Thin Concrete Pavement Performance under Simulated Aircraft Loads

A full-scale pavement test section consisting of two relatively thin jointed plain concrete pavements was constructed and subjected to simulated aircraft traffic to evaluate the performance of thin concrete pavements under heavy aircraft loads. The full-scale test section was constructed to include two relatively thin concrete thicknesses (8 in. and 11 in.) placed over a nominal 6-in. crushed aggregate base course over a fine-grained subgrade with a typical modulus of subgrade reaction of 172 psi/in. The test section was trafficked using the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center’s (ERDC’s) Heavy Vehicle Simulator (HVS) equipped with a dual-wheel gear simulating one side of a Boeing 737-800’s main gear. Heavy-weight deflectometer (HWD) and falling weight deflectometer (FWD) test results were used to characterize the pre-traffic and post-traffic stiffness of the test items. Pavement performance in terms of cracking was monitored periodically throughout the traffic application period to assess the number of passes necessary to meet historical pavement failure criteria. This paper describes the constructed test section, the application of simulated traffic, and the resulting pavement performance in terms of cracking.