Abstract: Previous research studies have successfully demonstrated the use of artificial neural network (ANN) models for predicting critical structural responses and layer moduli of highway flexible pavements. The primary objective of this study was to develop an ANN-based approach for backcalculation of pavement moduli based on heavy weight deflectometer (HWD) test data, especially in the analysis of airport flexible pavements subjected to new generation aircraft (NGA). Two medium-strength subgrade flexible test sections, at the National Airport Pavement Test Facility (NAPTF), were modeled using a finite element (FE) based pavement analysis program, which can consider the non-linear stress-dependent behavior of pavement geomaterials. A multi-layer, feed-forward network which uses an error-backpropagation algorithm was trained to approximate the HWD backcalculation function using the FE program generated synthetic database. At the NAPTF, test sections were subjected to Boeing 777 (B777) trafficking on one lane and Boeing 747 (B747) trafficking on the other lane using a test machine. To monitor the effect of traffic and climatic variations on pavement structural responses, HWD tests were conducted on the trafficked lanes and on the untrafficked centerline of test sections as trafficking progressed. The trained ANN models were successfully applied on the actual HWD test data acquired at the NAPTF to predict the asphalt concrete moduli and non-linear subgrade moduli of the medium-strength subgrade flexible test sections.

Key words: Airport flexible pavements, Heavy weight deflectometer (HWD), Artificial neural networks (ANN), Elastic moduli, New generation aircraft (NGA)

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