Backcalculation of Ultrathin Whitetopping Pavement Based on Saint-Venant’s Principle
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 27, Issue 4
Abstract
Whitetopping (WT) or ultrathin whitetopping (UTW) overlay is defined as a portland cement concrete overlay on an existing deteriorated hot mix asphalt (HMA) pavement to improve both the structural and functional capability of HMA. During the past two decades, UTW overlays have gained great acceptance as an alternative to HMA overlay. However, there is a lack of a reliable method to evaluate the performance of in-service UTW pavements. Because of the small slab sizes of UTW pavements, backcalculation of pavement layer properties, based on the falling weight deflectometer, is challenging. This study developed a new approach, the Critical Distance Method, based on Saint-Venant’s principle, to backcalculate the portland cement concrete and equivalent substructure moduli of UTW pavement. It was proven to be an effective approach to determine the layer properties of UTW pavement, based on the finite element simulations. Traditional backcalculation methods, such as AREA theory and the MODCOMP6 software program, were used as comparison in the simulation and in a case study. It was found that the Critical Distance Method is more accurate for evaluating UTW pavement. Further field verification of the Critical Distance Method is needed.
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Acknowledgments
The authors acknowledge the Wisconsin Department of Transportation for financial support.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 27 • Issue 4 • August 2013
Pages: 477 - 484
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jan 9, 2011
Accepted: Feb 8, 2012
Published online: Feb 10, 2012
Published in print: Aug 1, 2013
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