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Federal Highway Administration
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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-15-063 Date: March 2017 |
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-15-063 Date: March 2017 |
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This report documents a study conducted to review the status of falling weight deflectometer (FWD) equipment, data collection, analysis, and interpretation, including dynamic backcalculation, and to develop enhanced analysis procedures and recommendations for the effective use of FWD technology as it relates to the flexible pavement models and procedures incorporated within the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide developed by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program and subsequently adopted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. In this context, dynamic backcalculation refers to the modeling of the dynamic or impact nature of the FWD loading and resulting pavement response of in-service flexible pavements for pavement structural analysis and rehabilitation design. The research effort resulted in development analysis methodologies, software tools implementing those analysis methodologies and a potential list of recommendations for FWD equipment enhancements, all of which are detailed in this report. This report is intended for use by pavement engineers involved in structural evaluation and rehabilitation design of flexible pavements and researchers involved in development of new procedures for the modeling and analysis of in-service flexible pavements.
Cheryl Allen Richter
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-15-063 |
2. Government Accession No. | 3 Recipient's Catalog No. | ||
| 4. Title and Subtitle
Enhanced Analysis of Falling Weight Deflectometer Data for Use With Mechanistic-Empirical Flexible Pavement Design and Analysis and Recommendations for Improvements to Falling Weight Deflectometers |
5. Report Date March 2017 |
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| 6. Performing Organization Code | ||||
| 7. Author(s)
Karim Chatti, M. Emin Kutay, Nizar Lajnef, Imen Zaabar, Sudhir Varma, and Hyung Suk Lee |
8. Performing Organization Report No.
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9. Performing Organization Name and Address Michigan State University |
10. Work Unit No. (TRAIS) |
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| 11. Contract or Grant No. DTFH61-11-C-00026 |
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| 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address
Federal Highway Administration |
13. Type of Report and Period Covered
Final Report, April 2011–November 2013 |
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14. Sponsoring Agency Code
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| 15. Supplementary Notes The Contracting Officer’s Technical Representative was Nadarajah Sivaneswaran, HRDI-20. |
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| 16. Abstract
This report describes the efforts undertaken to review the status of falling weight deflectometer (FWD) equipment, data collection, analysis, and interpretation, including dynamic backcalculation, as they relate to the models and procedures incorporated in the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide. The work conducted in this project resulted in the following:
The tools developed in this project are standalone applications that could be used on most computers. |
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| 17. Key Words
Pavement management, Falling weight deflectometer, Backcalculation, Time domain analysis, Viscoelastic analysis, Forward solution |
18. Distribution Statement
No restrictions. This document is available through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. |
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19. Security Classification Unclassified |
20. Security Classification Unclassified |
21. No. of Pages 319 |
22. Price N/A |
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| Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) | Reproduction of completed page authorized |
SI* (Modern Metric) Conversion Factors
| 2-D | two-dimensional | |
| 3-D | three-dimensional | |
| AC | asphalt concrete | |
| ANN | artificial neural network | |
| BMFLC | band-limited multiple Fourier linear combiner | |
| CPU | central processing unit | |
| CRTB | crumb rubber terminal blend | |
| DFT | discrete Fourier transform | |
| DMI | distance measuring instrument | |
| EKF | extended Kalman filter | |
| FEA | finite element analysis | |
| FEM | finite element method | |
| FFT | fast Fourier transform | |
| FHWA | Federal Highway Administration | |
| FWD | falling weight deflectometer | |
| GA | genetic algorithm | |
| GB | gigabyte | |
| GPR | ground penetrating radar | |
| HMA | hot mix asphalt | |
| HPCC | High Performance Computer Center | |
| KF | Kalman filter | |
| LM | Levenberg-Marquardt | |
| LTPP | Long-Term Pavement Performance | |
| LVDT | linear variable displacement transducer | |
| M-E | mechanistic-empirical | |
| MDOT | Michigan Department of Transportation | |
| MEPDG | Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide | |
| ML | midlane | |
| MPI | message passing interface | |
| NDT | nondestructive testing | |
| OW | outer wheel | |
| PC | personal computer | |
| PMS | pavement management system | |
| RAM | random access memory | |
| SNR | signal-to-noise ratio | |
| UMAT | user-defined material | |
| USACE-WES | United States Army Corps of Engineers Waterway Experiment Station | |
| WFLC | weighted-frequency Fourier linear combiner |
