Characteristic of Rigid Pavement

Source: http://www.pavement.com/Concrete_Pavement/Technical/Fundamentals/
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RIGID AND
FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT
1. The manner in which the load is distribute over
the subgrade.
 Rigid pavement, because of concrete’s rigidity and
stiffness, tends to distribute the load over a relatively
wide area of subgrade.
 Flexible pavement, built with weaker and less stiff
material usually require more layers and greater
thickness for optimally transmitting load to the
subgrade.
DIFFERENCES BETWEEN RIGID AND
FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT
2. MAJOR design factor
 The major factor considered in the design of rigid
pavement is the structural strength of the concrete. For
this reason, minor variations in subgrade strength have
little influence upon the structural capacity of the
pavement.
 The major factor considered in the design of flexible
pavements is the combined strength of the layers.
Material Used in Rigid Pavement
 Portland Cement
 Coarse Aggregate
 Fine Aggregate
 Water
 Reinforcing Steel
 Temperature Steel
 Dowel Bar
 Tie Bar
Temperature Steel
 Bar mat or wire mesh : longitudinal and transverse
welded at regular interval
 3 in. below slab surface
 The amount of steel required depends on the
 Length of pavement between expansion joint
 Max allowable stress in pavement
 Pavement thickness
 Modulus of elasticity of Concrete and steel
Temperature Steel
 Purpose: not to prevent cracking but control the
crack width because the steel acts as tie holding the
edge of the cracks together.
 This helps to increase shear resistance of the slab
Dowel Bars
 Mainly as a load transfer mechanism across joints.
 Provides flexure, shearing and bearing resistance
 Diameter of 1 to 1.5 in and length 2-3 ft spaced 1ft
across the slab width
 One end should be smooth and lubricated to
facilitate free expansion
Tie Bar
 To tie two section together
 Diameter 0.75 in and 3 ft spacing
Joint in Concrete Pavement
 Expansion Joints
 Contraction Joints
 Hinge Joints
 Construction Joints
Expansion Joints
 Place transversely, at regular intervals, to provide
adequate space for the slab to expand
 Across full width of the slab and 0.75 to 1 in wide in
longitudinal direction
 The joint space filled with compressible material (e.g
cork, rubber, bituminous material etc)
Contraction Joint
 Decrease in temperature , slab will contract if it is free
to move.
 Prevention from moving will induce tensile stress in
the concrete pavement.
 This joint will release the induced tensile stress
Hinge Joints
 To reduce crack at centre line of concrete pavement.
Construction Joint
 Placed transversely
 To provide suitable transition between concrete laid at
different times
Stress in Rigid Pavement
 Stress due to wheel load
 Stress due to temperature effects
 Assumption made in determining the stress:
Stress Due to Wheel Load
 3 critical location of wheel load on the concrete
pavement:
A. At the corner
B. At interior of the slab
C. At the edge of the slab
Stress Due to Wheel Load
Stress Due to Temperature Effect
 The edge curling stress is resisted by the weight of
the concrete pavement.
 The resistance tends to keep the slab to its original
position, resulting stress induced in the pavement.
 The stress may cause cracking of the pavement
when it is very high
 Studies have shown that the stress increases as the
width of the slab increases.
 Longitudinal joint may reduce the stress as it limits
the slab width to 10-12 ft
Stress Due to Temperature Effect
 The temperature difference also depends on the
 Slab thickness
 Season
 Latitude of slab location – higher as approaching
equator
Stress Due to Temperature Effect
Stress Due to Temperature Effect
Stress Due to Temperature Effect
THICKNESS DESIGN OF RIGID
PAVEMENTS
 Main objective: to determine the thickness of the
concrete slab that will be adequate to carry the
projected traffic load for the design period
 Two methods:
 AASHTO Method
 PCA Method
AASHTO method
 Design consideration:
 Pavement performance
 Subgrade strength
 Subbase strength
 Traffic
 Concrete properties
 Drainage
 Reliability
Pavement Performance
 Structural performance:
 Functional performance: riding comfort
 Present servicebility index (PSI): Roughness,
distress measured in terms of extent of cracking,
patching and rut depth
 The scale: 0 (lowest) – 5 (highest)
 Initial servicebility index (Pi): servicebility index
immediately after construction
 Terminal servicebility index (Pt): minimum acceptable
value before resurfacing is necessary
Pavement Performance
 Recommended value for Pt = 2.5 or 3.0 (major
highway) 2.0 (lower class.)
 Minimum Pt = 1.5
Subgrade Strength
 Measured by Westergaard modulus of subgrade
reaction, k
 Plate bearing test
 k depends on:
 Seasonal effect on resilient modulus of subgrade
 Type and thickness of subbase material
 Effect of potential erosion of subbase
 Whether bedrock lies within 10 ft of the subgrade
surface
CBR 5-10

CBR greater than 10

Effect of Potential Erosion of Subbase
Effect of Potential Erosion of Subbase
Bedrock lies within 10 ft from
subgrade surface
Subbase Strength
Traffic
 The traffic load is given in term of equivalent axial
loads (ESALs).
 ESAL factors depend on:
 Slab thickness
 Terminal serviceability index, Pt
Drainage
Reliability design level
 Assurance level that the pavement section designed
using the procedure will survive for its design period
Reliability design level
 So accounts for chance variation in the traffic forecast
and chance variation in actual pavement performance
for a given design period
Design Procedure
Design Procedure
Thank You