Westergaard Method For Rigid

Pavement
Westergaard Method For Rigid Pavement > Road &
Pavement Design > CivilWeb Spreadsheets

The design of rigid pavements by the Westergaard method is

still commonly used today for rigid pavements loaded by
non-highway vehicles. The Westergaard method for rigid
pavement design involves a calculation of the stresses acting
in the pavement under the wheel load. This stress is then
compared to the strength of the pavement slab to determine
whether the slab is sufficiently strong to accommodate the
proposed loadings.

The Westergaard analysis of the rigid pavement stress and

strength is often combined with a separate fatigue analysis
model to determine how many repetitions of this load the
pavement will be able to withstand.

The CivilWeb Westergaard Method for Rigid Pavement

Design Spreadsheet completes the required calculations for
a full Westergaard analysis of the rigid pavement design.
The spreadsheet allows the designer to complete a full
Westergaard analysis of the rigid pavement in seconds  with
only a handful  of simple inputs. The spreadsheet even
presents a design graph showing exactly where the design
can be optimised.

The CivilWeb Westergaard Method for Rigid Pavement

Design Spreadsheet can be purchased further down this
page for only £10. Alternatively the Westergaard analysis
spreadsheet is included in the CivilWeb Rigid Pavement
Design Suite which includes 11 different pavement design
methods along with a number of other useful design tools
including concrete flexural strength calculators. Follow the
above link for full details.
Design of Rigid Pavements by
Westergaard Method
The design of rigid pavements by Westergaard method was
the earliest attempt at an analytical solution to the problem
of concrete pavements supported by the ground being
loaded by wheeled vehicles. The Westergaard analysis of
rigid pavements for calculating the stresses under loading
were developed in the 1920s and 1930s and they still form
the basis of many modern design methods.

The Westergaard analysis equations can be used to calculate

the stresses produced in a rigid pavement under loading
from a wheeled vehicle. There are a number of
simplifications and limitations inherent in this method as
discussed below.

The design of rigid pavements by the Westergaard method

can be used to analyse three different loading conditions, as
shown in the below diagram.
Radius of Relative Stiffness

The Westergaard analysis of rigid pavements includes a

calculation of the rigid pavements radius of relative
stiffness. This term was derived by Westergaard himself as a
way to describe the relative stiffness of the rigid pavement
and the subgrade which has an effect on the stresses
produced in the rigid pavement under loading. Further
information is included in our Radius of Relative
Stiffness post.

Westergaard Analysis of Rigid

Pavements - Interior Slab Loading
Condition
The interior slab loading condition was the first of the
Westergaard rigid pavement analysis equations to be
derived. This calculates the maximum stress in the slab
under loading from a circular patch load in the interior of
the slab. Note that the load does not need to occur exactly in
the centre, but it must be far enough away from the edges
that they do not influence the stress level in the slab.

The Westergaard analysis interior loading condition leads to

a slab deflection as illustrated in the below diagram. The
point of contraflexure is equal to the radius of relative
stiffness and the maximum tensile stresses occur at the
bottom of the slab directly beneath the load. The maximum
tensile stress at the top of the slab occurs at a distance of
around 2.5 times the radius of relative stiffness from the
load.
The Westergaard method equation for maximum stress
(σmax) under interior loading is presented below where μ is
Poisson’s ratio, h is the thickness of the slab, P is the applied
load, E is the Young’s Modulus of the slab, K is the modulus
of subgrade reaction and b is the load radius;

The radius of the wheel load patch can be calculated from

the contact stress between the wheel and the floor (p) using
the below equation;

The maximum deflection can be calculated using the below

equation (note that the below shows the load patch radius as
a and includes radius of relative stiffness as l);

The interior stresses calculated above are rarely used

directly for design because the edge and corner loading
scenarios are more onerous.

Westergaard Analysis of Rigid

Pavements - Edge Loading
Condition
The edge loading condition in the design of rigid pavements
by the Westergaard method is more frequently used as the
critical condition. This condition assumes a loaded patch on
the edge of the slab which would represent a wheel load
crossing the edge of the slab where no load is transferred
into any adjacent slabs. This design condition produces
higher stresses and strains than the interior load condition.

The maximum tensile stresses for the edge loading

condition in the Westergaard method for rigid pavements
occur at the bottom of the slab directly beneath the applied
load. The maximum tensile stress in the top of the slab
occurs at a distance of around 2.5 times the radius of
relative stiffness from the centre of the applied load.

The original Westergaard analysis equations for edge

loading have been modified and improved many times since
they were originally derived. The two most common
variations used for edge loading are by Kelly and Loseberg.
The CivilWeb Westergaard Method for Rigid Pavement
Design Spreadsheet uses the variation by Loseberg as this is
generally more conservative and has been found to correlate
well with modern finite element calculation techniques.

Loseberg's equation is presented below where a is the patch

load radius;

Kelly’s equation for edge loading is presented below with b

equal to the patch load radius;

The equation for deflection of the slab under edge loading is

presented below with a equal to the patch load radius;
When using the edge loading condition in a Westergaard
analysis of rigid pavements it should be noted that the
design assumptions are quite conservative. It assumes the
wheel load is applied to the very edge of the slab and that no
load transfer between adjacent slabs is present. These are
both largely unrealistic, meaning that the edge loading
condition is conservative.

Westergaard Analysis of Rigid

Pavements - Corner Loading
Condition
The corner load condition is generally the most onerous of
the three loading conditions and for this reason it is the
corner loading condition which is most commonly
incorporated into other rigid pavement design methods.

Similar to the edge loading condition, a number of

variations have improved the original Westergaard analysis
equation since it was published. The original Westergaard
equation is presented below;

Modern finite element calculation techniques have however

indicated that this equation returns results that are around
10% below the finite element results. For this reason an
alternative empirical equation by Pickett based on
measurements of strain in real slabs is often used in place of
the original Westergaard analysis equation. Picketts
equation is shown below;
The equation for deflection is presented below;

Similar to the edge loading condition, the corner loading

condition is quite conservative in that it assumes the wheel
loads acts directly on the corner of the slab and no load is
transferred into any adjacent slabs.

General Limitations &

Assumptions
In order to complete the calculations with a closed form
solution the design of rigid pavements by the Westergaard
method includes the following assumptions and
simplifications. The designer must be satisfied that these
assumptions are valid for the design conditions considered.

 The Westergaard analysis of rigid pavement design

technique involves simplification of the problem of
wheel loading on a slab by assuming that the contact
area is circular. This forms a circular patch load with
stress distributed evenly across the patch. In most
cases this simplification is reasonable even though
the contact area is usually closer to a rectangle than a
circle. The assumption of a circular contact area leads
to only a small error and is conservative.
 The concrete slab is assumed to be an uncracked
laminar.
 The slab is large enough so that the interior loading
condition is not affected by the slab joints. Research
has shown that the Westergaard analysis equations
are applicable for slabs larger than 3.5 times the
radius of relative stiffness (l).
 The design of rigid pavements by the Westergaard
method assume that there is no structural connection
between the slab and any adjacent slabs. This is
usually very conservative as there will usually be
considerable load transfer between adjacent slabs. A
properly designed and constructed pavement joint
will usually transfer at least 70% of the load across
the joint. The effects of proper load transfer across
joints is illustrated in the below diagram.
 The rigid pavement is supported on a uniform
support. The soil is modelled as a series of
independent springs, with the stiffness presented as
 the modulus of subgrade reaction. This is known as a
dense liquid foundation or Winkler foundation.
There are some solutions to the problem which use a
solid foundation or elastic half-space. This assumes
that under load the soil deflects to produce an infinite
deflection basin. The two models can be compared
with a typical real soil response using the below
diagram.
 Real soil responses typically lie somewhere in
between the dense liquid and elastic solid models as
shown below. The elastic solid model is much more
complex mathematically than the dense liquid model,
though this is less of a concern now than it was 50
years ago. Research has shown that the liquid
foundation model more accurately predicts the
stresses in the slab for corner and edge loading
conditions which are the most onerous and most
likely to be used for design. The CivilWeb
Westergaard Method for Rigid Pavement Design
Spreadsheet uses the dense liquid foundation as this
is deemed suitable in most concrete slab design
applications.

 The Westergaard analysis of rigid pavements model

also assumes that the slab is in constant contact with
the foundation. In some cases this may not be the
case, for example when the foundation has
deteriorated due to pumping of fines or where curling
has allowed the slab to lift off the foundation
completely at the corners. For this reason Pickett’s
corner stress formula is often used by designers as
 this is based on corners which are not supported by
the ground. Experimental results suggest that this
more onerous condition is more accurate than
Westergaard’s analysis. The CivilWeb Westergaard
Method for Rigid Pavement Design Spreadsheet uses
Pickett’s corner loading formula.
 There is no allowance in the design of rigid
pavements by the Westergaard method for the
stresses produced by environmental factors. Changes
in temperature will warp the slab producing stresses.
During the day the slab will warm producing tensile
stresses in the base of the slab and during the night
the slab will cool producing tensile stresses in the
surface. This is particularly the case for external slabs
were temperature variations will be large and will
occur every 24hrs for the design life of the pavement.
Temperature changes will also cause the slab to
expand and contract, producing friction stresses from
the underlying sub-base.
 Other environmental effects such as a loss of support
from pumping and consolidation will also be
significant in some cases. These effects are often
neglected by designers. The additional stresses will
need to be calculated and accounted for in the design
along with the loading stresses. The calculation of
these stresses is included elsewhere in this document.
 However when the Westergaard stresses are to be
used in a fatigue equation, the environmental stresses
are not usually included. This is because these
stresses will occur only once per day, whereas loading
stresses may occur millions of times over the slabs
design life. Also a properly designed slab will include
well-constructed joints at a small enough spacing to
prevent significant curling stresses from developing
within the slab. The effects of these environmental
stresses is illustrated in the below diagram.
Dual Tyre Loads
Many heavy vehicles use dual tyres to spread the loading
over a wider area. In order to apply the Westergaard
equations to dual tyre loads we must convert the tyre loads
to an equivalent single circular area. The CivilWeb
Westergaard Method for Rigid Pavement Design
Spreadsheet uses the below equation where a is the
equivalent single circular patch load radius, Pd is the load on
each tyre, q is the contact pressure and Sd is the spacing
between the tyre centres;

Multiple Wheel Loads

In some cases there may be additional wheels in close
proximity to wheel considered which will have an effect on
the maximum stress. In these cases the CivilWeb
Westergaard Method for Rigid Pavement Design
Spreadsheet uses an empirical method to estimate the
increase in maximum stress beneath the main wheel. The
below graph and equation can be used to estimate the
additional stress where Mt is the tangential moment caused
by the additional load, P is the main wheel load and P2 is the
secondary load, l is the radius of relative stiffness and S is
the spacing between the centre of the load patches.
Design of Rigid Pavement by
Westergaard Method
The results from the Westergaard analysis will be a
maximum stress in the slab for each of the three loading
conditions described above. Significant engineering
judgement will need to be exercised when deciding which of
the loading conditions are appropriate for the design case
and whether any further adjustments are required, for
example to take account of some load transfer between
slabs.

When the final stress is determined this can be compared

with the characteristic flexural strength of the pavement to
determine whether the concrete will fail or not under the
imposed load. Pavements however seldom fail under a
single load, they fail due to fatigue caused by repeated
loading. Each loading cycle will cause small cracks in the
concrete which slowly propagate through the concrete each
time it is loaded. To determine the design life of the
pavement under the design loading the results from the
Westergaard analysis must be input into a suitable fatigue
model. Various fatigue model calculation tools are included
with the CivilWeb Westergaard Method for Rigid Pavement
Design Spreadsheet which can be used to determine the
design life of the pavement.

CivilWeb Westergaard Method for

Rigid Pavement Design
Spreadsheet
The CivilWeb Westergaard Method for Rigid Pavement
Design Spreadsheet uses the Westergaard analysis
techniques described above to calculate the maximum
stresses induced in the pavement. The calculations are
completed for three load conditions, slab centre, slab edge
and slab corner. The stresses produced by each of the design
conditions are then presented for the designer to choose
which is critical.

This is then compared with the flexural strength of the

concrete to determine whether the slab is adequate. This can
be done for single or dual tyre loads. The spreadsheet then
uses a fatigue model to calculate how many repetitions of 
the load that the slab will be able to accommodate.