Instrumentation of Field-Testing Sites for Dynamic Characterization of the Temperature-Dependent Stiffness of Pavements and Their Layers

Abstract

Falling weight deflectometer (FWD) tests are performed worldwide for assessing the health of pavement structures. Interpretation of FWD-measured surface deflections turns out to be challenging because the behavior of pavement structures is temperature-dependent. In order to investigate the influence of temperature on the overall pavement performance and on the stiffness of individual layers, temperature sensors, asphalt strain gauges, and accelerometers were installed into one rigid (concrete) and two flexible (asphalt) pavement structures, mostly at layer interfaces. Three different methods for installation of the strain gauges are compared. From correspondingly gained experience, it is recommended to install a steel dummy as a place-holder into the surface of hot asphalt layers, immediately after their construction and right before their compaction, and to replace the dummy with the actual sensor right before the installation of the next layer. Concerning the first data obtained from dynamic testing at the field-testing sites, FWD tests performed at different temperatures deliver, as expected, different surface deflections. As for the rigid pavement, sledgehammer strokes onto a metal plate, transmitted to the pavement via a rubber pad, yield accelerometer readings that allow for detection of curling (=temperature-gradient-induced partial loss of contact of the concrete slab from lower layers). In the absence of curling, the here-proposed sledgehammer tests yield accelerometer readings that allow for quantification of the runtime of longitudinal waves through asphalt, cement-stabilized, and unbound layers, such that their stiffness can be quantified using the theory of elastic wave propagation through isotropic media.