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.

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 ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Simulation Analysis ◽  
Area Ratio ◽  
Pavement Management ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Structural Capacity ◽  
Pavement Management Systems ◽  
Pavement Structures ◽  
Traffic Disturbance ◽  
Falling Weight

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.

Falling Weight Deflectometer Correlation

2005 ◽  
Vol 1905 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sameh Zaghloul ◽  
Zubair Ahmed ◽  
D. J. Swan ◽  
Andris A. Jumikis ◽  
Nick Vitillo
Keyword(s):  
New Jersey ◽  
Prediction Models ◽  
Pavement Management ◽  
Atlantic City ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Remaining Service Life ◽  
Structural Capacity ◽  
Pavement Management Systems ◽  
Rehabilitation Needs ◽  
Falling Weight

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.

Network Pavement Evaluation with Falling-Weight Deflectometer and Ground-Penetrating Radar

2003 ◽  
Vol 1860 (1) ◽  
pp. 90-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Samy Noureldin ◽  
Karen Zhu ◽  
Shuo Li ◽  
Dwayne Harris
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Ground Penetrating Radar ◽  
Pavement Management ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Pavement Condition ◽  
Condition Rating ◽  
Structural Capacity ◽  
Pavement Evaluation ◽  
Ground Penetrating ◽  
Falling Weight

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.

scholarly journals Measurements of the elastic modulus of pavement subgrade layers using the SASW and FWD test methods

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 ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spectral Analysis ◽  
Elastic Modulus ◽  
Surface Wave ◽  
Time Lag ◽  
Test Methods ◽  
Pavement Management ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Surface Wave Propagation ◽  
Evaluation And Monitoring ◽  
Falling Weight

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.

Asphalt Concrete Overlay Design Case Studies

1996 ◽  
Vol 1543 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda M. Pierce ◽  
Joe P. Mahoney
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Design Procedure ◽  
Washington State ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Design Procedures ◽  
Overlay Design ◽  
Washington State Department ◽  
Falling Weight ◽  
The University

During the late 1980s, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT), the University of Washington, and the Washington State Transportation Center developed a mechanistic-empirical flexible overlay design procedure. Following development, WSDOT implemented this overlay design procedure and has been evaluating flexible overlay projects for approximately the past 8 years. WSDOT rehabilitates about 100 projects each year; approximately 20 to 30 percent of the total projects are designed using the WSDOT overlay design procedure and the AASHTO overlay design procedure (using DARWin). These two procedures are discussed in general, and two case studies illustrate each of the overlay design procedures. Also included is the backcalculation of layer moduli from falling weight deflectometer data.

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.

Prediction of Pavement Remaining Life

1996 ◽  
Vol 1524 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. S. Vepa ◽  
K. P. George ◽  
A. Raja Shekharan
Keyword(s):  
Data Base ◽  
Management System ◽  
Flexible Pavements ◽  
Information Management System ◽  
Pavement Management ◽  
Remaining Life ◽  
Structural Capacity ◽  
System Data ◽  
Performance Project ◽  
Falling Weight

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.

Parks Highway Load Restriction Field Data Analysis: Case Study

1998 ◽  
Vol 1615 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lutfi Raad ◽  
Eric Johnson ◽  
Dave Bush ◽  
Stephan Saboundjian
Keyword(s):  
Field Data ◽  
Traffic Data ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
Department Of Transportation ◽  
Truck Traffic ◽  
Weigh In Motion ◽  
Pavement Damage ◽  
Field Data Analysis ◽  
Falling Weight ◽  
Thaw Period

The loss of pavement strength during spring thaw could result in excessive road damage under applied traffic loads. Damage assessment associated with the critical thaw period is essential to evaluate current load restriction policies. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities proposed a plan that will provide an engineering analysis of field conditions with 100-percent loads on the Parks Highway for 1996. Extensive data were collected and analyzed in an effort to monitor pavement damage during the spring of 1996 and to determine loss of pavement strength. Field data included truck traffic data from scalehouse and weigh-in-motion (WIM) stations, pavement temperature data, profilometer data for roughness and rutting, and falling weight deflectometer data. Analyses were performed to compare WIM and scalehouse traffic data and to determine the fraction of overweight axle-loads and corresponding pavement damage during spring thaw. Northbound and southbound truck traffic and its effect on pavement damage were considered. Ground temperature measurements were analyzed to determine when thaw initiates and how long seasonal load restrictions are required. In addition, comparisons of remaining life with and without load restrictions using mechanistic methods were conducted.

Use of falling weight deflectometer time history data for the analysis of seasonal variation in pavement response

2010 ◽  
Vol 37 (9) ◽  
pp. 1224-1231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Deblois ◽  
Jean-Pascal Bilodeau ◽  
Guy Doré
Keyword(s):  
Phase Angle ◽  
Time History ◽  
Test Site ◽  
Flexible Pavement ◽  
Dissipated Energy ◽  
Falling Weight Deflectometer ◽  
History Data ◽  
The Road ◽  
Pavement Structures ◽  
Falling Weight

This paper presents the results of an exploratory analysis of falling weight deflectometer (FWD) data collected on a large project about the spring thaw behaviour of pavements. The test site includes four test sections, two of which are conventional flexible pavement structures, whereas the other two are built with a cement-treated base. The aim of this study is to verify the applicability of using FWD time history data to evaluate damage to a road during the thawing period. The applicability of the analysis techniques is verified through the phase angle and dissipated energy. The data analyzed were obtained from tests conducted with an FWD on one flexible pavement test section. The results obtained showed a clear difference between the winter, thawing, and summer periods. It was found that the phase angle and dissipated energy can be used to evaluate the road damage during the thawing period through quantification of the phase angle and dissipated energy. These factors can also be used to describe the pavement behaviour in terms of elasticity and viscoelasticity.

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