Year

2021

Season

Spring

Paper Type

Master's Thesis

College

College of Computing, Engineering & Construction

Degree Name

Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (MSME)

Department

Engineering

NACO controlled Corporate Body

University of North Florida. School of Engineering

First Advisor

Dr. James H. Fletcher

Second Advisor

Dr. John Nuszkowski

Rights Statement

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Third Advisor

Charles Holzschuher

Department Chair

Dr. Osama Jadaan

College Dean

Dr. William F. Klostermeyer

Abstract

When water has nowhere to escape from the surface of a roadway, it can disrupt the tire-to-pavement adhesion of a traveling vehicle and lead to hydroplaning. Pavement macrotexture provides the pathways for water to drain, which allows for the necessary grip between tire and pavement. Macrotexture, which is quantified by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) in terms of mean profile depth (MPD), is analyzed by the State Materials Office using a high-speed point-laser mounted along the driver side wheel path of a friction testing vehicle.

While point-lasers are capable of accurately measuring MPD on flexible pavement, the system fails to capture the anisotropic texturing of rigid pavement, such as longitudinally-ground (LGD) concrete. A prospective solution to this issue was to utilize a vehicle-mounted line-laser that collects texture data in a three-dimensional (3D) manner, as opposed to the two-dimensional (2D) collection of a point-laser. The three dimensions in which the line-laser collects texture data are transversely along the length of the laser spectrum, longitudinally in the direction of vehicle travel, and vertically as height measurements.

As a result, the focus of this study was to develop and execute a research-based approach in configuring an LMI Technologies line-laser system to accurately assess pavement macrotexture on a network level. This objective was successfully completed by configuring and optimizing the line-laser collection parameters through a series of static and dynamic tests on roadways throughout Florida. Currently, the line-laser system produces MPD values that are highly correlated with accepted reference values on both flexible and rigid pavement in a repeatable and reproducible manner. Utilizing the updated line-laser system will allow the FDOT to accurately assess the macrotexture of Florida’s longitudinally-ground concrete roadways at highway speeds, which was previously completed with maintenance of traffic as a static test.

Download

Share

COinS