003 ◽  
Vol 1849 (1) ◽  
pp. 177-182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerardo W. Flintsch ◽  
Imad L. Al-Qadi ◽  
Youngjin Park ◽  
Thomas L. Brandon ◽  
Alexander Appea
Keyword(s):  
Resilient Modulus ◽  
Shift Factor ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Test Results ◽  
Structural Capacity ◽  
Bulk Stress ◽  
Stress Dependent ◽  
Falling Weight ◽  
Virginia Smart Road

The resilient moduli of an unbound granular subbase (used at the Virginia Smart Road) obtained from laboratory testing were compared with those backcalculated from in situ falling weight deflectometer deflection measurements. Testing was performed on the surface of the finished subgrade and granular subbase layer shortly after construction. The structural capacity of the constructed subgrade and the depth to a stiff layer were computed for 12 experimental sections. The in situ resilient modulus of the granular subbase layer (21-B) was then back-calculated from the deflections measured on top of that layer. The back-calculated layer moduli were clearly stress-dependent, showing an exponential behavior with the bulk stress in the center of the layer. Resilient modulus test results of laboratory-compacted specimens confirmed the stress dependence of the subbase material modulus. Three resilient modulus models were fitted to the data. Although all three models showed good coefficients of determination ( R2 > 90%), the K-θ model was selected because of its simplicity. The correlation between field-backcalculated and laboratory-measured resilient moduli was found to be strong. However, when the stress in the middle of the layer was used in the K-θ model, a shift in the resilient modulus, θ, was observed. This finding suggests that a simple shift factor could be used for the range of stress values considered.

Deterioration of Asphalt Pavement at Long-Term Pavement Performance Program Site 49-1001 in Utah

2005 ◽  
Vol 1933 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-125
Author(s):  
Brandon J. Blankenagel ◽  
W. Spencer Guthrie
Keyword(s):  
Base Layer ◽  
Pavement Performance ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Water Drainage ◽  
Base Materials ◽  
Pavement Deterioration ◽  
Pavement Base ◽  
Aggregate Base ◽  
Falling Weight

Highway 191 near Bluff, Utah, features a well-monitored section of the long-term pavement performance (LTPP) program. Constructed in 1980, this section of flexible pavement performed well for nearly 13 years. Through this time, cracking of the asphalt layer was minimal. In the fourteenth year, however, the extent of longitudinal cracking in the wheel path increased and necessitated placement of a chip seal on the pavement surface. The purpose of this research was to determine the cause of pavement deterioration using LTPP data. Deflection basins obtained from falling-weight deflectometer testing were analyzed to investigate the extent to which structural degradation influenced deterioration of the pavement. Pavement layer modulus values were plotted against time and clearly show that weakening of the pavement base layer immediately preceded the occurrence of cracking. The geography of the site, as documented in photographs, supports the conclusion that inadequate water drainage at the site permitted saturation of the aggregate base layer during a period of midsummer flooding. This finding emphasizes the importance of specifying non-moisture-susceptible base materials and providing necessary drainage works in pavement design.

Evaluation of inverted pavement by structural condition indicators from falling weight deflectometer

2022 ◽  
Vol 319 ◽  
pp. 125991
Author(s):  
Xi Jiang ◽  
Jay Gabrielson ◽  
Baoshan Huang ◽  
Yun Bai ◽  
Pawel Polaczyk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Condition ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Condition Indicators ◽  
Falling Weight

Structural Analysis for APT Sections Based on Deflection Parameters

2019 ◽  
Vol 2673 (3) ◽  
pp. 313-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Edgar Camacho-Garita ◽  
Robinson Puello-Bolaño ◽  
Piero Laurent-Matamoros ◽  
José P. Aguiar-Moya ◽  
Luis Loria-Salazar
Keyword(s):  
Costa Rica ◽  
Structural Condition ◽  
Pavement Management ◽  
System Level ◽  
Radius Of Curvature ◽  
Condition Indicators ◽  
Structural Capacity ◽  
Pavement Layers ◽  
Pavement Structures ◽  
Falling Weight

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.

Curvilinear Behavior of Base Layer Moduli from Deflection and Seismic Methods

2000 ◽  
Vol 1716 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-63
Author(s):  
Kamal Tawfiq ◽  
John Sobanjo ◽  
Jamshid Armaghani
Keyword(s):  
Surface Deformation ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Field Testing ◽  
Base Layer ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Seismic Methods ◽  
Extensive Field ◽  
Curvilinear Relationships ◽  
Falling Weight ◽  
Surface Deflections

The reality of curvilinear relationships of stiffness versus deformation is usually neglected when moduli values from seismic methods are compared with those of deflection methods. On the basis of extensive field testing, results showed that moduli values for the base layers from deflection methods did not conform to those of seismic methods. Deflection testing techniques were signified by the falling weight deflectometer (FWD) and the Dynaflect methods. Seismic testing was carried out by use of the seismic pavement analyzer (SPA) method. The SPA test results yielded moduli values higher than those obtained from the deflection methods. Utilizing pavement parameters obtained from the SPA data, researchers determined surface deflections by use of frequency response functions of signals from the two groups of sensors used in the testing setup. Because of the types of hammers in the SPA testing, two different deflection basins were obtained at each testing point. Comparison of surface deflections from these methods indicated that deflection amplitudes from the FWD method were about 100 times higher than those obtained from the high-frequency hammer of the SPA. At certain pavement sections, deflections from the Dynaflect method were comparable to those obtained with the SPA low-frequency hammer. Accordingly, curvilinear relationships between surface deformation versus stiffness values were derived. These relationships can be used to determine moduli values at all surface deflections, including those from service loads.

scholarly journals Experimental continuously reinforced concrete pavement parameterization using nondestructive methods

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 263-274
Author(s):  
L. S. Salles ◽  
J. T. Balbo
Keyword(s):  
Reinforced Concrete ◽  
Load Transfer ◽  
Structural Condition ◽  
Concrete Pavement ◽  
Pavement Performance ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Matching Process ◽  
Load Transfer Efficiency ◽  
Falling Weight ◽  
The University

ABSTRACT Four continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) sections were built at the University of São Paulo campus in order to analyze the pavement performance in a tropical environment. The sections short length coupled with particular project aspects made the experimental CRCP cracking be different from the traditional CRCP one. After three years of construction, a series of nondestructive testing were performed - Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) loadings - to verify and to parameterize the pavement structural condition based on two main properties: the elasticity modulus of concrete (E) and the modulus of subgrade reaction (k). These properties estimation was obtained through the matching process between real and EverFE simulated basins with the load at the slab center, between two consecutive cracks. The backcalculation results show that the lack of anchorage at the sections end decreases the E and k values and that the longitudinal reinforcement percentage provides additional stiffness to the pavement. Additionally, FWD loadings tangential to the cracks allowed the load transfer efficiency (LTE) estimation determination across cracks. The LTE resulted in values above 90 % for all cracks.

Another look at delineation of uniform pavement sections based on falling weight deflectometer deflections data

2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Syed Waqar Haider ◽  
Sudhir Varma
Keyword(s):  
Structural Condition ◽  
Mean Difference ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Pavement Surface ◽  
State Highway ◽  
Practical Standpoint ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Mean Differences ◽  
Falling Weight ◽  
Local Variability

The large amount of data commonly used to characterize the pavement surface and structural conditions offer a challenge to practitioners making decisions about the representative value of a particular parameter for design. While a large number of observations along the length of a road allow a better quantification of the expected value and variance of a parameter, basing a design on an average parameter along the project length will typically be uneconomical and less reliable. Therefore, pavement surface and structural condition data along a project length needs to be delineated into uniform sections. The design can be performed individually for each of these uniform sections to achieve economy without compromising reliability level. This paper documents delineation methods that explicitly address the problem of segmentation of measurement series obtained from Falling weight deflectometer deflections. Modifications in the existing American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) delineation procedure were incorporated to address the mean differences and the local variability. The results of delineation show that the AASHTO methodology ignores the local variations along the project length which may not be valid from a practical standpoint while designing rehabilitation or preservation strategies. The inclusion of restrictions on mean difference and section length resulted in better delineation than the AASHTO method but it could be sensitive to local variations of the deflections within a section. The delineation approach can handle the local deflection variations within a section if appropriate constraints on the local variations are imposed. The results from the delineation of field deflections showed that the restrictions on mean difference, minimum section length, and location variability are vital to delineate the project length into appropriate homogenous sections which can be different from each other from both statistical and practical viewpoints.

Evaluation and Validation of a Model for Predicting Pavement Structural Number with Rolling Wheel Deflectometer Data

2015 ◽  
Vol 2525 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafa A. Elseifi ◽  
Kevin Gaspard ◽  
Paul W. Wilke ◽  
Zhongjie Zhang ◽  
Ahmed Hegab
Keyword(s):  
Pavement Management ◽  
Average Error ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Data Set ◽  
The Road ◽  
Average Prediction Error ◽  
Structural Capacity ◽  
Rolling Wheel ◽  
Falling Weight

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.

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