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Federal Highway Administration Research and Technology
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Publication Number: FHWA-HRT-08-057 Date: November 2008 |
PDF version (1.39 MB)
In-situ data availability is vital to pavement engineering. As the pavement design process moves toward mechanistic-empirical techniques, knowledge of seasonal changes in pavement structural characteristics becomes critical. Specifically, frost penetration information is necessary for determining the effect of freeze and thaw on pavement structural responses. This report describes a methodology for determining frost penetration in unbound pavement layers and subgrade soil using electrical resistivity, moisture, and temperature data collected for instrumented Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Seasonal Monitoring Program (SMP) sites. The report also contains a summary of LTPP frost depth estimates and a detailed description of the computed parameter tables containing frost penetration information for LTPP SMP sites.
The report will be of interest to highway agency engineers as well as researchers who will use the LTPP frost penetration data to improve pavement design and analysis procedures. In addition to the information from the LTPP in service pavements, a method for monitoring frost depth presented in this report can be utilized by State highway agencies interested in monitoring freeze-thaw conditions in unbound pavement layers.
Gary L. Henderson
Director, Office of Infrastructure Research and Development
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.
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-08-057 |
2. Government Accession No. | 3. Recipient's Catalog No. |
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| 4. Title and Subtitle LTPP Computed Parameter: Frost Penetration |
5. Report Date November 2008 |
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| 6. Performing Organization Code | ||||
| 7. Author(s) O.I. Selezneva, Y.J. Jiang, G. Larson, and T. Puzin |
8. Performing Organization Report No. | |||
| 9. Performing Organization Name and Address Applied Research Associates, Inc. 7184 Troy Hill Drive, Suite N Elkridge, Maryland 21075-7056 |
10. Work Unit No. | |||
| 11. Contract or Grant No. DTFH61-02-D-00138 |
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| 12. Sponsoring Agency Name and Address Office of Infrastructure Research and Development Federal Highway Administration 6300 Georgetown Pike McLean, Virginia 22101-2296 |
13. Type of Report and Period Safety Evaluation Final Report |
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| 14. Sponsoring Agency Code | ||||
| 15. Supplementary Notes Contracting Officer's Technical Representative (COTR): Larry Wiser, Long Term Pavement Performance Team. |
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| 16. Abstract As the pavement design process moves toward mechanistic-empirical techniques, knowledge of seasonal changes in pavement structural characteristics becomes critical. Specifically, frost penetration information is necessary for determining the effect of freeze and thaw on pavement structural responses. This report describes a methodology for determining frost penetration in unbound pavement layers and subgrade soil using temperature, electrical resistivity, and moisture data collected for instrumented Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) Seasonal Monitoring Program (SMP) sites. The report also contains a summary of LTPP frost depth estimates and a detailed description of the LTPP computed parameter tables containing frost penetration information for 41 LTPP SMP sites. The frost penetration analysis methodology and the accompanying E-FROST program is used in-situ soil temperature as a primary source of data to predict frost depth in unbound pavement layers. In addition to temperature data, electrical resistivity and moisture data were used as supplemental data sources for the analysis when temperatures were close to the freezing isotherm. The Enhanced Integrated Climatic Model (EICM) was used to fill intermediate gaps in the measured soil temperature data. |
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| 17. Key Words: Pavements, LTPP, frost penetration, freeze state, ER, soil temperature, EICM, TDR, moisture. | 18. Distribution Statement No restrictions. This document is available to the public through the National Technical Information Service, Springfield, VA 22161. |
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| 19. Security Classif. (of this report) Unclassified |
20. Security Classif. (of this page) Unclassified |
21. No. of Pages 92 |
22. Price | |
Form DOT F 1700.7 (8-72) Reproduction of completed pages authorized
CHAPTER 2. REVIEW OF LTPP FROST PROCEDURES AND ASSESSMENT OF PREVIOUS ESTIMATES
CHAPTER 3. REVIEW OF ADVANCES IN THE STATE OF KNOWLEDGE IN FROST PENETRATION ANALYSIS
CHAPTER 4. ENHANCED METHODOLOGY FOR LTPP FROST DETERMINATION
CHAPTER 5. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ENHANCED FROST ANALYSIS METHODOLOGY
CHAPTER 6. LTPP DATA USED FOR FROST DETERMINATION
CHAPTER 7. FROST PENETRATION ANALYSIS RESULTS
Chapter 8. SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
APPENDIX A. E-FROST USER'S GUIDE
APPENDIX B. EICM MODELING INPUTS
Figure 1. Illustration. LTPP SMP instrumentation layout
Figure 2. Chart. Previous FROST decision tree
Figure 3. Chart. Frost predictions for section 0114 in Montana
Figure 4. Chart. Comparison of ER, temperature, and moisture trends for section 0114 in Montana
Figure 5. Chart. Frost predictions for section 1028 in Minnesota
Figure 6. Chart. Frost predictions for section 0804 in South Dakota for 1994–1995 winter season
Figure 7. Chart. Comparison of ER, temperature, and moisture trends for section 0804 in South Dakota at 1.01 m (3.31 ft) depth
Figure 8. Chart. Frost predictions for section 1026 in Maine
Figure 9. Chart. Comparison of ER, temperature and moisture trends for section 1026 in Maine
Figure 10. Chart. Measured and EICM predicted temperatures for section 6251 in Minnesota at 0.8 m (2.6 ft) depth before auto-correction
Figure 11. Chart. Measured and EICM predicted temperatures for section 6251 in Minnesota at 0.8 m (2.6 ft) depth after auto-correction
Figure 12. Chart. Frost depth and layers interpretation using E-FROST
Figure 13. Equation. Normalized measurement
Figure 14. Equation. Interpolated measurement
Figure 15. Chart. Enhanced FROST algorithm
Figure 16. Chart. Example of temperature-based frost penetration profile for section 0804 in South Dakota
Figure 17. Chart. Example of ER, temperature, and moisture trends for section 0804 in South Dakota at 0.55 m (1.8 ft) depth
Figure 18. Chart. Example of final frost penetration profile for SMP site 46-0804 for the winter of 1999
Figure 19. Chart. Temperature and ER trends at 1.02 m (3.35 ft) for site 50-1002 during winter season 2000–2001
Figure 20. Picture. Locations of LTPP SMP sites analyzed in this study
Figure 21. Chart. Frost penetration profile showing multiple freeze-thaw cycles
Figure 22. Chart. Frost penetration profile showing shallow freeze cycles in the fall followed by solid deep freeze with spring thaw
Figure 23. Chart. Frost penetration profile showing solid freeze with partial spring thaw and refreeze.
Figure 24. Graph. Comparison of frost penetration depths
Figure 25. Screen capture. Opening screen in E-FROST
Figure 26. Screen capture. Tool buttons
Figure 27. Screen capture. Open database
Figure 28. Screen capture. Locate the database containing SMP data
Figure 29. Screen capture. Select data table for analysis
Figure 30. Screen capture. Frost linked to database with some tool buttons activated
Figure 31. Screen capture. SMP Section window
Figure 32. Screen capture. Blank Frost Penetration Analysis screen
Figure 33. Chart. Automatically generated frost penetration profile at SMP site 46-0804 for the winter of 1999
Figure 34. Chart. Time series plot for SMP site 46-0804 for the winter of 1999 at analysis depth = 0.55 m (1.8 ft)
Figure 35. Chart. Final frost penetration profile for SMP site 46-0804 for the winter of 1999
Figure 36. Screen capture. Create Frost Penetration Table option
Table 1. LTPP section with previous frost depths estimates
Table 2. Freeze state evaluations using different data sources
Table 3. Freeze-state characteristics
Table 4. Freeze state and frost depth chart symbol shape and color coding
Table 5. Summary of data assembled for frost penetration analysis
Table 6. Summary of frost determinations
Table 7. Typical frost penetration profile characteristics for LTPP SMP sites
Table 8. Comparison of average frost depth for LTPP SMP sites
Table 9. Summary of information included in the revised table SMP_FREEZE_STATE
Table 10. Summary of information included in the revised table SMP_FROST_PENETRATION
Table 11. Freeze state and frost depth chart color coding
Table 12. EICM inputs
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