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Comparison of FWD and Benkelman Beam in Evaluation of

Pavement Structure Capacity
Liang Zhou1, Qingfeng Wu2,

Jianming Ling3

PhD Candidate, Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tongji
University, Shanghai P.R. China, 201804. Email: tinyzhou2014@sina.com
Senior Engineer, Shanghai Highway Administration Department, Shanghai P.R. China, 200063.
Email: wuqf5435@sina.com
3
Professor, Key Laboratory of Road and Traffic Engineering of Ministry of Education, Tongji
University, Shanghai P.R. China, 201804. Email: jmling01@yahoo.com.cn
2

ABSTRACT: This paper deals with the implementation and comparison of the falling
weight deflectometer (FWD) and Benkelman Beam (BB) for pavement evaluation.
Field measurements were made at an in-service pavement A30 in Shanghai, China.
Based on the deflections measured by FWD and BB, the exact relation between the
results of FWD and BB was established. The modulus of the subgrade was
back-calculated with MODULUS, and the ratio of E(sta) and MR(dyn) was consistent
with the suggestion of AASHTO 1993. Due to the fact that FWD test is very
convenient and rapid, it indicates that FWD is an appropriate device for the pavement
structural evaluation and the selection of optimal pavement rehabilitation strategy. It is
believed that the dynamic modulus back-calculated from FWD test results can be used
as a stiffness modulus for the subgrade of new pavement construction in China.
INTRODUCTION
With the increase of heavy traffic in China, highways become aged and the
performances of roads become deteriorated. Different types of treatments, ranging from
simple maintenance to complete reconstruction, are required to keep pavements safe
and serviceable to the road users. Generally, laboratory and nondestructive testing
(NDT) techniques are the main methods used to evaluate the structural integrity of
pavements. Laboratory evaluation or existing pavements requires coring through
pavement structure, which is expensive and time-consuming (EL-RAHIM 2001).
Among NDT techniques, a widely used commercial NDT device is the falling weight
deflectometer (FWD), which imparts an impulse load to the pavement. Complete
deflection basins are used, with a procedure known as backcalculation, to estimate in
situ elastic moduli for each pavement layer. The back-calculated results can be used to
evaluate corrective measures such as overlays, rehabilitation or reconstruction (Chen et
al. 2008).

405
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Among the most widely used traditional methods for testing of pavement structural
capacity are the plate loading (PLT) and Benkelman Beam (BB) tests. The two methods
are widely used to establish the structural capacity of the pavement in situ. These tests
are static and they are quite cumbersome to perform in situ. However, they are rather
simple and easy to understand; therefore, they are quite widely used.
This paper focuses on comparing FWD and BB results of Section A30 in Shanghai,
China.
TEST SECTION DESCRIPTION
The test section is the junction of in-service pavements located on A30 and A12
Highway in JiaDing District, Shanghai in China. The junction of A30 and A12 is a
three-lane highway in each direction. The length of the junction is about 3.2 km. It is
reported that there was an average of 5,000 vehicles per lane everyday in 2006. The
percentage of trucks is approximately 42.7%.
The junction pavement was first constructed in 1998, and it was reconstructed for
widening in 2004. The pavement structure comprised a total of three layers: 150mm
asphalt surface, 450mm base/subbase, and subgrade. Due to heavy daily traffic in
JiaDing District, the damages of the junction pavement were severe. Cracks first
occurred in late 1999 and continued to occur during successive years. The pavement
structure of the outside lane appears to be weaker than the inside lane, probably
because it has carried roughly 90% of the regular traffic since 2000. There is also
some subsidence at the junction, which lead to continual patching of the asphalt
surface as a temporary remedy (Figure 1).

FIG. 1.

Pavement condition on A30 test section

DATA COLLECTION
There have been several investigations reported using a falling weight
deflectometer (FWD) to characterize the structural properties of pavements. Several
researchers have used FWD to evaluate the structural performance or to determine
material parameters (Zhou et al. 1997; Hossain et al. 1997; Pologruto, 2006).
Falling Weight Deflectometer
FWD test is performed by dropping a weight on the top of a circular plate with a

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407

rubber-buffer system. The resulting load is a force impulse with duration of

approximately 30 ms and the frequency distribution ranging from 0 to 50 Hz. The
FWD load magnitude can vary from 30kN to 130kN by adjusting the drop height
and/or drop weight. Several seismic sensors are mounted on FWD at some specified
intervals along pavement surface. The sensors used in this study are in the center of
the plate and at points located at 200, 300, 600, 900, 1200, 1500, 1800 and 2100mm,
respectively, away from the center. The radius of the FWD loading plate is 150 mm,
the FWD load in the study is 50 kN, and the pressure below the plate is assumed to be
uniform (Xu, 2000). Figure 2 shows the typical deflection basin under the FWD setup
(Mehta et al. 2003). The FWD test was repeated at each location followed by
pavement coring for in-situ layer thickness of base and subbase, and the thicknesses
served as inputs to backcalculate the layer moduli.

FIG. 2. Schematic of FWD loading configuration, deflection basin

The traditional backcalculation techniques use the deflection test conditions (i.e.,
load plate geometry, layer thickness) and estimated layer moduli to generate a
theoretical deflection basin. The theoretical deflections are compared with the
measured deflections and the error is minimized until the two basins show a good
match. Subgrade elastic modulus MR(dyn) was backcalculated using the program
MODULUS, developed at the Texas Transportation Institute. It uses a layered elastic
computer program to generate a database of deflection basins for a range of layer
moduli. A pattern search method and interpolation are employed to minimize the error
between the measured and calculated deflection basins (EL-RAHIM 2001).
Benkelman Beam
According to the Specifications for Design of Highway Asphalt Pavement (JTG
D50-2006) in China, the design deflection is the most important criterion to control
the structural capacity of the asphalt concrete pavement. Therefore, the current
deflection is an effective criterion to evaluate the remaining structural capacity of
pavement. Highway Performance Assessment Standards (JTG H20-2007) provides an
equation for determining the Pavement Structure Strength Index (PSSI). PSSI is a
function of many dataStructure Strength Coefficient (SSI), design deflection of the
pavement (ld), testing deflection (l0), and two model parameters which are readily

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available from the statistical models. Deflection testing is done using the Benkelman
Beam (BB) in China.
Field Test Methods of Subgrade and Pavement for Highway Engineering (JTJ
059-95) provide the following function (1) to determine the resilient modulus of the
pavement.
2 p
(1)
E=
(1 2 )
L

in which E=resilient modulus (MPa); p=average vertical load pressure (MPa);

=radius of load (cm); L= deflection (0.01mm); =Poissons ratio; =coefficient of
deflection. The process of BB was done according to the above specifications.
The equipments in the study were FWD and BB (Figure 3).

(a)
FIG. 3.

(b)

Devices used in structure capacity evaluation: (a)FWD and (b)BB

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Analysis of FWD and BB deflection data

Due to large amount of data available, the comparison is simply made in terms of
test values in order to provide a gross evaluation. A correlation between BB and FWD
deflection was thus achieved. The model was presented in the following form,
FWD=4.39BB-15.8

(2)

The coefficient of determination, R2, was 0.9578. It is observed that the results of
FWD and BB are strongly correlated. The FWD users may use the correlation
proposed above to transfer the measurements into BB to calculate PSSI. Taking also
into account the fact that the test of FWD is much faster, simpler, and more accurate
than BB, it is recommended to use FWD as a substitute to BB to evaluate the
structural capacity. It is notable that the correlation above between FWD and BB is
just for the junction of A30 and A12 in Shanghai, and the correlation for another
section must be established with the field test data.

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409

Analysis of FWD and BB modulus data

From the review of previous studies it becomes clear that there is a need, both
from theoretical and practical viewpoint, to interpret FWD test results with a reliable
and simple analysis technique. The BB results were analyzed to obtain the
corresponding subgrade modulus defined as E(sta). Moreover, the dynamic subgrade
modulus MR(dyn) was estimated from MODULUS using FWD test results. The mean
value of the subgrade modulus for all tested points obtained by different methods of
analysis is presented in Table1.
Table 1.
Location

k167+360~
k167+390
k168+120~
k168+150
k168+690~
k168+720
k168+950~
k168+980

Backcalculated Modulus of FWD and BB

Result

MR(dyn)/MPa
E(sta)/MPa
E(sta)/MR(dyn)
MR(dyn)/MPa
E(sta)/MPa
E(sta)/MR(dyn)
MR(dyn)/MPa
E(sta)/MPa
E(sta)/MR(dyn)
MR(dyn)/MPa
E(sta)/MPa
E(sta)/MR(dyn)

Test No.
1
60.4
16.3
0.27
68.5
17.8
0.26
109.6
26.3
0.24
61.2
15.3
0.25

2
87.6
18.4
0.21
112.6
21.4
0.19
102.3
22.5
0.22
57.7
12.7
0.22

3
69.6
17.4
0.25
57.0
11.4
0.20
63.5
16.5
0.26
64.4
11.6
0.18

4
76.8
16.9
0.22
79.6
18.3
0.23
72.1
13.7
0.19
76.5
17.6
0.23

It is observed that the static analysis provides lower estimates compared to the
corresponding back-calculated moduli of FWD. The ratios of E(sta)/MR(dyn) are in the
range of 0.18 to 0.27 with an average of 0.227. According to the aforementioned
studies the dynamic modulus of the subgrade is higher than the static modulus
obtained from traditional static analyses, such as the BB. This is consistent with the
findings in AASHTO (1993) and other studies suggesting that dynamic testing
provides a higher modulus compared to static, and the value of ratio varies from 0.2 to
0.33 (Ali et al. 1987; Von-Quintus et. al 1998).
Due to the fact that the FWD test is very convenient and rapid, it is accurate and
inexpensive to evaluate the structure capacity. It is believed, also, that the dynamic
modulus back-calculated from FWD test results can be used as a stiffness modulus for
the subgrade of new pavement construction in China.
CONCLUSION

This study is an example of the evaluation of structural capacity with FWD, and
the rehabilitation strategy was given based on the test results of FWD. It should be
clarified that subgrade soil conditions are nonuniform, hence the modulus
back-calculated is essentially an average value, and the rehabilitation strategy was

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made on the basis of many factors. The main conclusions derived from the
experimental evaluation presented herein are the following:
1. The exact relation between the results of falling weight deflectometer (FWD)
and Benkelman Beam (BB) is established, and the coefficient of determination is very
high. Therefore, it is recommended that the employment of FWD to substitute BB to
evaluate the structural capacity.
2. It should be noted that the correlation between FWD and BB is merely for the
junction of A30 and A12 in Shanghai, and the correlation for another sections must be
established with the field test data.
3. The ratio of E(sta) and MR(dyn) ranges from 0.18 to 0.27, this finding is consistent
with the findings in AASHTO (1993) and other studies suggesting from 0.2 to 0.33.
4. Due to the fact that the FWD test is very convenient and rapid, it is believed
that the dynamic modulus back-calculated from FWD test can be used as a dynamic
parameter for the subgrade of the structure capacity evaluation or new pavement
constructions in China.
ACKNOWLDGEMENTS

This study was funded by a Foundation Grant of Shanghai Municipal Engineering

Bureau (2008-1-4). The support is gratefully acknowledged. This research would not
have been possible without QiuXin for his field support and insight in the data
analysis. Grateful thanks are due to the workers for FWD data and BB data collection.
REFERENCE

Ali N.A., and Khosla N. P., "Determination of Layer Moduli Using a Falling Weight
Deflectometer," Transportation Research Record 1117, TRB, National Research
Council, Washington, DC., 1987, pp. 1-10.
ASHRAF M. ABD EL-RAHIM (2001). "In-situ tests for subgrade resilient modulus
characterization" The University of Mississippi.
Bing Xu(2000). "Assessing pavement layer condition using FWD deflection data."
North Carolina State University
Dar Hao Chen and Tom Scullion(2008). "Forensic Investigations of Roadway
Pavement Failures". Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities, Vol.22(1),
35-44.
Hossain, M., Habib, A., and LaTorella., T. M. (1997). "Structural layer coefficients of
crumb rubber-modified asphalt concrete mixtures." Transportation Research
Record 1583, Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 6270.
H. L. Von-Quintus, and B. M. Killingsworth, "Comparison of Laboratory and In situ
Determined Elastic Layer Moduli," A Paper Presented at the 78th Annual Meeting
of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, DC., January 1998.
Michael Pologruto(2006) "Study of In situ Pavement material properties determined
from FWD testing " Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol. 132(9),742-750.
Yusuf Mehta, A.M and Reynaldo Roque (2003), "Evaluation of FWD Data for
Determination of Layer Moduli of Pavements." Journal of Materials in Civil
Engineering, Vol. 15(1):25-31.

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411

Zhou, H., Rada, G. R., and Elkins,G. E. (1997). "Investigation of backcalculated

moduli using deflections obtained at various locations in a pavement structure."
Transportation Research Record 1570, Transportation Research Board, Washington,
D.C., 96107.

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