PURPOSES: The purpose of this paper is showing that the state of pavement sublayers can be evaluated differently according to direction of FWD. METHODS: The concrete pavement slabs above subgrade without anything, subgrade with cavity, and box culvert were modeled by finite element method(FEM). The modeled pavements were analyzed by changing the direction of falling weight deflectometer(FWD). The deflection results obtained from FEM were used to calculate radius of relative stiffness and composite modulus of subgrade reaction using AREA method. Then, the analyzed results were compared to the results of the test performed at the Korea Expressway Corporation(KEC) test road. RESULTS : The composite modulus of subgrade reaction increased with subgrade elastic modulus, while radius of relative stiffness decreased. The pavement sections of pure earth showed the consistent results regardless of FWD direction. In case there was cavity, the radius of relative stiffness was larger and composite modulus of subgrade reaction was smaller when FWD was leaving the cavity than when approaching the cavity. This pattern became clear when the cavity got larger. In case of the section with box culvert, the pattern was opposite to the case of cavity. When the soil cover depth increased, the effect of box culvert got smaller. When the load was applied far from the cavity and box culvert, the effect was also declined. The test performed at the KEC test road showed identical results to those of finite element analysis. CONCLUSIONS : The direction of FWD should be considered in evaluation of the state of pavement sublayers because it can be evaluated differently even under identical condition.

PURPOSES: The existing method evaluating the existence of the hollows in concrete pavement does not consider the stiffness of pavement. In addition, the method uses unreasonable logic judging the hollow existence by the deflection caused by zero loading. In this study, the deflection of slab corner due to heavy weight deflectometer (HWD) was measured in concrete pavement sections where underground structures are located causing the hollows around them. METHODS: The modulus of subgrade reaction obtained by comparing the actual deflection of slab to the result of finite element analysis was calibrated into the composite modulus of subgrade reaction. The radius of relative stiffness was calculated, and the relationship between the ratio of HWD load to the radius of relative stiffness and the slab deflection was expressed as the curve of secondary degree. RESULTS: The trends of the model coefficients showing width and maximum value of the curve of secondary degree were analyzed by categorizing the pavement sections into three groups : hollows exist, additional investigation is necessary, and hollows do not exist. CONCLUSIONS: The results analyzed by the method developed in this study was compared to the results analyzed by existing method. The model developed in this study will be verified by analyzing the data obtained in other sections with different pavement structure and materials.