U.S. Department of Transportation
Federal Highway Administration
1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
202-366-4000
Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
Coordinating, Developing, and Delivering Highway Transportation Innovations
| REPORT |
| This report is an archived publication and may contain dated technical, contact, and link information |
 |
| Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-12-068 Date: December 2012 |
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-12-068 Date: December 2012 |
PDF files can be viewed with the Acrobat® Reader®
This study examined the roughness and roughness progression of 21 test sections on the Long-Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Specific Pavement Studies (SPS)-2 site in Arizona over the first 16 years of the experiment. The site included 12 test sections from the standard experiment and 9 supplemental test sections selected by the Arizona Department of Transportation.
Traditional profile analyses revealed roughness caused by transverse and longitudinal cracking on some test sections and some localized roughness caused by built-in defects. However, the analyses showed that curl and warp contributed to, and in some cases dominated, the roughness on many of the test sections. In addition, roughness did not increase steadily with time because of diurnal and seasonal changes in slab curl and warp.
Jorge E. Pagán-Ortiz
Director, Office of Infrastructure
Research and Development
Notice
This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document. This report does not constitute a standard, specification, or regulation.
The U.S. Government does not endorse products or manufacturers. Trademarks or manufacturers’ names appear in this report only because they are considered essential to the objective of the document.
Quality Assurance Statement
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) provides high-quality information to serve Government, industry, and the public in a manner that promotes public understanding. Standards and policies are used to ensure and maximize the quality, objectivity, utility, and integrity of its information. FHWA periodically reviews quality issues and adjusts its programs and processes to ensure continuous quality improvement.
Technical Report Documentation Page
| 1. Report No.
FHWA-HRT-12-068 |
2. Government Accession No. | 3 Recipient's Catalog No. | ||
| 4. Title and Subtitle
Curl and Warp Analysis of the LTPP SPS-2 Site in Arizona |
5. Report Date December 2012 |
|||
| 6. Performing Organization Code | ||||
| 7. Author(s)
Steven M. Karamihas and Kevin Senn |
8. Performing Organization Report No. UMTRI-2012-28 |
|||
9. Performing Organization Name and Address Nichols Consulting Engineers |
10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) |
|||
|
11. Contract or Grant No. DTFH61-06-C-00027 |
||||
| 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center |
13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Final Report |
|||
14. Sponsoring Agency Code
|
||||
15. Supplementary Notes The FHWA Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative (COTR) was Larry Wiser, HRDI-30. |
||||
| 16. Abstract
This study examined the roughness and roughness progression of 21 test sections on the LTPP SPS-2 site in Arizona over the first 16 years of the experiment. The site included 12 test sections from the standard experiment and 9 supplemental test sections selected by the Arizona Department of Transportation. Traditional profile analyses revealed roughness caused by transverse and longitudinal cracking on some test sections and some localized roughness caused by built-in defects. However, the analyses showed that curl and warp contributed to, and in some cases dominated, the roughness on many of the test sections. In addition, roughness did not increase steadily with time because of diurnal and seasonal changes in slab curl and warp. This study applied objective profile analyses to quantify the level of curl and warp on each section. These automated algorithms estimated the gross strain gradient needed to deform each slab into the shape present in the measured profile and produced a pseudo strain gradient (PSG) value. The levels of curl and warp within each profile are summarized by the average PSG value. For the jointed concrete test sections, variations in average PSG over time explained many of the changes in roughness over time. This included diurnal variations in slab curl, which often caused the overall progression in roughness to appear disorderly throughout the experiment. PSG analysis also revealed that the overall level of curl and warp increased throughout the life of the experiment, with commensurate increases in the roughness. This limited study demonstrated the potential value of applying the methods herein to other jointed portland cement concrete pavements, including other SPS-2 sites. |
||||
| 17. Key Words
Road roughness, Longitudinal profile, International Roughness Index, LTPP, Pavement testing, Pavement rehabilitation, Jointed concrete pavement, Slab curl and warp |
18. Distribution Statement
No restrictions. This document is available to |
|||
19. Security Classification Unclassified |
20. Security Classification Unclassified |
21. No. of Pages 110 |
22. Price | |
| Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) | Reproduction of completed page authorized |
SI* (Modern Metric) Conversion Factors
APPENDIX B. DATA QUALITY SCREENING
APPENDIX D. TRADITIONAL PROFILE ANALYSES
Figure 1. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0213
Figure 2. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0215
Figure 3. Graph. Left Profile PSG Values from Visit 09 of Section 0213
Figure 4. Graph. Average PSG versus Time for Left Side of Section 0213
Figure 5. Graph. Average PSG versus Time for Section 0223
Figure 6. Graph. Average PSG versus Time for Section 0214
Figure 7. Graph. Right PSG Values from Visits 01 and 10 of Section 0214
Figure 8. Graph. IRI versus PSG for Right Side of Section 0215 (FHWA Data)
Figure 9. Graph. IRI versus PSG for Right Side of Section 0215 (LTPP SMP Data)
Figure 10. Graph. Left IRI Progression for Section 0213
Figure 11. Graph. Right IRI Progression for Section 0213
Figure 12. Graph. Left IRI Progression for Section 0215
Figure 13. Graph. Right IRI Progression for Section 0215
Figure 14. Graph. Left IRI Progression for Section 0217
Figure 15. Graph. Right IRI Progression for Section 0217
Figure 16. Graph. Left IRI Progression for Section 0219
Figure 17. Graph. Right IRI Progression for Section 0219
Figure 18. Graph. Left IRI Progression for Section 0221
Figure 19. Graph. Right IRI Progression for Section 0221
Figure 20. Graph. Left IRI Progression for Section 0223
Figure 21. Graph. Right IRI Progression for Section 0223
Figure 22. Graph. Faulting for Section 0262
Figure 23. Graph. Faulting for Section 0265
Figure 24. Graph. Consistency in Longitudinal Distance Measurement
Figure 25. Graph. Comparison of HRI to MRI
Figure 26. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0213
Figure 27. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0214
Figure 28. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0215
Figure 29. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0216
Figure 30. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0217
Figure 31. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0218
Figure 32. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0219
Figure 33. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0220
Figure 34. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0221
Figure 35. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0222
Figure 36. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0223
Figure 37. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0224
Figure 38. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0260
Figure 39. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0261
Figure 40. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0262
Figure 41. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0263
Figure 42. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0264
Figure 43. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0265
Figure 44. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0266
Figure 45. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0267
Figure 46. Graph. IRI Progression for Section 0268
Figure 47. Graph. Raw Profile from Visit 03 of Right Side of Section 0213
Figure 48. Graph. Profile with Smoothing from Visit 03 of Right Side of Section 0213
Figure 49. Graph. Profile with Anti-Smoothing from Visit 03 of Right Side of Section 0213
Figure 50. Graph. Profile with Additional Anti-Smoothing from Visit 03 of Right Side of Section 0213
Figure 51. Graph. Changes in Curl on Section 0213
Figure 52. Graph. Slope Spectral Density of Section 0213
Figure 53. Graph. Slope Spectral Density of Section 0213 with Linear Scaling
Figure 54. Graph. Right Elevation Profile for Three Repeats from Visit 12 of Section 0213
Figure 55. Graph. Right Roughness Profile for Three Repeats from Visit 12 of Section 0213
Figure 56. Graph. Right Elevation Profiles from Visit 01 of Section 0214
Figure 57. Graph. Right Elevation Profiles from Visit 10 of Section 0214
Figure 58. Graph. Profiles Leading to Section 0214
Figure 59. Graph. PSD Plots for Section 0215
Figure 60. Graph. Right Elevation Profiles for Section 0217
Figure 61. Graph. PSD Plots from Visit 08 of Section 0217
Figure 62. Graph. Profile from Visit 04 of Section 0220
Figure 63. Graph. Right Elevation Profile for Five Repeats from Visit 15 of Section 0221
Figure 64. Graph. PSD of Left Slope for Section 0224
Figure 65. Graph. Left Roughness Profile for Section 0260
Figure 66. Graph. Left Elevation Profile for a Segment from Section 0260
Figure 67. Graph. Left Elevation Profile from Visit 15 of Section 0262
Figure 68. Graph. Left Roughness Profile from Visit 15 of Section 0262
Figure 69. Graph. Right Roughness Profile for Section 0265
Figure 70. Graph. Weigh-in-Motion Scale on Section 0267
Figure 71. Graph. High-Pass Filtered, Normalized Profile
Figure 72. Equation. Relationship of Slab Elevation to Position
Figure 73. Equation. PSG
Figure 74. Graph. Measured Slab Profile for Section 0215
Figure 75. Graph. Detrended Slab Profile for Section 0215
Figure 76. Graph. Curve Fit for Section 0215
Table 1. Arizona SPS-2 Site Structural Factors
Table 2. Profile Measurement Visits of the SPS-2 Site
Table 3. Seasonal Visits of Section 0215
Table 4. Regression Results for IRI and PSG on Low-Strength Test Sections
Table 5. Regression Results for IRI and PSG on High-Strength Test Sections
Table 6. Summary Results, Low-Strength Sections
Table 7. Summary Results, High-Strength Sections
Table 8. Summary Results, Supplemental Sections
Table 9. Selected Repeats for Section 0213
Table 10. Selected Repeats for Section 0214
Table 11. Selected Repeats for Section 0215
Table 12. Selected Repeats for Section 0216
Table 13. Selected Repeats for Section 0217
Table 14. Selected Repeats for Section 0218
Table 15. Selected Repeats for Section 0219
Table 16. Selected Repeats for Section 0220
Table 17. Selected Repeats for Section 0221
Table 18. Selected Repeats for Section 0222
Table 19. Selected Repeat for Section 0223
Table 20. Selected Repeats for Section 0224
Table 21. Selected Repeats for Section 0260
Table 22. Selected Repeats for Section 0261
Table 23. Selected Repeats for Section 0262
Table 24. Selected Repeats for Section 0263
Table 25. Selected Repeats for Section 0264
Table 26. Selected Repeats for Section 0265
Table 27. Selected Repeats for Section 0266
Table 28. Selected Repeats for Section 0267
Table 29. Selected Repeats for Section 0268
Table 30. Roughness Values
Table 31. Negative Spike Groups from Visit 15 of Section 0215
Table 32. Pavement Properties
| AC | Asphalt concrete |
| ADOT | Arizona Department of Transportation |
| BTB | Bituminous-treated base |
| DGAB | Dense-graded aggregate base |
| FHWA | Federal Highway Administration |
| GPS | General Pavement Studies |
| HRI | Half-car Roughness Index |
| IRI | International Roughness Index |
| LCB | Lean concrete base |
| LTPP | Long-Term Pavement Performance |
| MRI | Mean Roughness Index |
| PATB | Permeable asphalt-treated base |
| PBTB | Permeable bituminous-treated base |
| PCC | Portland cement concrete |
| PSD | Power spectral density |
| PSG | Pseudo strain gradient |
| RN | Ride Number |
| SEE | Standard estimate of error |
| SMP | Seasonal Monitoring Program |
| SPS | Specific Pavement Studies |
