An exploratory framework for accelerated airport pavement testing using the geotechnical centrifuge

ABSTRACT

Full-scale Accelerated Pavement testing (APT) has been regarded as an essential step to bridge the gap between research and practice for pavement design because it can fully mimic a large number of heavy wheel loading on pavements. Despite being able to test pavements in an accelerated manner compared to Long-term Performance Monitoring (LTPM), conducting one full-scale APT experiment is still demanding in terms of monetary cost, space, time, etc., and the accessibility to APT facilities is only available in a few countries nowadays. In this study, an exploratory APT study with a down-scaled pavement model in a high-g environment created by geotechnical centrifuge was performed with up to half a million simulated aircraft load repetitions. Through this test, it was proved that the centrifuge APT can reproduce the full-scale airfield pavement responses, including rutting, cracking, material fatigue, etc. The transient and permanent deflection of the pavement surface, variations in stress and strain states within the pavement structure over its lifespan can be well captured for analysis. This framework of centrifuge APT provides a new methodology for pavement testing and can significantly save the current cost and time of full-scale APT.

KEYWORDS:

• Centrifuge modelling
• accelerated pavement test
• fatigue failure
• rutting
• modulus deterioration

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, G. P. Ong, upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This research is supported by the funding provided by Singapore Changi Airport Group (grant number: A-0005447-01-00), Defence Science and Technology Agency of Singapore (grant number: DST000ECI19300484), and the National University of Singapore-National Research Foundation Resilience and Growth Postdoctoral Fellowship (grant numbers: A-0000065-64-00; A-0000065-98-00). Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not reflect the views of the funding organisations.