Acquisition of Non Destructive Testing Instrument for Pavement Engineering Research and Education

该提案要求资助购买一套无损检测仪器，用于路面工程的研究和研究相关教育：落锤挠度计（FWD）、探地雷达（GPR）和红外摄像机（IR 摄像机）。这些仪器将由一个研究团队使用：伍斯特理工学院、Infrasense Inc.、马萨诸塞州港务局和缅因州交通部。拟议仪器的计划应用领域是高速公路和机场路面的无损评估、开发确定现有材料和新材料关键性能的测试协议以及确定有效的设计、施工和质量控制方法。 FWD 对于估计现有层的模量是必要的。带有红外摄像机的探地雷达对于确定路面层厚度和利用 FWD 数据估计层模量所需的条件信息是必要的。所需的仪器也将用于本科生和研究生教育。使用这些仪器的一个例子是正在进行的国家科学基金会项目，该项目使用全尺寸仪器设施来确定交通条件下路面层的响应。从这项研究中获得的数据将用于研究以及路面分析和设计原理的教学以及无损检测的使用。项目总成本约为所需仪器成本的十倍，潜在的成本效益比非常高。所需的仪器对于开发研究团队当前和未来研究项目的无损测试能力至关重要。这些能力将使研究人员能够为公路和机场路面领域新知识的开发做出重大贡献，这些新知识可供民用和军事组织使用。智力价值：拟议项目旨在实际应用无损检测原理，并将直接提高对概念和应用的理解。更广泛的影响：这项工作将导致对材料特性的理解和使用无损测试进行材料表征方面取得重大进展。它将使所有群体和种族的学生能够在学校了解无损检测的原理和应用，并消除残疾学生的障碍。因此，拟议的项目将导致新知识的产生和学生的培训，从而使社会受益匪浅。项目材料将通过报告、会议和期刊出版物传播。

This proposal requests funding for the acquisition of a set of Non Destructive Testing instruments, which will be used for research and research related education in pavement engineering: A Falling Weight Deflectometer (FWD), a Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR), and an infrared camera (IR camera). The instruments will be used by a research team: the Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Infrasense Inc., Massachusetts Port Authority and Maine Department of Transportation. Planned application of the proposed instruments are in the area of non destructive evaluation of highway and airfield pavements, development of test protocols for determination of key properties of existing and new materials, and for determination of effective design, construction and quality control methods. The FWD is necessary for estimation of moduli of existing layers. The GPR, with IR camera, is necessary for determination of pavement layer thickness and conditions information needed for estimation of layer moduli with FWD data. The requested instruments will also be used for undergraduate and graduate education. One example of use of these instruments is in an ongoing National Science Foundation project in a full-scale instrumented facility for determination of pavement layer responses under traffic. The data obtained from this study will be used in research as well as for teaching principles of pavement analysis and design, and use of non-destructive testing. The total cost of projects is about ten times the cost of the requested instrument, and potential benefit to cost ratio is very high. The requested instruments are critical for developing Non Destructive testing capabilities of the research team for current as well as future research projects. Such capabilities will enable the researchers to make significant contributions towards the development of new knowledge in the area of highway and airfield pavements that can be used by both civil and military organizations. Intellectual merit: The proposed project aims at practical application of principles of non-destructive testing, and will directly improve understanding of concepts and applications. Broader impacts: The work will lead to significant advances in understanding of material properties and use of non-destructive testing for material characterization. It will enable students of all groups and ethnicity to understand principles and applications of non-destructive testing right in the school, and will remove barriers for students with disabilities. Hence the proposed project will lead to generation of new knowledge and training of students, and hence will benefit society significantly. Project materials will be disseminated through reports, conferences and journal publications.