Data Processing, Storage, and Analysis: Applying Computational Procedures to the Case of a Falling Weight Deflectomer (FWD)

Abstract

In the field of civil engineering, the adoption and use of Falling Weight Deflectometers (FWDs) is seen as a response to the ever changing and technology-driven world. Specifically, FWDs refer to devices that aid in evaluating the physical properties of a pavement. This paper has assessed the concepts of data processing, storage, and analysis via FWDs. The device has been found to play an important role in enabling the operators and field practitioners to understand vertical deflection responses upon subjecting pavements to impulse loads. In turn, the resultant data and its analysis outcomes lead to the backcalculation of the state of stiffness, with initial analyses of the deflection bowl occurring in conjunction with the measured or assumed layer thicknesses. In turn, outcomes from the backcalculation processes lead to the understanding of the nature of the strains, stresses, and moduli in the individual layers; besides layer thickness sensitivity, the determination of isotropic layer moduli, and establishing estimates in the subgrade CBR. Overall, impositions of elastic and low strain conditions foster the determination of resilient modulus and the analysis of unbound granular materials. Hence, FWD data processing, analysis, and storage gain significance in civil engineering because it informs the nature of designing new pavements and other rehabilitation design options.