Soon-Min Kwon

JCP Behavior with Traffic and Temperature Loadings: Analysis of a Test Road in Korea

AbstractBecause traffic and environmental loadings cause concrete pavement failure, a large budget is allocated for maintenance. Through understanding the effect of traffic and temperature loadings...

Influence on Predicted Performance of Jointed Concrete Pavement with Variations in Axle Load Spectra

PURPOSES:The purpose of this article is to investigate the predicted life of jointed concrete pavement (JCP) with two variables effecting on axle load spectra (ALS). The first variable is different data acquisition methods whether using high-speed weigh-in-motion (HS-WIM) or not and the other one is spectra distribution due to overweight enforcement on main-lane of expressway using HS-WIM. METHODS : Three sets of ALS had been collected i) ALS provided by Korea Pavement Research Program (KPRP), which had been obtained without using HS-WIM ii) ALS collected by HS-WIM before the enforcement at Kimcheon and Seonsan site iii) ALS collected after the enforcement at the same sites. And all ALS had been classified into twelve vehicle classes and four axle types to compare each other. Among the vehicle classes, class 6, 7, 10 and 12 were selected as the major target for comparing each ALS because these were considered as the primary trucks with a high rate of overweight loading. In order to analyze the performance of JCP based on pavement life, fatigue crack and International Roughness Index (IRI) were predicted using road pavement design program developed by KPRP and each ALS with same annual average daily traffic (AADT) was applied to design slab thickness. RESULTS : Comparison ALS of KPRP with those of HS-WIM shows that the ALS of KPRP has a low percentage of heavy spectra such as 6~9 tonnes for single axle, 18~21 tonnes for tandem axle and 27~30 tonnes for tridem axle than other two ALS of HS-WIM in most vehicle classes and axle types. It means that ALS of KPRP was underestimated. And after the enforcement, percentage of heavy spectra close to 10 tonnes per an axle are lowered than before the enforcement by the effect of overweight enforcement because the spectra are related to overweight regulation. Prediction results of pavement life for each ALS present that the ALS of HS-WIM collected before the enforcement makes the pavement life short more than others. On the other hand, the ALS of KPRP causes the longest life under same thickness of slab. Thus, it is possible that actual performance life of JCP under the traffic like ALS of HS-WIM could be short than predicted life if the pavement was designed based on ALS provided by KPRP. CONCLUSIONS : It is necessary to choose more reliable and practical ALS when designing JCP because ALS can be fairly affected by acquisition methods. In addition, it is important to extend performance life of the pavement in service by controlling traffic load such as overweight enforcement.

Evaluation on Riding comfort of A Passenger with Various Surface Textures of Concrete Pavement in Tunnels

PURPOSES : The purpose of this article is to compare and evaluate the riding comfort of a passenger in tunnels depending on different surface textures of concrete pavement. METHODS : Evaluation of riding comfort is conducted at 17 sections, which have different surface texture such as transverse tinned(TT), longitudinal tinned(LT) and diamond grinded(DG). A triaxial accelerometer was set up on the passenger seat surface of the test vehicle to measure vibrations of an occupant, then the effects of vibration on comfort and health were evaluated by ISO 2631. And microphones were installed at passengers ears height to measure sound pressure level(SPL) in the test vehicle. Additionally, a surface microphone was installed on the inside of wheel arch to evaluate noise between tire and pavement by NCPX method. All tests were conducted cruising at 100km/h. RESULTS : The results of all tests are as follows. First, both vibration magnitudes for comfort and for health in LT and DG sections are almost same and they represent lower than those in TT sections. Second, the average SPL of DG shows the lowest decibels among them. And third, it is founded that interior noise is significantly affected by noise between tire and pavement. CONCLUSIONS : It may be concluded that DG can provide more excellent riding comfort to passenger than LT or TT. Therefore, it is necessary to consider applying DG to existing pavement surface to improve surface condition when the driving environment especially requires riding comfort like a long tunnel.