Temperature Correction on Falling Weight Deflectometer Measurements

Abstract

Repeated falling weight deflectometer (FWD) tests were conducted at three sites. The tests were conducted at regular intervals for 2 to 3 consecutive days per location, and also done during different seasons in order that the widest possible range of temperatures could be obtained. The influence of cracks on temperature correction was also investigated. Temperature correction equations for deflection and moduli were developed so that users could be allowed to input their own reference temperatures. For all test pads, only the W1 and W2 deflections were found to be significantly affected by temperature. Comparisons with other reported temperature correction equations showed close agreement for deflection, but not for moduli. Tests were also run on cracked locations. Temperature did not affect the response of the cracked pavement as much as it did the intact pavement. Due to the different temperature-dependent characteristics of intact and cracked locations, the equations developed from the intact locations may not be used on cracked locations.