Presented to: REDACBy: Al Larkin, FAA Airport Technology R & D and         Dr. Injun Song, SRA InternationalDate: March 15, 2016

RPA P6Non – Destructive Airport Pavement Testing Technology

*

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

*

RPA P6 - Airport Pavement NDT Technology
        -  FY 2016 Accomplishments
        -  Research Goals

Funding Requirements 
        - Development of New Pavement Roughness Index for In-Service Airport Pavement
        - Evaluation of Alternative Profiling Technologies for Airport Pavement  Acceptance

• Preliminary Pavement Roughness Index Computation to be Delivered by CSRA in May 2016.

• Trip to Wright-Patterson AFB to Compare Alternate Longitudinal Pavement Profiling Devices to the Existing FAA Advisory Circular 150/5370-10 Acceptance Procedures.    
        -  Need
        - The FAA predicts that the airline industry will grow from 731 million passengers in 2011 to 1.2 billion in 2032. Because of this, airport pavements will need to be evaluated faster and more efficiently; nondestructive airport pavement testing is the hub of airport pavement evaluation. 
| FY 2015               | FY 2016 | FY 2017 | FY 2018 |
|-----------------------|---------|---------|---------|
| Funding Target ($000) | 1,650   | 1,450   | 1,600   | 1,648 |

*

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center Simulators

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

Development of a New Pavement Airport Roughness Index
        - Evaluate collected profile data using the FAA inertial profiler from domestic and international airports.  Additional data using different profiler types such as walking profiling device will be included – PA40 data will be used as well.
        - The data includes both flexible and rigid pavement at runways and taxiways.

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

Development of a New Pavement Airport Roughness Index
        - Initially, the new index will be developed using the acceleration data collected in the simulator project.
        - This data has been correlated to pilots subjective response and threshold values determined.
        - The anticipated follow on phases includes rigorous testing using acquired profile data and a comparison to adopted roughness indexes.   

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

New Roughness Index
        - Unacceptable Weighted RMS (m/s2) = 0.35 – Runways
        - Unacceptable Weighted RMS (m/s2) = 0.31 – Taxiways

•   As an example, preliminary analysis indicates a 5.0 pilot 

rating for IRI 126in/mile which is generally accepted for airport pavements.  This IRI equates to a WTRMS of 0.5274 (m/sec2) .  The straightedge index 0.25inch matches to 2.5 pilot rating which corresponds to 1.06m/sec2 WtRMS.  Note that the straightedge index 0.25inch is an average for overall profile length.
        - Expected results would be either confirming the results from the simulator project or combinations of multiple indices.

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

Sample Simulator Profiles 

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

Plot of Roughness Indexes vs. Pilot Ratings

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

Purpose of the Research
        - FAA AC 150/5370-10 allows the use of the California Profilograph (CP) and the Profile Index (PI) and Straightedge for Construction Acceptance.
        - Confirm if the PI is the Preferred Index.
        - Determine the Suitability of Alternate Profiling Devices such as Inertial Profiler or Rolling Straightedge for Construction Acceptance.

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

Overview of Research Plan 
        - Task 1 – Coordinate and Finalize the Test plan.
        - Task 2 – Establish the Criteria for Acceptability.
        - Task 3 – Collect the Profile Data at WPAFB.
        - Task 4 – Convert Data to the Required Formats.
        - Task 5 – Conduct the Analyses and Calculate the Roughness Indexes.
        - Task 6 - Prepare a Final Report Evaluating the Profiling Devices and Pavement Roughness Programs. 

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

WPAFB Pavement Description

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

WPAFB Profiling Devices

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

Profile Data Analysis Programs

•   Each Run of Each Device Will be Analyzed

    Using the Following Roughness Program:
        - ProFAA – FAA
        - ProVAL – FHWA
        - APRas – APR Consultants

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

Data Analysis Procedure
        - Compute Profile Index and Compare to California Profilograph (CP) in 1/10 Mile Sections.
        - CP Simulations Will be Compared Using ProFAA and ProVAL.
        - Determine the Ability of Each Device to Compute Deviation from a Straightedge and identify Areas Out of Tolerance.

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

Data Analysis Procedure
        - Evaluate Repeatability Between the Profile Index and Straightedge and Expand to other Roughness Indices.
        - Evaluate the Capability of Each Device to Measure Grade.
        - Using the Aircraft Simulation Capabilities in ProFAA and APRas, Evaluate the Capability of the Profiling Devices to Predict Pavement Response.

*

Nondestructive Airport Pavement Testing 

March 15, 2016

			Thank You

		   QUESTIONS?