The Behavior of Flexible Airfield Pavements Under Loads - Theory and Experiments

Book excerpt: The instrumentation data of the multiple-wheel heavy gear load (MWHGL) tests were reduced and analyzed. By incorporating the performance of test pavements under traffic, relations between load and pavement response were established. A method was developed to compute the measured stresses and deflections of the test pavements; based on the method, the stresses and deflections can be computed for similar types of airfield pavements under different loads. Correlations were established between computed parameters and traffic performance data from the MWHGL test section as well as from many other pavement tests conducted by the Corps of Engineers. Based on the instrumentation data, the principle of superposition was found to be valid for flexible pavements. Attempts were made to reevaluate the equivalent single-wheel loads for MWHGLs by many different methods. (Author).