Title: Measuring pavement response: design, development and application of sensors and data evaluation for test and in-service pavements
Abstract: The main task of pavement engineers is the design and construction of pavement structures being able to resist traffic loads and climatic impacts over the design operating life. Pavement design is mostly based on empirical or mechanistic-empirical models. Monitoring pavement response and performance over a long period of time is essential for establishing these methods. Furthermore, mechanistic-empirical or analytical models need adequate material parameters as input. Material parameters are usually determined in dynamic laboratory tests, which in nature depend on the boundary conditions of the specific test method. Thus, these parameters are often more test-specific parameters rather than material parameters and often boundary test conditions are not consistent with in-situ conditions. Accelerated testing and response measurements on instrumented full-scale pavements are suitable methods to bridge the gap between performance monitoring of pavement structures, laboratory testing and analytical methods. Usually they are the only means to validate theoretical models by measuring the mechanical response induced by traffic and climatic impact. Though a large number of tests on instrumented frill-scale pavements have been conducted worldwide, the appropriate measurement of stresses, strains and deformations in pavement structures still remains a difficult task. Despite of the difficulties response measurements can provide important information to validate analytical models or to define adequate boundary conditions for dynamic laboratory tests of pavement materials. This paper gives a short overview over the basic principles of pavement instrumentation and sensor design and shows examples and evaluations of selected response measurements to heavy vehicle and FWD loading at the full scale pavement test facility at the Federal Highway Research institute BASt in Germany. Focus is on the evaluation of redundant sensor arrangement and statistical evaluation regarding the variations and scatter. Finally, an outlook is given on an improved sensor design and improved data acquisition techniques for long-term response measurements on in-service pavements.
Publication Year: 2013
Publication Date: 2013-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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Cited By Count: 1
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