APPLICATION OF FWD TO STRUCTURAL EVALUATION OF JOINTED CONCRETE AIRFIELD PAVEMENTS . THIRD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BEARING CAPACITY OF ROADS AND AIRFIELDS. PROCEEDINGS, NORWEGIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, TRONDHEIM, NORWAY, JULY 3-5 1990. VOLUMES 1-2

In this paper, a comprehensive study on structural evaluation of jointed concrete airfield pavements is presented. A specially prepared concrete test pavement, consisting of six slabs, with different sizes of voids beneath the slabs at corners, and incorporated with each other by nonuniformly spaced dowel joints, is loaded by the Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD) test system. By analyzing these FWD measurements with the finite element model, the usefulness of the FWD as a tool for measuring various important pavement properties is assessed. Based on the deflection basins measured by FWD, the resilient modulus of the foundation can be calculated, load transfer efficiency at joints of pavement can be determined, and the size of voids beneath the slab can also be detected. Field measurements made at an inservice airfield pavement indicate that FWD is a suitable device for structural evaluation of jointed concrete airfield pavements. (Author/TRRL)