Dynamic analysis of falling weight deflectometer

Falling weight deflectometer (FWD) testing has been used to evaluate structural condition of pavements to predict the layer moduli using backcalculation process. However, the predicted pavement layer moduli sometimes may not be accurate even if computed and measured deflection basin has fulfilled the standard and is in concurrence with certain tolerable limits. The characteristics of pavement structure, including pavement layer thickness condition and temperature variation, affect the predicted pavement structural capacity and back calculated layer modulus. The main objective of this study is to analyze the FWD test results of flexible pavement in Western Australia to predict the pavement structural capacity. Collected data includes, in addition to FWD measurements, core data and pavement distress surveys. Results showed that the dynamic analysis of falling weight deflectometer test and prediction for the strength of character of flexible pavement layer moduli have been achieved, and algorithms for interpretation of the deflection basin have been improved. The variations of moduli of all layers along the length of sections for majority of the projects are accurate and consistent with measured and computed prediction. However, some of the projects had some inconsistent with modulus values along the length of the sections. Results are reasonable but consideration should be taken to fix varied pavement layers moduli sections. © 2016 Periodical Offices of Chang'an University

An empirical examination of the role of environmental accounting information in environmental investment decision-making

An experiment is used to investigate two important factors associated with environmental investment decision-making by managers: the regulatory regime in which the firm operates and the nature of environmental information used as a decision aid. Two regulatory regimes are examined, a command and control regulatory regime and a voluntary self-regulatory regime. Two accounting systems are contrasted, environmental management accounting and conventional management accounting, thereby providing a 2 × 2 experimental design for the empirical study. The paper considers environmental investment decision-making by different types of managers working in the Australian offshore petroleum industry. These empirical results indicate that environmental accounting information has a more significant influence on the willingness of managers to incorporate environmental considerations into investment decisions and to avoid future environmental risks, than does the type of regulatory regime