Pavement Structural Evaluation Using the Rolling Wheel Deflectometer
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2011 Pavement structural evaluation using the Rolling Wheel Deflectometer Ahmed Moustafa Abdel-Khalek Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Commons Recommended Citation Abdel-Khalek, Ahmed Moustafa, "Pavement structural evaluation using the Rolling Wheel Deflectometer" (2011). LSU Master's Theses. 881. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/881 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. PAVEMENT STRUCTURAL EVALUATION USING THE ROLLING WHEEL DEFLECTOMETER A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Civil Engineering in The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering By Ahmed Abdel-Khalek B.S.C.E, Cairo University, 2007 December 2011 ACKNOWLEGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my advisor Dr. Mostafa Elseifi for his constant support, patience, and guidance throughout the course of my master’s program. In addition, I wish to thank Dr. Louay Mohammad and Dr. Hak-Chul Shin for being on my advisory committee. Their support and cooperation is greatly appreciated. I would like also to express my gratefulness and admiration for my friend and mentor Aly Tawfik, who was my teaching assistant during my undergraduate studies and showed me the importance of pursuing graduate studies, especially in the US. I owe thanks to my colleagues, Hassan Swidan, Ahmed El-Sayed, and Yahia Kandil, and the many other people who assisted me. Their help and camaraderie made it very easy to keep a positive attitude during the course of my studies. I would also like to thank my brother Mohammed and sister Marwa for their support and encouragement to complete my graduate studies. Finally, I wish to express my gratitude and love to my parents, Mostafa and Sawsan. Their patience and support have been immeasurable to me during the course of my life. They used to encourage me every single day to be a better person. I wish them to know they are greatly appreciated for everything. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEGEMENTS ............................................................................................................ ii LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................................ v LIST OF FIGURES ..................................................................................................................... vi ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................. ix 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Problem Statement .......................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Research Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 2 1.3 Research Approach ......................................................................................................................... 3 2. LITERATURE REVIEW ..................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Pavement Condition Evaluation .................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Pavement Testing ............................................................................................................................ 6 2.2.1 Destructive Testing ............................................................................................................... 6 2.2.2 Non-Destructive Testing ....................................................................................................... 6 2.3 Deflection Measurement Devices ................................................................................................... 7 2.3.1 Discrete Deflection Measurement Systems .......................................................................... 7 2.3.2 Continuous Deflection Measurement .................................................................................. 18 2.4 The Rolling Wheel Deflectometer ................................................................................................ 27 2.4.1 State Evaluation of Rolling Wheel Deflectometer .............................................................. 28 2.4.2 Research Evaluation of the Rolling Wheel Deflectometer ................................................. 38 2.5 Structural Assessment of Pavements ........................................................................................... 39 2.5.1 Structural Assessment Based on Visual Survey .................................................................. 39 2.5.2 Structural Assessment Based on Destructive Testing ......................................................... 40 2.5.3 Structural Assessment Based on Non-Destructive Testing ................................................. 40 3. FIELD TESTING PROGRAM .......................................................................................... 48 3.1 RWD Description .......................................................................................................................... 48 3.1.1 History ................................................................................................................................. 48 3.1.2 Equipment Description ....................................................................................................... 49 3.1.3 RWD and FWD Measurements .......................................................................................... 50 3.2 Testing Programs .......................................................................................................................... 51 3.2.1 RWD Testing ...................................................................................................................... 51 3.2.2 FWD Testing ....................................................................................................................... 56 3.2.3 Data Processing and Filtering ............................................................................................. 56 4. ANALYSIS AND RESULTS .............................................................................................. 59 4.1 RWD Results ................................................................................................................................. 59 4.1.1 Effects of Averaging Interval .............................................................................................. 59 4.1.2 Effects of Temperature Variation on RWD Deflection Measurements .............................. 62 4.1.3 Repeatability Analysis ........................................................................................................ 64 4.1.4 Effects of Speed on RWD Deflection Measurements ......................................................... 71 4.2 FWD Results .................................................................................................................................. 73 4.3 Comparison Between RWD And FWD Results ......................................................................... 74 iii 5. A MODEL TO ESTIMATE PAVEMENT STRUCTURAL NUMBER AT THE NETWORK LEVEL USING RWD DATA .............................................................................. 80 5.1 Model Development ...................................................................................................................... 80 5.2 Model Description and Calibration ............................................................................................. 83 5.3 Model Validation ........................................................................................................................... 87 5.4 Applications of the Structural Model at the Network level ....................................................... 90 6. SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................. 91 6.1 Summary ........................................................................................................................................ 91 6.2 Conclusions and Findings ............................................................................................................. 91 6.3 Recommendations for Future Research...................................................................................... 92 7. REFERENCES .................................................................................................................... 93 VITA........................................................................................................................................... 103 iv LIST OF TABLES Table 2-1. FWD Deflection Testing Devices in the US (NCHRP-381 2008) ............................... 9 Table 2-2. Comparison between the FWD and the Benkelman