Federal Aviation 

Administration 

Presented to: REDAC Briefing to Sub-committee 

on Airports 

By: David R. Brill, P.E., Ph.D. 

Date: September 9, 2021 

RPA P-5 

Airport Pavement 

Design 

FAARFIELD Update 
 

 

 Federal Aviation 

Administration 

Advisory Circular Status 

• New AC 150/5320-6G, Airport Pavement Design and 

Evaluation. 

– Posted 6/7/2021 

• New AC 150/5335-5D, Standardized Method of 

Reporting Airport Pavement Strength - PCR. 

– In FAA final review. Some remaining PCR reporting issues to 

be resolved. 

– Release expected Fall 2021. 

• Both ACs incorporate FAARFIELD 2.0 for design & 

PCR computations. 

September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 2 
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FAARFIELD 2.0 

• Current Version 2.0.5 

• Major update from version 1.4: 

– Completely redesigned GUI with 

improved screen flow and explorerbased navigation. 

– 

c

A new 3D finite element 

omputational library, FAASR3D. 

– Support for the new ICAO ACR-PCR 

system. 

– Ability to add, save and edit userAdmi

Feder

defined vehicles. 

– Ability to work with multiple 

jobs/sections at once. 

– Updated aircraft library. 

• 

requirements in this version. 

No change to thickness design 

September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 
---- n 

 

 

FAARFIELD 2.0 Organization 

LEAF 

Layered Elastic 

Analysis 

ICAO-ACR 

ACR Numbers 

Aircraft 

Traffic Mix 

Pavement 

Structure 

Aircraft 

Library 

FAAMesh 

3D Mesh 

Generation 

• Thickness Design 

• Life 

• Compaction 

• PCR 

FAASR3D 

3D Finite Element 

Analysis 

INPUT OUTPUT 

FAARFIELD MAIN PROGRAM 

3D FEM Analysis 

FAARFIELD LIBRARIES 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 4 
 

 

 

 

FAASR3D – 

FAA Structural Analysis in 3D 

• Visual Basic.NET library. 

• Replaces obsolete NIKE3D 

Fortran program. 

– Managed Code - compatible 

with Microsoft .NET memory 

management services. 

– Improves performance. Old 

code was subject to memory 

conflicts and crashing. 

– Freely distributable code. 

• Continued updates to 

improve speed & efficiency. 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 5 
Organization 

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~ 

11 ,,.- 1 DaveTesl Newflex ible j Des. l 1l<1 - 2D j 

~ 1--. ...,...._,.-R ... ,.._ (iol (po,} 

i '--~ 11 --11 

G) FAARAELDvlAl•Crut<orModotyAotplane.forStttion Ne..F'-b~"'JobD.,,,.T ... 

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11 ... 11 

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- - . ---..... °"" .. _..,_ .... 

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UOSOOOIStllOIIO-OlO-OlLOI 

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GUI Modernization 

Major improvements: 

• Easier job and section entry. 

• Explorer-based navigation. 

• Improved screen re-sizing and 

appearance. 

• Improved flow between 

screens. 

• Ability to store traffic mixes. 

• Rationalized data file structure. 

• On-demand report generation. 

• Remove program logic from 

GUI controls. 

• Etc. 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 6 
" AirportA 

Job Information 

Design Options 

Summary Report 

"' Sections 

,. Section 01 

Section Report 

CDF Graph 

PCR Report 

PCR Graph 

Form 5010 

"' Section 02 

Section Report 

CDF Graph 

PCR Report 

PCR Graph 

Form 5010 

" Airport 8 

Job Information 

Design Options 

Summary Report 

" Sections 

" PCC Overlay Example 

Section Report 

CDF Graph 

PCR Report 

PCR Graph 

Form 5010 

,~Explorer -,;.Aircraft • Material 

Job Name: I Airport A 

:=========: Section Name: ~I s_ect _ i_on_ o_1 _____ ~ 

Pavement Layers 

Pavement Type: I New Flexible 

I Thickness Desig n ·I Run 

0 Include in summary report D Add To Batch 

·I Material Thickness (in.) E (psi) CBR 

P-401/P-403 HMA Surface 5.0 200000 

P-401/P-403 HMA Stabilized 5.0 400000 

-- > P-209 Crushed Aggregate 10.0 75000 

Subgrade 15000 10 

I Select As The Design Layer I I Delete Selected layer I 

Design life (Yea rs): EJ Results 

Calculated Life (Years): ~ Total thickness to the top of the subgrade: 120.0 in. 

Stored Aircraft M ix: I ExampleMix1 ·I I Save Aircraft M ix to File I I Clear All Aircraft from List I I Remove Selected Aircraft from Section I I Delete Aircraft Mix File I 

Airplane Name Gross Taxi Annual Annual Total CDF CDF Max P/C Ratio Tire Pressure PercentGN Dual Tire Tandem Tire Tire Contact 

Weight (lbs) Departures Growth(%) Departures Contributions for Airplane (psi) on Gear Spacing (in.) Spacing (in.) Width(in.) 

B737-900 174700 3000 60000 204 0.475 34.0 0.0 12.7 

A321 -200 opt 207014 2500 50000 212 0.475 36.5 0.0 13.6 

EMB-195 STD 107916 4500 90000 147 0.475 34.0 0.0 11.8 

CRJ700 72500 3500 70000 142 0.95 0.0 0.0 9.9 

Tire Contact 

Length (in.) 

20.4 

21.7 

18.8 

15.8 

Automatic flexible 

base design: 

Output file: 

ti X 

Units: I US Customary -- j 

Al low Flexible 

Computa

Overlays on 

tion 

PCC 

for Thick ~ 

Compute ACR for All E3 Subgrade Categories 

[ Show Advanced Options J 

Set as Program Reset Default to 

Default Init ial 

Show/Hide Pavement Image 

Change Pavement Graphics 

Design Options Notes 

 

 Federal Aviation 

Administration 

Navigating in FAARFIELD 2.0 

TOOLBAR 

EXPLORER 

SECTION AREA 

OPTIONS 

TRAFFIC AREA 

September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 7 
mJ FAARFIELD 2.0.3 (Bu il d 04/ 30/2021) 

~ 0 NewJob C)OpenJob (±) NewSection B save Job ~ SaveAs 0saveAII X c loseJo User DefinedAircraft ::!: create !, Ed it atc h Run Selection @setectAII Q DeSelectAII 

Explorer Vehicle Edit 

~ Workshop 

I Workshop Run I Status I Gear I Structure I 

\ X 

(1) elp lilr"'\ Reset X Exit 

X I Design Options 

 

FAARFIELD 2.0 Toolbar 

User-Defined Batch Job 

Job & Section Tools Aircraft Tools Tools 

Help File 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 8 
!1ii FAARFIELD 2.0.2 (Bu;ld 03/ 31/ 2021) 

I 9 Now Job Q o pen Job (±)Now Section B Save Job j 

"' AirportA I Job Information 

Design Options 

Summary Report 

"' Sections 

_. Section 01 

Section Report 

CDF Graph 

PCR Report 

PCRGraph 

Form 5010 

"' Section 02 

Section Report 

CDF Graph 

PCR Report 

PCRGraph 

Form 5010 

"' Airport B I Joo lntormation 

Design Options 

Summary Report 

"' Sections 

_. PCC Overlay Exam pie 

Section Report 

CDF Graph 

PCR Report 

PCRGraph 

Form 5010 

!~ Explorer I "'f;.Aircraft ifjMaterial 

LIii 

Job Name: 

Section Narr 

Pavement L 

Pavement 

Mate 

P-401 

P-401 

-- > P-205 - ~ 

5ubg1 - ~ 

Design Life 

Results 

Calculated 

Traffic 

Stored Airer. 

Airplane Na 

B737-900 

A321-20001 

EMB-195 ST 

CRJ700 

 Federal Aviation 

Administration 

Explorer Navigation 

• FAARFIELD 2.0 supports 

multiple jobs open at the 

same time. 

• Use the Explorer to navigate 

between jobs, and display: 

– Sections 

– Section Reports 

– PCR Reports/Graphs 

– 5010 Reports 

– Summary Reports (high-level run 

information on selected sections 

in a job) 

September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 9 
Aircraft X Aircraft X Aircraft X Aircraft X Aircraft X Aircraft X Aircraft X Aircraft X 

FAARFIELD Aircraft Group FAARFIELD Aircraft Group FAARFIELD Aircraft Group FAARFIELD Aircraft Group FAARFIELD Aircraft Group FAARFIELD Aircraft Group FAARFIELD Aircraft Group FAARFIELD Aircraft Group 

!Generic Generic Generic Generic Generic Generic Generic Generic 

Airbus !Airbus Airbus Airbus Airbus Airbus Airbus Airbus 

Boeing Boeing l~~~if!g Boeing Boeing Boeing Boeing Boeing 

McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas !McDonnell Douqlas McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas McDonnell Douglas 

Other large Jet Other large Jet Other large Jet Other Large Jet !Other_ Large Jet Other large Jet Other Large Jet Other Large Jet 

Regional/Commuter Regional/Commuter Regional/Commuter Regional/Commuter Regional/Commuter L~~gional/Commuter Regional/Commuter Regional/Commuter 

General Aviation General Aviation General Aviation General Aviation General Aviation General Aviation !General Aviation General Aviation 

Military Military Military Military Military Military Military !Military 

Non-Airplane Vehicles Non-Airplane Vehicles Non-Airplane Vehicles Non-Airplane Vehicles Non-Airplane Vehicles Non-Airplane Vehicles Non-Airplane Vehicles Non-Airplane Vehicles 

External library External l ibrary External library External library External library External l ibrary External l ibrary External library 

FAARFIELD Aircraft Library FAARFIELD Aircraft library FAARFJELD Aircraft library FAARFIELD Aircraft library FAARFJELD Aircraft library FAARFIELD Aircraft Library FAARFIELD Aircraft Library FAARFIELD Aircraft library 

5WL-2 ,- A300-B2 ~ B707-320C ~ DC3 An-124 BAe 146-300/300QC/300QT ~ Beechcraft Baron 55 ~ A400M LH ~ 

5WL-5 A300-B2K B717-200 HGW DCB-63/73 An-225 BeechJet-400/400A Beechcraft Bonanza F33A A400M LN 1 

5WL-10 A300-B4/C4 Std Bogie B727-100C Alternate DC9-32 Bombardier CS100 Bombardier CL-604/605 Beechcraft King Air 300 A400M TLL1 

5WL-50 A300-B4/C4 LGA Bogie B727-200 Advanced Basic DC9-51 COMAC C919 Cessna Citation II/Bravo CSS Beechcraft King Air 350 A400M TLL2 

5-3 A300-600 Std Bogie - B727-200 Advanced Option DC/MD-10-10/1 OF COMAC C919 ER Cessna Citation V Beechcraft King Air B100 B-52 

- 5-5 A300-600 LGA Bogie B737-100 - DC/MD-10-30/30F/40 Fokker-F-100 Cessna Citation VI/VII Beechcraft King Air B200 C-5 

5-10 - A310-200 B737-200 Advanced QC MD- 11 Fokker-F-28-1000/2000 Cessna Citation X Beechcraft King Air C90 C-17A 

5-12.5 A310-300 B737-200 MD-83 F-28-3000/4000/6000 CRJ100/200 Cessna 172 Skyhawk C-123 

5-15 A318-100 std B737-300 MD-90-30 ER IL-62 CRJ100ER/200ER Cessna 182 Skylane - C-130 

5-20 A318-100 opt B737-400 IL-76T CRJ100LR/200LR Cessna 206 Stationair C-130-57 

5-25 A319-100 std B737-500 IL-86 CRJ700 Cessna 208B Grand Caravan C-130-70 

5-30 A319-100 opt B737-600 L-100-20 CRJ900 Cessna 414/414A Chancellor F-15C 

5-30 HTP A319neo B737-700 L-1011 CRJ1000 Cessna C210 Centurion F-16C - 5-35 HTP A320-200 std B737-800 TU-134A Dassault Falcon 50/S0EX Cessna C441 Conquest II F/A-18C 

5-40 HTP A320-200 opt B737-900 TU-154B Dassault Falcon 900B C I' Cessna Citation M2 C525~ KC-10 

'-" I' ...... ,,._..,n1' ,.,.,,..,..,.. .. I' ,...,.,..,_an1' i:o i-;- • I I I• • I I • o_,r I' 

 

 

Aircraft Library 

Aircraft library has been completely reorganized and updated for 

the FAARFIELD 2.0 release! 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 10 
.. ~ FAARFIELD 2.0.0 Bt:ta 22 January 2020 

9 N-Job  open Job (±}N- Section B Save Job ~ Sa~ As esa~ Atl x Close Job ) Stored Aircraft Mix .!, Create ~ Eda !t 

. 'I- - Section Report CDF Graph Forn 5010 

. New Job 1 I New Job 1 I Thickness Design I Job Name: . Job Information 

Design Options Section Name: I New Section 1 I Thickness Design t 

iUfe 

Summary Report Pavement l ayers Compaction/Life 

..111 Sections Pavement Type: I New Flexible PCR 

. New Section 1 

Section Report Material 

CDF Graph P-401/P-403 HMA Surface 4.0 200000 

P-401/P-403 HMA Stabilized 5.0 400000 PCR Report 

- - > P-209 Crushed Aggregate 18.3 65665 

PCR Graph Subgrade 15000 10 

Form 5010 

I Select As The Design Layer I I Delete Seh 

Design Life: E Results 

Calculated life:c=J Total thickness to the top of the subgrade: 127.30 in. 

Traffic 

Stored Aircraft M ix: I FlexExampleMix ·I I Save Aircraft Mix to File 

Gross Taxi Annual Annual Total Cl Airplane Name Weight (lbs) Departures Growth(%) Departures c, 

A320-100 150796 600 0 12000 0 

A340-600 std 807333 1000 0 20000 o.: 

A340-600 std Belly 807333 1000 0 20000 0 

A380 1238998 300 0 6000 0 

A380 Belly 1238998 300 0 6000 0 

8737-800 174700 2000 0 40000 0 

8777-300 ER 777000 1000 0 20000 0. 

1P:1Explorerj --,:;.Aircraft e Material • I 

 Federal Aviation 

Administration 

Four Functions in FAARFIELD 2.0 

• THICKNESS DESIGN – Compute 

required thickness per AC 

150/5320-6. 

• LIFE – Compute structural life 

for a given structure and traffic 

mix. 

• COMPACTION – Compute 

subgrade compaction 

requirements per AC 150/5320-6 

for a given structure and traffic 

mix. (Applies to completed 

designs.) 

• PCR – Compute Pavement 

Classification Rating (PCR) for 

the structure and traffic mix. 

September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 11 
l Compute ACR of all aircraft .. 

· in list at opera ti ng weight. J Find maxim um ACR. ".:s 

2. Ru n FAARFIELD Life for the 

fu ll aircraft traffic list 

3. Run FAARFIELD Life for the 

critical aircraft only. 

Equivalent passes = no. of 

passes giving same CDF as 

original traffic list. 

4 . Run FAARFIELD Life for 

equivalent passes of the 

critical aircraft only. 

MGW of critical aircraft = 

GW giving CDF = 1.0 for the 

design life. 

PCR = max(PCR;) YES 

REPORT PCR 

PCR; = ACR of critical 

aircraft at MGW 

LL~ ICAO-ACR 

Find critical aircraft : 

Aircraft with the highest CDF 

contribution at critical offset. 

l LL4.__1c_A_o~--A_c_R_, 

Remove critical aircraft 

from traffic list. 

is I+ 1 

 

 

 

 

 

 

FAARFIELD 2.0 Provides PCR 

• Directly uses FAARFIELD 

structure and traffic list. 

• Replacement for COMFAA 3.0 

& support spreadsheets. 

• Method yields uniquely defined 

PCR – no more looping 

through all aircraft in the list. 

• Implemented in FAARFIELD 2.0 

– Solves problem of computing PCR for 

mixed traffic (narrow bodies and LR 

aircraft) without unnecessary 

operating weight restrictions. 

– Seamlessly handles HMA overlays on 

rigid pavements. 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 12 
FAARFIELD 2.0.0 Beta 22 January 2020 X 

± ewJob O openJob {±)NewSection ilSaveJob B SaveAs QsaveAtl X closeJobl StoredAircraftMix ,:!: create !. Edrt1 {2.) Help lt""\ Reset ~ 

Aircraft . t Section X Design Options . t X 

= = FAARFIELD Aircraft Group User Defined Aircraft Info User Defined Gear ~ Calculate HMA COF: E::3 Generic Select Aircraft [ B767 ER G,owth (UDA) - I 150 (Inches) 

Ai

McDo

Boe

rb

i

us 

ng 

nnell Douglas 

Gross Taxi Weight (lbs} I 413000 I 100 

Automa

base des

tic 

ign: 

flexible 

~ 

Other Commercial Percent Gross Weight 

~ Output file: E::3 On Whole Main Gear 150 General Aviation 

Military PCR Percent Gross EJ Units: @"customa~ Non-Airplane Vehicles Weight On Gear l00 

External library EJ Allow Flexible Tire Pressure (psi} 50 Computation for Thick ~ 

• • • • Overlays on PCC 

-150 . -219. _, -150 -100 -50 50 100 150 200 250 • • Set as P,og,am 11 Reset Default to I 

-50 Default Initial 

Tires Evaluation Points -100 I Show/ Hide Pavement Image I X Coord. (in) Y Coard. (in) X Coord. (i n) X Coord. (in) 

-224.3 28.0 -201.8 0.0 I- -179.3 2B.O -201.8 -8.8 I I I -150 Change Pavement Graphics FAARFIELD Aircraft Library 

C-141A ICAO Flexible -224.3 -28.0 -201.8 -17.5 I 

20-400 Ext1 (VOA) -179.3 -28.0 -197.3 -19.6 -200 -

B737-900rt (UDA) -192.8 -21.7 

B737-9ext (UDA) -188.3 -23.8 I• -250 

B767 ER Growth (VOA) 

Test30 (VOA) ~ [ Delete Eval. Point] r u pdate Gear Image~ rupdate User Defi ned Aircraft] I' 

Traffic . t 

Stored Aircraft Mix: I ·I I Save Aircraft Mix to File I I Clear All Aircraft from List I I Remove Selected Aircraft From Section I I Delete Aircraft Mix File I ..: 

Airplane Name Gross Taxi Annual Annual Total CDF COF Max P/C Ratio Tire Pressure Percent GW Dual Spacing Tandem Tire Tire Contact Tire Cont 

Weight (lbs) Departures Growth(%) Departures Contributions for Airplane (psi) on Gear (in) Spacing (in) Width(in) length (i 

A320-100 150796 600 0 t2000 0 0 0 200 47.50% 36.5 0.0 11.9 19.1 

A34D-600 std 807333 tooo 0 20000 0 0 0 234 3S.98% 55.0 78.0 15.7 25.2 

A340-600 std Belly 807333 tooo 0 20000 0 0 0 222 23.04% 46.3 77.9 12.9 20.7 

A380 1238998 300 0 6000 0 0 0 2t8 19.00% 53.1 66.9 14.7 23.5 

A380 Belly 1238998 300 0 6000 0 0 0 2t8 28.50% 0.0 0.0 14.7 23.s L B737-800 174700 2000 0 40000 0 0 0 204 47.50% 34.0 0.0 12.7 20A ~ ,~Explorer [ --,;.Aircraft J • Material ~ Design Options I Notes a7 C0<¥ rro - r ,,. • I  

 Federal Aviation 

Administration 

User-Defined Aircraft Mode 

Create, edit and save user-defined aircraft within the program. 

September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 13 
 

 

 

 

 Federal Aviation 

Administration 

User-Defined Aircraft 

• FAARFIELD treats UDA just like other 

library aircraft, except they have (UDA) 

appended to the aircraft name. 

• UDA data are stored in files in: 

C:\Users\[user]\Documents\My FAARFIELD\User Defined Aircraft 

• UDA data are also saved to the job file – 

useful if a job is sent to another user. 

September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 14 
2.0 

FAARFIELD 2.0 s the standard software accompanying the following FAA Advisory Circulars: 

AC 150/5320-BG -Airport Pavement Design and Evaluation, AC 150/5335-50 - Standardized 

Method of Reporting Pavement Strength - PCR 

FAARFIELD 2.0 is the FAA'.s standard so'tware for airpon pavement thickness design and evaluation (AC 150/5320-6G,Airport Pavement Design and Evaluation) 

and pavement strength reponing using the ACR/P{R method (AC 150/5335-50,Standardized Method of Reporting Pavement Strength - PCR). FA.A.RFIELD 2.0 

features include· 

• A completely redesigned graphical use r interface (GUI) with improved screen flow and explorer-based navigation 

• A new 30 finite element computational Library,FAASR.3D (FAA Struaural Response - 3D), wrinen in Visual Basic.NET 

• Support for the nl!W ICAO ACR-PCR system 

• New graphical vehicle editor provide.s the ability to add, save and edit user-defined vehicl6 

• Updatedairaaftlibrary 

• Ability to work with multiple jobs/se-ctions at once 

Notes: 

FAARFIELD stands for FM Rigid and Flexible Iterative Elastic Layered Design. FMRFIELD 2.0 incorporates full 3D finite dement responses to aircraft loads (for 

new rigid pavements and rigid overlays). The 30 finite element models u~d for rigid pavement designs are computationaUy intensive and may result in long 

run times,depending on the computer characteristics. We would appreciate your comments concerning this program and your suggestions on haw it could be 

improved. 

FAARFIELO 2.0 runs on Windows operating systems. Windows 7 or higher is recommended. Plea~ follow installation instructions in the readme file. 

For questions.comments or further information concerning this program, please contact Dr.David R. Bril~ FMAirpon Technology R&D Branch,ANG-E262. 

FAAR.FIELO 2.0 replaces all pr~ious versions of FAAR.FIELD. To download the previous version, FMRFIELD 1.42,use the foUowing link:: FAAR.FIELO 1.42 

Documents to download 

~ FMRFIELD 2.0.5 Installer (.zip, 46.24 MB)-158 download(s) 

~ FAARFIELD 2.0.5 readme 2021-08-02 (.pdf, 154.69 KB)- 71 download(s} 

~ FAARFIELD 2.0.S Source (.zip, 263.58 MB)- S7 download(s) 

 Federal Aviation 

Administration 

FAARFIELD 2.0 Download 

http://www.airporttech.tc.faa.gov/Products/Airport-Pavement-Software-Programs 

September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 15 
 Federal Aviation 

Administration 

FAARFIELD Training Workshops

(All Virtual) 

• May 11, 2021 – ASCE Transportation & 

Development Institute (T&DI) 

– 308 participants from 33 countries 

• May 24, 2021 – International Conference on 

Transportation Geotechnics (ICTG) 

• Sept. 27, 2021 – International Conference on 

Concrete Pavements (ICCP) 

September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 16 
 

 

 Federal Aviation 

Administration 

Current Projects 

• FAARFIELD / PAVEAIR Integration 

• Design Criteria for Seasonal Frost and 

Permafrost. 

• Design Criteria for Stabilized Bases 

• Machine Learning (ML) for Design Stresses 

• Reflection Cracking Model Development 

September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 17 
I ct d t b s 

Upload job to Pav Air 

Download job from Pave Air 

Log out 

9 -1ot1 CJ0pct,1ob @-s«-. i1s-lob 1Bs-Ao &5- A11 X ~1ob _._.,. ... :!c- .t. E<M a-i.--.- ~ ... ~All'~ ®Help - - ~ 

';;::::- • -9, ll!l!lll User: csather select database 1<,1es . --;-":"" 

s«tionRepo,t 

COfGraph 

POl;~rt 

POtGraph 

Fo,mS010 

P-ntuye<s 

Pa~mencType: 

C 

Th!Ckrwss06,g11 

Thocknfls(111.) 

Grosslax, Ann~I 

We,gt>tObs) o.pa,n_u,.. 

( (psi) 

' 

~ UploadjobtoPaveAir 

Downloadjobfromf'ave Air 

logout 

., 

= 

--

 

 

FAA PAVEAIR Integration 

• Use your PAVEAIR 

login for library updates 

• Data exchange with 

PAVEAIR via WebAPI. 

• Access to user-owned 

databases. 

– Download: Job information, 

existing sections, NDT 

data. 

– Upload: FAARFIELD job 

files (alternate designs). 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 18 
complete 

in progress 

I

·.· . . 

. LCCA 

Analysis ~ T bl 

E . a es ng1ne 

.. 

. · 1 

2 

::, -0 ,._ 

-5?8 

'<f -s 

\ /:J ,i, r-----.J~ -!::.~<IJ ----\ 

Section Size I ~ Ex-is-ti-ng- 1-ay-e-rs _____ -I XML Im porter 

... . ... . ·- ·w·-··. ··b.·A·n1 ·· · ::: . e.: ·r.:::: ...... .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

. . ' . .. ' . .. ' . .. ' . .. 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

::LttA:Alter-tiathie b~ta :: :: . ... . ... . ... . ... . ... . ... . ... . ... 

: < Downlo:ad tn:im: P/i.VEAIR<usfog: XMt> > 

: formatted :as: MARFlHP too lite :: ::::: 

• P~~ i~~t,qi) P~r ~lt~rriai(~e/~v~r•e: •: • 

FAARFIELD 

: : ;QR~::: . ... . ... . ... . . . 

• 9ptimuih i=AAif~IELD".supptieif: t : <sectior.dder.ltlfied :> .. . ... . ·. ·1··- ·. ·.·. ·. ·.·.d·. ·. ·.·.·.1 -~~~~~~~-,--,--,-.,....,...+------..i: )(tvlL fi. ~: :R~a : er .... . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . 

. . . .... . .. . . . . . . .. .. .. . . .. . . . ... . . . . . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . ... . . . . . . . . . . . ... . ... . ... 

: : : : : FAARFI ELD: Sectioti: l~y.er:bata::::::: 

-:: : l.:Jp't6a:d t6:PAVEAIRU:sln~(XMt:::• 

• 

 

Improve Data Exchange via 

WebAPI in PAVEAIR 

Non-PAVEAIR Data 

FAARFIELD 

Analysis 

Routines 

Build FAARFIELD section 

from PAVEAIR data 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 19 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Design Criteria for 

Seasonal Frost and Permafrost 

• Research request dated 1/27/20. 

• Collaboration with Alaskan Region 

(AAL) and Alaska DOT. 

• Major Subtasks: 

– TASK 1: Identify Subject Airports 

– TASK 2: Collect Relevant Documentation 

– TASK 3: Conduct Interviews 

– TASK 4: Design Review and Analysis 

• Focus on identifying design criteria 

used at airports exhibiting frostrelated performance issues. 

• Account for global warming trends. 

• Final report may recommend 

revisions to FAA design guidance. 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 20 
 

 

 

 

 Federal Aviation 

Administration 

Seasonal Frost and Permafrost 

Status and Current Activities 

• Selected four airports for detailed study: 

– Nome (discontinuous permafrost zone) 

– Barrow (continuous permafrost zone) 

– Kotzebue (continuous permafrost zone) 

– Noorvik (continuous permafrost zone, gravel-surfaced) 

• Interim report (Tasks 1-3) completed Nov. 2020. 

• Task 4 (Design Review and Analysis) was delayed 

due to contract transition, but now in progress. 

– Completed detailed design review of Nome and Kotzebue 

airports for seasonal frost and permafrost design criteria. 

– Final report anticipated March 2022. 

September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 21 
P-401/P-403 HMA Surface 

P-401/P-403 HMA Stabilized 

i-·------ -- --- -----~-----· P-209 Crushed Aggregate 

 

 

 

 

Design Criteria for 

Stabilized Bases and Subbases 

• Research request dated 8/13/18. 

– When should stabilized base be required or 

recommended? 

– What are the minimum requirements for a material to 

be considered a stabilized base? 

– What performance benefits are expected from use of 

stabilized base courses? 

– What are the appropriate stabilized base thickness 

requirements for rigid pavements/ flexible pavements? 

• Major Subtasks: 

– TASK 1: Literature Search 

– TASK 2: Desktop Study 

– TASK 3: Laboratory Study 

– TASK 4: Full-Scale Test (CC11) 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 22 
 

 

 

 

 Federal Aviation 

Administration 

Stabilized Base Design

Status and Current Activities 

• Interim report covering tasks 1 and 2 

completed Nov. 2020. 

• Tasks 3-4 were delayed due to contract 

transition, but now in progress. 

– Identified list of materials and tests. 

– Reviewed AIP 2021 funded airport construction projects as 

potential sources for base materials. Several airports including 

FLL have shown interest in this research. Working with AAS-110 

to facilitate sample production. 

– Preliminary full-scale test plan for incorporation in CC11 

anticipated November 2021. 

September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 23 
 

 

 

 

Machine Learning for Top-Down Cracking 

• OTA to ARA Inc., under BAA 

solicitation (ARAP0002). 

• Rapidly compute stress for 

top-down cracks (rigid). 

• Combined curling and 

aircraft loading. 

• Replace direct 3D-FEM 

computation for most gears. 

– “Deep Learning” approach 

removes the need to train a 

separate neural network for each 

aircraft. 

– General model is suitable for D, 2D 

and 3D gear configurations. 

FEAFAA Response Model 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 24 
300 

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~ 100 

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C: 

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~ 

0 so 100 150 

Slab Width (in) 

- Ground Truth 

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200 250 

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@ ONNX 

 

 

 

 

 

Machine Learning for Top-Down Cracking 

• Task 1 – Training Database. 

(COMPLETED). 

– Contractor ran >125,000 combinations 

of structural, thermal, and aircraft gear 

parameters. 

– Used output matrix to train the deep 

ANN model. 

• Task 2 – Machine Learning 

Model Development 

(COMPLETED). 

– Report submitted July 12. 

– Models are significantly more 

accurate than previous ML techniques 

for similar problems. 

• Task 3 – Implement ML Model 

(IN PROGRESS). 

• Final model and report delivery 

expected March 2022. 

Estimated Uncertainty Envelope Around 

Stress Prediction (Example) 

Next: Use Open Neural Network 

Exchange (ONNX) to port the developed 

Pytorch ML model to a .NET framework 

(so it will run in FAARFIELD). 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 25 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflection Cracking Model Development 

• OTA to Arizona State 

University (ASU), with 

participation from University of 

Illinois, under BAA solicitation 

ARAP0002. 

• Project awarded May 5, 2021. 

• Three-year effort will produce a 

practical reflective cracking 

model using fracture 

mechanics principles, for 

implementation in FAARFIELD. 

• Data from NAPTF reflection 

cracking rig and outdoor fullscale tests. 

• Model inputs include both 

aircraft load and temperature 

cycling (joint opening/closing). 

NAPTF Reflective Cracking Rig The “Real World” 

A key element in this project is the development of transfer 

functions to relate the theoretical crack growth (governed 

by Paris’ Law) to the condition of the affected pavement 

(PCI). This project will make use of real-world data in FAA 

PAVEAIR and related databases. 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 26 
 

Questions? 

Federal Aviation 

Administration September 9, 2021 RPA P-5 Airport Pavement Design 27