Effect of distresses on deflection basins and backcalculation modulus of asphalt pavement with cement-treated base

Zhaoxing Xie, Junan Shen, Zhongyin Guo, Lin Cong

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

10 Scopus citations

Abstract

The Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) is widely used to evaluate the asphalt pavement structural conditions through the deflection basin and the backcalculation modulus. The FWD test has sometimes beenperformed on asphalt pavement with distresses. It is necessary to investigate the effect of the distresses on the deflection basin and the backcalculation modulus. In thisstudy, the finite element method (FEM) was used to simulate the asphalt pavement with and without the distresses and the FWD load,and thus produce thedefection data. The modulus of the structural layers and subgrade was backcalculated from the FWD data using the MODULUS 6.0 program. Then the effect of the distresses was investigated on the deflection basin and the backcalculation modulus. The results indicate that the cracking and cement-treated base crushing in the asphalt pavement may result in an abnormal deflection basin and make the backcalculated modulus incorrect; therefore, it may be necessary to remove the unusual deflection basin before the backcalculation to obtain accepted backcalculation results, or decrease the number of structural layers to reduce the unreasonable backcalculation results.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)283-288
Number of pages6
JournalInternational Journal of Pavement Research and Technology
Volume8
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 21 2015

Scopus Subject Areas

  • Civil and Structural Engineering
  • Mechanics of Materials

Keywords

  • Backcalculation moduli
  • Deflection basin
  • Distresses
  • Dynamic FEM
  • FWD

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