Enhanced Sensing and Data Processing System for Continuous Profiling of Pavement Deflection

Continuous pavement deflection profiling in a nondestructive manner has received great attention because of its efficiency in pavement evaluation. The Rolling Dynamic Deflectometer (RDD) is a continuous pavement deflection profiling technology and has demonstrated its successful use at many pavement projects. However, RDD’s current test speed of 1.6 km/h (with the prototype rolling sensor) often limits its use in large-coverage projects and traffic congested areas. Increasing the test speed creates a higher-noise environment, lowered signal-to-noise ratio, and sensor decoupling with the ground surface. This study presents the enhancement to the RDD for increased test speed, associated with the new design of the lower-level rolling sensor and higher-performance digital filter and data processing. The new sensor along with the enhanced data processing could increase the spatial resolution of the deflection data, which allows the increase of the test speed of the RDD.