Total Deflection Ratio and Its Applicability in Void Identification of Airport Rigid Pavement

Abstract:

A new deflection index， total deflection ratio（R_TD）， was proposed for v oid identification，whose theoretical characteristics were analyzed. To investigate the applicability of R_TD in void identification of airport rigid pavement， finite element models were built using Abaqus. The influences of pavement structure parameters， joint load transfer capacity and void parameters on deflection indexes were analyzed. The results show that， compared with the deflection ratio and intercept， R_TD has a higher correlation with pavement structure parameters， and a relatively accurate criterion can be established based on the higher correlation. In addition， R_TD is sensitive to void parameters and can avoid the coupling effect of joint load transfer capacity and void beneath slab. Overall， R_TD is more applicable in the void detecting of airport rigid pavement.