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Evaluation of Flexible Pavements in India Using an Indigenous Falling Weight

Deflectometer

Article · January 2002

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Muppireddy Amaranatha Reddy K. Sudhakar Reddy

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M. Amaranatha Reddy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey 1

EVALUATION OF FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS IN INDIA USING AN INDIGENOUS FALLING

WEIGHT DEFLECTOMETER

M.Amaranatha Reddy
Research Scholar
Indian Institute of Technology
Kharagpur – 721 302, INDIA
e-mail: amaranath@civil.iitkgp.ernet.in
Phone: 91-03222-81420; FAX: 090-3222-55303

K. Sudhakar Reddy *
Associate Professor
Indian Institute of Technology
Kharagpur – 721 302, INDIA
e-mail: ksreddy@civil.iitkgp.ernet.in
Phone: 91-03222-83448(O)/ 83449(R); FAX: 090-3222-55303

B .B. Pandey
Professor
Indian Institute of Technology
Kharagpur – 721 302, INDIA
e-mail: braj@civil.iitkgp.ernet.in
Phone: 91-03222-83438 (O)/ 83439 ( R ); FAX:090-3222-55303

Submission Date : 11 June 2002

Words Count : 4571

* Corresponding author
M. Amaranatha Reddy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey 2

ABSTRACT
Use of Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) for the evaluation of pavements is gaining
popularity in many countries, as it is possible to simulate the magnitude and duration of load applied by a
fast moving vehicle on highways using this equipment. However, the use of FWD in India has been very
limited so far because of its high cost and due to the difficulties encountered in maintaining the
equipment.
This paper presents the details of a FWD system designed and developed by the Transportation
Engineering Section of the Civil Engineering Department of Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur,
India for structural evaluation of pavements. Salient features of backcalculation algorithm used in the
evaluation system are presented. Details of structural evaluation of some highways carried out as a part of
a research program sponsored by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORT & H),
Government of India, are also given in the paper.

INTRODUCTION
Many of the existing National Highways in India are being widened and strengthened. Also new
highways and expressways are being constructed to handle the demand of the rapidly increasing traffic
volumes. With the increase in demand for efficient road network, awareness to use rational or mechanistic
pavement and overlay design procedures is also increasing. Properties of different layer materials such as
elastic moduli and Poisson ratio are essential inputs for mechanistic design of new pavements and
overlays. The properties of these materials can be determined by conducting laboratory tests on
representative samples by selecting appropriate laboratory test procedure that closely simulates field
conditions. Alternatively, the properties of these materials can be estimated from empirical relationships
developed from field evaluation of in-service pavements.
The thrust of many of the structural evaluation methods used is to use equipment capable of simulating
the loading conditions produced by fast moving traffic loads. The structural response commonly
measured with these equipment is the surface deflection. The equipment differ from one another in terms
of the magnitude and time of loading pulses applied to the pavement. Measured deflections are used
either to estimate the overlay requirement from previously developed empirical relationships or to
backcalculate layer properties for use in analytical evaluation methods. Among the equipment available
for structural evaluation of pavements, Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) is extensively used
worldwide because it simulates, to a large extent, the actual traffic loading conditions. Deflections
measured with FWD are used for estimating the moduli of various pavement layers using a back-
calculation procedure. The computed moduli are, in turn, used for the analysis of in-service pavements
and for the estimation of their remaining lives. Number of backcalculation programs are available for
determining pavement moduli from measured surface deflection (1).
This paper presents the salient features of a FWD system used by the Transportation Engineering section
of IIT, Kharagpur. The system, consisting of a Falling Weight Deflectometer, Data Acquisition system
and backcalculation software, has been developed through sustained research efforts made during the last
one decade. Salient features of the equipment, software and details of structural evaluation of some
sections on Indian highways are presented in this paper.

FALLING WEIGHT DEFLECTOMETERS

FWD is an impulse-loading device, where a mass is allowed to fall on the pavement to give
transient impulse load and the resultant surface deflection bowl is measured using velocity transducers
(geophones). Features of some of the commercially available models of Falling Weight Deflectometers
are given in the following paragraphs.

Dynatest Falling Weight Deflectometer

Dynatest manufactures two FWD Test systems, model 8000 and 8081 (2). These two are complete with
back-up battery and all other accessories for evaluation of pavements and for other applications of road
M. Amaranatha Reddy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey 3

and airport pavements respectively. Both the models are trailer mounted and have the capability to apply
loads of the order 7 to 120 kN (Peak) and 30 to 240 kN (Peak) respectively.

Phonix FWD
The Phonix model ML- 10000 produces a dynamic impulse load of 10.2 to 102.3 kN6. It consists of three
to six deflection transducers in adjustable mounts along a 2400 mm raise/lower bar. The equipment is
available as trailer and vehicle built-in models.

KUAB 2M-FWD
This FWD is available in two models (2), which are trailer mounted. For the models 8833 and 8714, the
loading range is 14 to 150 kN and 7 to 65 kN respectively. The impulse force is created by means of a
two - mass system of force generation in which a falling weight is dropped onto a second weight buffer
combination and the load is transmitted to the segmented loading plate resting on the pavement surface.
The loading plates are available in diameters of 300 and 450 mm.
FWDs have the ability to simulate the load pulses generated by fast moving commercial vehicles. Data
can be acquired rapidly. However, there are certain drawbacks with the equipment. They are i) very
costly to procure and ii) regular maintenance is also costly. Because of its high initial cost and
maintenance problems, use of FWD for pavement evaluation has not been extensive in India. In the
recent revision of Indian Roads Congress code of practice for flexible pavement design (3), mechanistic
approach has been incorporated. Elastic properties of pavement materials are necessary inputs in the
revised design procedure. Estimation of these properties of in-service pavement layers is important in the
design of overlays. As already mentioned earlier, FWD is the most suitable equipment available for the
evaluation of the in-service pavements. Hence the need for developing a low cost FWD system was
considered to be very crucial for the advancement of pavement technology in India. Keeping this in
view, the Transportation Engineering Section of the Civil Engineering Department of Indian Institute of
Technology, Kharagpur, India developed a FWD system for pavement evaluation.

IITKGP FWD SYSTEM

IITKGP FWD system consists of FWD equipment, data acquisition system and software for
analysis.
IITKGP FWD Model-I
The first model of FWD was designed and fabricated (4) in the year 1997. A photograph of FWD model
I is shown in Figure 1. This model is mounted in a trailer, which can be towed with the help of a jeep.
With this model, it is possible to apply a load of magnitude ranging from 20 kN to 65 kN with a loading
time of about 25-30 milli-seconds. This loading time is similar to that produced by a vehicle moving at
50 to 60 km/h. Rubber pads of suitable stiffness were used as spring system to obtain loading time of 25
milli-seconds (5). Six surface deflections are measured at radial distances of 0, 300, 600, 900, 1200 and
1500mm with the help of geophones.
A chain and pulley arrangement is used for lifting and lowering the mass whereas a chuck arrangement is
made for holding the mass at any desired height. Load cell and geophones measure the magnitude of load
and deflections respectively. Load and deflection signals are recorded in the computer with the help of a
data acquisition system.
Extensive field studies were carried out using this equipment and the results are highly satisfactory. The
equipment was tested for its repeatability of test results. A number of identical experiments were
conducted with the equipment to investigate the consistency of the test results. The deflections were
normalized to correspond to 40 kN load. The results are given in Table 1. As can be seen from the table,
measurements made using this equipment show good repeatability.

Though the first model performed well, it has some shortcomings. All operations such as lifting of mass
and placing of geophones on the pavement surface are done manually and hence it requires longer time
for data collection. Also, towing the equipment mounted in trailer for longer distances and maneuvering
M. Amaranatha Reddy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey 4

it on heavily trafficked two lane two way highways in India was found to be difficult. Keeping these
practical difficulties in consideration, another model (IITKGP FWD model-II) which is fully automatic
in its operation, has been designed and developed in the year 2001(6).

IIT KGP FWD Model II

In this model, all the operations are automated and deflection data is collected through data acquisition
system. The equipment is housed inside a covered vehicle so that maneuverability of the equipment on
heavily trafficked highways becomes greater. Also, the equipment is protected from rain, dust, etc. The
major components of this equipment are: -
• Mass
• Cylinders for rising, lowering of mass and geophone frame and also for catching and releasing the
load
• Hydraulic system
• Geophone frame fitted with seven geophones
• Arrangement for holding the mass
• Provision for holding the mass at any position in between 100 to 800 mm.
• Programmable Logic Circuit (PLC)

Figure 2 shows the FWD equipment fitted inside a van.

The main advantage of this device is that it can be fabricated locally at lower cost. It will be easier to
maintain the indigenous model if the need arises. Table 2 presents the data collected to illustrate the
repeatability of results obtained using this equipment.

Data Acquisition System

A commercially available PCL-208 data acquisition card (7) with built-in Analog-Digital (A/D) converter
having 8 channels was used for data acquisition. The amplified signals from the load cell and geophones
are connected to the data acquisition system by a 24-pin connector through the screw terminal board. The
card was installed inside a personal computer. The system offers facility to acquire data at different
sampling rates. The maximum A/D sampling rate is 60,000 Hz in Direct Memory Access (DAM) mode.
LABTECH NOTE BOOK software (8) was used for data acquisition. The deflection and load signals are
amplified, integrated using the electronic circuitry and recorded in the computer.

BACKGA Program for Backcalculation of Pavement Layer Moduli

A Genetic Algorithm based program, BACKGA (9), has been developed for backcalculation of effective
moduli of pavement layers. When used as inputs to elastic layered theory, effective layer moduli produce
responses (deflections) similar to those observed in field. ELAYER (10) a program developed for the
analysis of layered pavement systems, is used for forward calculation of surface deflections in BACKGA.
Inputs to BACKGA program include:- measured deflections, radial distances at which deflections are
measured, layer thicknesses, Poisson ratio values of different layers, applied load and loading plate radius.
It is also necessary to give practical ranges for different moduli to be estimated. Population size, number
of generations up to which the GA will run, probabilities of crossover and mutation, are the main GA
related inputs. By choosing a suitable objective function and optimal GA parameters, the pavement layer
moduli values can be backcalculated accurately.

STRUCTURAL EVALUATION OF IN-SERVICE PAVEMENTS

This section presents the analysis of the deflection data collected from a few sections of National
Highways in Easten India using IITKGP FWD model II. Table 3 presents the details of the layer
thicknesses and measured deflections. The deflections were measured after the monsoon of year 2001.
Figure 3 shows a view of the evaluation of National Highway No.6 using IITKGP FWD model-II.
M. Amaranatha Reddy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey 5

For backcalculation of layer moduli, pavements were considered as three-layer systems with bituminous
surfacing, granular base and subgrade. Table 4 presents the backcalculated moduli obtained using
BACKGA program for different layers. The table also gives the error term representing the differences
between the deflections measured and those computed using the backcalculated moduli.

CONCLUSIONS
Salient features of FWD models developed by Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India for
structural evaluation of Indian highways have been presented in this paper. The development of an
indigenous FWD was necessary for the advancement of pavement technology in India and for the
adoption of rational design approaches. The two FWD models were found to yield reliable and
satisfactory performance. It is expected that FWD based pavement evaluation system developed by IIT,
Kharagpur will be helpful in the popularization of use of rational tools in the design and evaluation of
pavements.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The authors would like to thank the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways, Government of India
for the financial support provided through research scheme R-81 (Structural Evaluation of Pavements
using FWD in Eastern India) for the development of FWD and for collection of field data.

REFERENCES
1. Per Ullidtz., Coetzee,N.F., Analytical Procedures in Nondestructive Testing Pavement Evaluation, In
Transportation Research Record 1482, TRB, National Research Council, Washington, D.C.,1995, pp.
61-66.
2. James A. Crovetti., M.Y. Shahin., Bassam E.Touma. Comparision of Two Falling Weight
Deflectometer Devices, Dynatest 8000 and KUAB 2M-FWD. Nondestructive Testing of Pavements
and Backcalculation of Pavement Moduli, ASTM 1026,1989, pp.59-69.
3. IRC: 37-2001: Guidelines for Design of Flexible Road Pavements, Indian Roads Congress, New
Delhi, India.
4. Santosh Kumar. Design and Fabrication of Falling Weight Deflectometer. M.Tech Thesis
(Unpublished), Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, 1997.
5. Srinivas Kumar,R. Structural Evaluation of Pavements Using Falling Weight Deflectometer. Ph.D.
Thesis submitted to Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, 2001.
6. Structural Evaluation of Pavements Using Falling Weight Deflectometer in Eastern India. Technical
Report-III submitted to Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORT&H), New Delhi, India,
2001.
7. PCL-208 High Performance Data Acquisition Card, User’s Manual, Dynalog Micro systems Private
Limited, 1993.
8. LAB NOTE BOOK software, Laboratory Technologies Corporation, Wilmington, MA, USA, 1992.
9. M.Amaranatha Reddy, M.Srinivasa Murthy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey. Back-calculation of
Pavement Layer Moduli using Genetic Algorithms. Journal of Highway Research Buttelin, Indian
Roads Congress, New Delhi, India (In Press).
10. Sudhakar Reddy. K. Analytical Evaluation of Flexible Pavements. Ph.D Thesis (Unpublished) Indian
Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India, 1993.
M. Amaranatha Reddy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey 6

List of Tables and Figures

Table 1 Reproducibility of FWD Deflection data for IITKGP FWD Model I

Table 2 Reproducibility of FWD Deflection data for IITKGP FWD model II

Table 3 Details of the Test Sections Considered

Table 4 Backcalculated Layer Moduli

Figure 1 IITKGP FWD Model-I

Figure 2 IITKGP FWD Model-II

Figure 3 Field Evaluation of National Highway-6 using IITKGP FWD Model-II

M. Amaranatha Reddy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey 7

Figure 1 IITKGP FWD Model-I

M. Amaranatha Reddy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey 8

Figure 2 IITKGP FWD Model-II

M. Amaranatha Reddy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey 9

Figure 3 Field Evaluation of National Highway-6 using IITKGP FWD Model-II

M. Amaranatha Reddy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey 10

Table 1 Reproducibility of FWD Deflection data for IITKGP FWD Model I

Normalized deflections(mm) at different radial distances (mm) Test load

Sl. No (N)
0 300 600 900 1200 1500
1 1.30448 0.76329 0.46563 0.32641 0.23401 0.19305 40047.3
2 1.29836 0.75901 0.45975 0.32266 0.23411 0.19014 39962.4
3 1.30165 0.76543 0.46656 0.32595 0.22983 0.18592 40102.1
4 1.30314 0.76405 0.46624 0.32662 0.22879 0.19314 40284.7
5 1.30247 0.76425 0.46524 0.32476 0.23254 0.19125 40231.4
6 1.29965 0.76204 0.46448 0.32093 0.23271 0.19057 39879.5
7 1.30355 0.75972 0.46352 0.32294 0.23591 0.18957 40217.2
8 1.30225 0.76045 0.46708 0.32641 0.23368 0.19162 40326.2
9 1.30014 0.76301 0.46527 0.32715 0.23525 0.19241 40282.4
10 1.30241 0.76244 0.46458 0.32422 0.23452 0.19205 40092.1
11 1.30322 0.76125 0.46387 0.32584 0.23282 0.19242 40311.8
12 1.30271 0.76358 0.46225 0.32266 0.23405 0.19258 40362.2
M* 1.30200 0.76237 0.464539 0.324713 0.233185 0.191227 40174.9

M*-Mean
M. Amaranatha Reddy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey 11

Table 2 Reproducibility of FWD Deflection data for IITKGP FWD Model II

Sl. Normalized deflections (mm) at different radial distances (mm) Test

No 0 300 600 900 1200 1500 1800 load (N)
1 0.71032 0.37804 0.23167 0.16117 0.11481 0.09831 0.07651 416510
2 0.71240 0.37754 0.23981 0.16232 0.11873 0.10122 0.07789 413570
3 0.71563 0.38032 0.23298 0.16723 0.11558 0.09960 0.08023 409923
4 0.71786 0.37937 0.23995 0.16273 0.11925 0.09654 0.07650 395018
5 0.71395 0.37793 0.23869 0.16620 0.11854 0.09830 0.08127 419446
6 0.71920 0.37520 0.23668 0.16498 0.11390 0.09698 0.07759 417810
7 0.71803 0.37994 0.23157 0.16579 0.11926 0.10023 0.07437 409825
8 0.71092 0.38011 0.23495 0.16849 0.11287 0.09432 0.07865 410028
9 0.71442 0.37164 0.23859 0.16181 0.11825 0.09674 0.07640 407390
10 0.71381 0.37652 0.23694 0.16338 0.11762 0.09859 0.07754 406985
M* 0.71465 0.37766 0.23618 0.16441 0.11688 0.09808 0.07769 410650

M*-Mean
M. Amaranatha Reddy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey 12

Table 3 Details of the Test Sections Considered

Sl Surface Deflections (mm) measured from 0,300,600,900,1200 Thickness

No Location-Km and 1500 mm from the centre of the load (mm)
D0 D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 H1 H2
1 NH-6-134.780 0.76731 0.36051 0.22755 0.19893 0.16770 0.13272 145 550
2 NH-6-134.940 0.60569 0.39485 0.25141 0.22643 0.17492 0.14680 145 562
3 NH-6-150.060 0.64771 0.39042 0.23120 0.18571 0.13698 0.10896 170 535
4 NH-6-150.240 0.84632 0.46717 0.24755 0.16679 0.11150 0.09148 170 535
5 NH-6 -151.210 0.98480 0.55491 0.31387 0.23405 0.16869 0.13527 170 535
6 NH-6-151.090 0.71117 0.41902 0.23350 0.18665 0.11978 0.09051 170 540
7 NH-60-15.200 1.37950 0.83172 0.48249 0.32422 0.26635 0.21001 130 440
8 NH-60-19.490 1.16992 0.70851 0.43621 0.33329 0.26914 0.19766 140 455

*NH- National Highway

 M. Amaranatha Reddy, K.Sudhakar Reddy, B.B.Pandey 13

Table 4 Backcalculated Layer Moduli

Problem Backcalculated Moduli (MPa) RMS error * in

No deflection (%)
E1 E2 E3
1 300.01 201.05 62.69 1.191
2 997.26 214.51 51.19 1.060
3 722.87 145.38 68.39 0.691
4 582.60 80.94 77.95 0.524
5 406.06 88.45 53.08 1.192
6 800.19 94.70 78.94 1.880
7 445.74 80.63 34.54 1.885
8 494.33 93.76 37.24 1.115

n
* RMS Error = ∑ (d − d
i =1
i c / di ) 2 / n X 100 where d i is measured deflection

d c is calculated deflection, n is the number of deflection measurements

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