Citation

Gopalakrishnan K. Balt. J. Road Bridge Eng. 2006; 1(3): 135-142.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Publisher Technika)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Pavement surface deflection, which is a reliable indicator for predicting pavement performance, is easily measurable using a heavy weight deflectometer (HWD). The HWD measures deflections to an applied dynamic load that simulates a moving wheel at moderate speeds. Nondestructive tests using the falling weight deflectometer and the HWD were conducted at various times on flexible test pavements at the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration’s National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF) to monitor the effect of simulated Boeing 777 and Boeing 747 aircraft gear trafficking on pavement structural condition. Multi-Depth Deflectometers (MDDs) installed within the pavement sections recorded the load-induced displacements in the pavement and in the subgrade. This paper compares the variations in HWD surface deflections acquired at different stages of NAPTF trafficking with the MDD resilient displacements obtained under multiple-wheel heavy aircraft gear trafficking. The results between the HWD and MDD methods are found to be comparable under dynamic loading conditions, and both the HWD and MDD deflections closely follow the pavement surface rutting trends. These findings demonstrate the usefulness of surface deflection basins accrued from periodic HWD tests for characterizing the airport pavement structural deterioration under repeated multiple-wheel aircraft gear loading and support the validity of developing deflection-based airport pavement design criteria.