DEFINITION OF IN SITU PAVEMENT INSTRUMENTATION FOR DATA COLLECTION TO DEVELOP A PAVEMENT PERFORMANCE MODEL

After the implementation of the AASHTO Road Test many researches have been carried out regarding material and pavement performance, both in laboratory and in situ. Many methods for pavement evaluation and design were obtained based on empirical or empirical-mechanistic approaches. Nowadays, these methods are used in pavement analysis and design supported by a set of shift factors that consider the variables which were not included in their definitions. At the present time, the development of economical electronic sensors has made possible a successful full-scale instrumentation of pavements that include a set of variables which were not considered in the past. This paper focuses on reporting the instrumentation selected for a full scale research in Portugal led by the University of Minho, and some basic and limited considerations to collect relevant data for pavement modelling. The instrumentation includes monitoring environmental conditions (rainfall, air temperature, solar and UV radiations, and wind), pavement characteristics (temperature, moisture and groundwater level), pavement response (displacement, tensile and compression strains, deformations and pressures) and vehicle characteristics (type, axle configuration, tire type and pressure, speed, weight by axle at high speed and the transversal wandering). The definition of the instrumentation for pavement response was based on conventional pavement analysis using numerical modelling in which the sensors position may ensure reliable measurements. External parameters evaluation, such as tire pressure and tire pattern, is included by sample-collection.