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 The effect of vehicle loading on a pavement is relatively small,

when considering each vehicle or loading individually.
 However, the cumulative effect of many such loads causes
distress in the pavement. An understanding of the short term
effect of loading on a pavement provides a good background
for how the cumulative affects manifest, and are modelled.
 Under the action of a moving vehicle load, the pavement
deflects, and rebounds when the load has moved away.
 The effect of a heavy vehicle load generally extends over an
area of 1 to 2 metres from the point of loading, in all three
directions.
 This deflected area tends to form a circular, deflected
indentation known as a deflection bowl.
 The size and shape of deflections bowls vary and depend …
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 The size and shape of deflections bowls vary and depend on
the pavement structure, the strength and stiffness of the
materials, pavement balance, temperature and of course, the
loading magnitude, duration and contact area.
 For flexible pavements in a good condition, the maximum
deflection is typically less than 500 microns under a standard
axle load.
 The most common method of measuring pavement
deflections is with the Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD),
shown in Figure 7.
 The FWD measures the deflections with sensors placed on the
road surface. As with most equipment, while the FWD is a
valuable tool, it has limitations, which should be considered
…
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 The FWD measures the deflections with sensors placed on the
road surface.
 As with most equipment, while the FWD is a valuable tool, it
has limitations, which should be considered during any
analysis.
 A good reference for most aspects of FWD measurements is
“Guidelines for Network Level Measurement of Pavement
Deflection” (COTO, 2009, which will be republished as
TMH13).

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 The pavement layers influence the deflection bowl.
 This is illustrated in Figure 8 for a simple three layer pavement
 structure.
 The stress distribution through the pavement from the FWD
loading is represented by the black curve.
 As the load is distributed into the pavement, the stress
distribution increases, although the intensity of the stress
reduced.
 The deflection bowl is represented by the white line, and the
blue arrows indicate the locations of the FWD sensors.
 The sensor immediately underneath the FWD load measures
the largest deflection. All the layers contribute to that
deflection.
 The sensor furthest away from the load measures …
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 The sensor furthest away from the load measures a deflection
that is generated from the subgrade.
 The closer the sensor to the load, the more layers contribute
to the deflection.
 The deflection bowl, therefore, provides information about
the individual layers, by investigating the shape of the bowl.
For example, deflection bowl from a pavement with a weak
base layer shows an increased deflection at the first three
sensors.
 Section 7.5 presents some guidelines for using deflections to
analyse and characterise pavements, and also to identify
problem layers in the pavement.

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 The influence of the pavement structure on the deflection bowls
is illustrated by three different scenarios shown in Figure 9:
• Scenario 1 is a stiff pavement, with a relatively stiff and
strong cemented subbase layer. The deflection is relatively
low, and the bowl wide in comparison to its magnitude.
• Scenario 2 is a pavement that is relatively old, but has good
quality materials. The deflection is higher than Scenario 1,
because the pavement is less stiff.
• Scenario 3 is an old pavement with that has poor quality
materials, and has a moist subbase and subgrade. The
deflection is large, and the width of the bowl is narrow.
 Section 7.5 later in this chapter, and Chapter 2: 2 contain discussion on the
behaviour of various pavement layer types under vehicle loading. Chapter
6: 7.3.4.1 contains more on deflection measurements and backcalculation.
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 The load sensitivity of a pavement is typically used in
the conversion of the traffic axle load spectrum to an
equivalent design traffic estimate in terms of standard
axles.
 The type of pavement and pavement balance
determine the load sensitivity of a particular design.
Hence, the same traffic load spectrum may convert to
different equivalent standard axle values, depending
on the load sensitivity.
 Load sensitivity and the conversion of actual axle loads
to standard axles are discussed in Section 4.1.3.
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The typical long term behaviour under loading of
flexible, rigid and concrete block pavements is
different, as described below.
3.5.3.1 Flexible Pavements
The long term behaviour and distress of the different
types of flexible pavement share some general phases
and trends, as illustrated in Figure 10.

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 Initial phase. During the initial phase, some bedding-in
occurs. The rate at which any particular type of distress
increases may be high. The absolute value of the distress is,
however, still well below the limits normally indicating a
terminal condition.
 Primary phase. The rate at which the distress increases
normally reduces fairly rapidly to an almost constant rate
during the primary phase. Reliable service is expected during
the primary phase as long as the appropriate routine,
preventative maintenance is done. Premature failure may,
however, occur due to poor construction, a lack of
maintenance, extreme overloading or unexpected
deterioration of the materials used in the pavement.
 Accelerated distress phase. During this phase, the rate of … 14
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 Accelerated distress phase. During this phase, the rate of
increase in distress becomes unstable. A terminal condition
may be reached if the response time of the Pavement
Management System (PMS) is too long, and reactive
maintenance and rehabilitation is not done in time.
 Secondary phase. If reactive maintenance or rehabilitation is
done in time during the accelerated distress phase, a
secondary stable condition may be entered, extending the
life of the facility beyond the initial structural design life.

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