Using Portable Seismic Property Analyzer to Characterize Thin Asphalt Sublayer

This study is performed to determine thickness, modulus of elasticity, and damping ratio of thin asphalt sub-layer using Portable Seismic Property Analyzer (PSPA). To facilitate, four pavement sites in New Mexico, namely instrumented pavement on Interstate-40 (I-40), NM47, NM14, and Long Term Pavement Performance (LTPP) SPS-10 section on I-40 were selected. Among these, NM47 and NM14 are the newly constructed pavements. PSPA tests were conducted on the selected test points at varying input thickness, i.e., 2-4 in. Thicknesses were predicted from the PSPA test data using the concept of Impact Echo and variation of shear wave velocity over depth. It is observed that both predicted thickness and shear wave velocity profile are consistent whenever input thickness is 3 in. or above during the tests. Thickness predicted by the two methods are compared with as-built thickness and it is observed that the variation of shear wave velocity predicts fairly accurate thickness. It is also observed that thin asphalt sub-layer cannot be identified if the test is conducted right after the construction. Modulus is determined by averaging the trend of modulus over depth over the predicted thickness. It is observed that the modulus of Hot Mix Asphalt (HMA) is greater than of Warm Mix Asphalt (WMA). A methodology is proposed to determine the damping ratio of asphalt sub-layer from the attenuation of time-acceleration data. It is found that the range of damping ratio is 0.14-0.48 that can be used for dynamic analysis of pavement.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee AFD20 Standing Committee on Pavement Condition Evaluation. Alternate title: Using Portable Seismic Property Analyzer (PSPA) to Characterize Thin Asphalt Sub-Layer.
• Authors:
  • Ahmed, Mesbah U
  • Tarefder, Rafiqul A
  • Arifuzzaman, Md
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 97th Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2018-1-7 to 2018-1-11
• Date: 2018

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 19p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Hot mix asphalt; Modulus of elasticity; Test sections; Warm mix paving mixtures
• Candidate Terms: Impact echo tests; Spectral analysis of surface waves
• Uncontrolled Terms: Asphalt layer thickness; Damping ratio; Portable seismic property analyzer; Shear wave velocity profiles; Subsurface analysis
• Geographic Terms: New Mexico
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01661908
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 18-06162
• Files: TRIS, TRB, ATRI
• Created Date: Mar 6 2018 4:22PM