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-16-011 Date: December 2017 |
Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-16-011 Date: December 2017 |
PDF Version (2.73 MB)
PDF files can be viewed with the Acrobat® Reader®
This report documents a study conducted to investigate the use of the falling weight deflectometer (FWD) as part of mechanistic-empirical pavement design and rehabilitation procedures incorporated within the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) developed by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program and subsequently adopted by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. The first volume of this three-volume report, documents general pavement deflection-testing procedures and commonly used deflection analysis approaches and a review of backcalculation programs for flexible, rigid, and composite pavement structures. The relevance of the different procedures and approaches to the MEPDG were explored through examination of six case studies evaluated using FWD testing results in the MEPDG, and the findings are presented in the second volume. Based on the case study findings and information from the literature, best practice guidelines for effective testing of existing pavement structures and interpretation of those results as part of a mechanistic-empirical pavement evaluation and rehabilitation process were developed and are presented here in the third volume. This report is intended for use by pavement engineers as well as researchers involved in rehabilitation design and management of agencies’ pavements.
Cheryl Allen Richter, P.E., Ph.D.
Director, Office of Infrastructure
Research and Development
Notice
This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. Government assumes no liability for the use of the information contained in this document.
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.
1. Report No. FHWA-HRT-16-011 |
2. Government Accession No. |
3. Recipient’s Catalog No. |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4. Title and Subtitle Using Falling Weight Deflectometer Data with Mechanistic-Empirical Design and Analysis, Volume III: Guidelines for Deflection Testing, Analysis, and Interpretation |
5. Report Date December 2017 |
|||||
6. Performing Organization Code: |
||||||
7. Author(s) Linda M. Pierce, James E. Bruinsma, Kurt D. Smith, Monty J. Wade, Karim Chatti, and Julie M. Vandenbossche |
8. Performing Organization Report No. |
|||||
9. Performing Organization Name and Address Applied Pavement Technology Inc. 115 West Main Street, Suite 400 Urbana, IL 61801 |
10. Work Unit No. |
|||||
11. Contract or Grant No. DTFH61-06-C-00046 |
||||||
12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Federal Highway Administration |
13. Type of Report and Period Covered Final Report; October 2006-December 2010 |
|||||
14. Sponsoring Agency Code |
||||||
15. Supplementary Notes The FHWA Contracting Officer’s Representative was Nadarajah Sivaneswaran. |
||||||
16. Abstract The need to accurately characterize the structural condition of existing pavements has increased with the recent development, release, and ongoing implementation of the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG). A number of different material inputs are required in the procedure, and it is important to adequately characterize and define them. The analysis of deflection data collected by the falling weight deflectometer (FWD) provides a quick and reliable way to characterize the properties of the paving layers, as well as to assess the load-carrying capacity of existing pavement structures. With the release of the new MEPDG, there is a pressing need to identify and evaluate the way that FWD testing is integrated into the new design procedure. Moreover, as highway agencies continue to implement the MEPDG, they need best practices guidance on how to effectively test existing pavement structures and interpret the results as part of a mechanistic-empirical pavement evaluation and rehabilitation process. This document is part of a three-volume report investigating the use of the FWD as part of mechanistic-empirical pavement design and rehabilitation procedures. This volume provides best practice guidelines for effective testing of existing pavement structures and interpretation of those results as part of a mechanistic-empirical pavement evaluation and rehabilitation process. Included are guidelines for deflection testing, a discussion of the various data input requirements and suggested default values for backcalculation, a summary of backcalculation modeling issues, and information on measures of convergence and verification of backcalculated results. In addition, general background information is provided on mechanistic-empirical pavement design; data and testing recommendations for project evaluation; and flexible, rigid, and composite pavement inputs. This is volume III of a three-volume report. The other volumes in the series are FHWA-HRT-16-009, Volume I: Final Report, and FHWA-HRT-16-010, Volume II: Case Study Reports. |
||||||
17. Key Words Falling weight deflectometer, backcalculation, deflection data, structural evaluation, resilient modulus, elastic modulus, subgrade support, mechanistic-empirical pavement design, rehabilitation design, overlay design |
18. Distribution Statement No restrictions. This document is available through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. http://www.ntis.gov |
|||||
19. Security Classif. (of this report) Unclassified |
20. Security Classif. (of this page) Unclassified |
21. No. of Pages 122 |
22. Price N/A |
|||
| Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) | Reproduction of completed page authorized | |||||
SI* (Modern Metric) Conversion Factors
| AASHTO | American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials |
|---|---|
| AC | asphalt concrete |
| BLI | Base Layer Index |
| BCI | Base Curvature Index |
| BDI | Base Damage Index |
| CRCP | continuously reinforced concrete pavement |
| DCP | dynamic cone penetrometer |
| EICM | Enhanced Integrated Climatic Model |
| ESAL | equivalent single-axle load |
| FEM | finite element modeling |
| FHWA | Federal Highway Administration |
| FWD | falling weight deflectometer |
| GPR | ground-penetrating radar |
| HMA | hot-mix asphalt |
| IE | impact echo |
| IR | impulse response |
| IRI | International Roughness Index |
| JPCP | jointed plain cement concrete pavement |
| LLI | Lower Layer Index |
| LTE | load transfer efficiency |
| LTPP | Long-Term Pavement Performance (program) |
| MEPDG | Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide |
| MLI | Middle Layer Index |
| MP | milepost |
| NCHRP | National Cooperative Highway Research Program |
| NDT | nondestructive testing |
| PCA | Portland Cement Association |
| PCC | Portland cement concrete |
| RMS | root mean square |
| RoC | radius of curvature |
| SASW | seismic analysis of surface waves |
| SCI | Surface Curvature Index |
| VTS | viscosity temperature susceptibility |
