Pavement design (rigid)

ROAD ENGINEERING
2021

Presented by:
Dr Estimé Mukandila
 Outline of Presentations
 1. Pavement Materials
2. Pavement design: Introduction and flexible pavement
3. Rigid pavement design
4. Seal design
5. Pavement rehabilitation

2
Pavement design (rigid)
 Outline of Introduction

● Introduction
● Concrete behaviour
● Elements of concrete pavement
● Concrete pavement Layout Design
● Concrete pavement Design methods
➢ PCA Method
➢ Industrial floor design
Rigid pavement: Introduction
Rigid pavement: Introduction
Rigid pavement: Introduction

● Definition :
➢ the rigid pavement is pavement structure which
distributes loads to the subgrade, having a concrete slab
of relatively high bending resistance with a major part of
the load-carrying capacity derived from the slab due to
its high stiffness: “beam action”.
➢ in southern Africa : concrete slab is supported only by the
subgrade without existence of base course
 Rigid pavement: Introduction

• Terminology
•

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
 Rigid pavement: Introduction

• Load spreading: stress in the concrete

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
 Rigid pavement: Introduction

• Load spreading: important to protect subgrade

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
 Rigid pavement: Introduction
• Load spreading: Pavement Depth

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
Rigid pavement: Introduction
• Pavement Depth: concrete life cycle 30 to 50 years

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
 Concrete behaviour
• Behaviour under external stress
• Concrete fails in tension
• Control stresses at bottom
• Flexural stress >50% repeated -fatigue
• Erosion under pavement

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
 Concrete behaviour
• Behaviour under internal stress

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
Concrete behaviour
• Concrete behaviour: Behaviour under internal stress
– Drying shrinkage and temperature changes cause
contraction
– Contraction and friction create tensile stress
– Temperature and moisture gradients –curling
– When stress exceeds strength –cracks
– Behaviour determines joint and steel design

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
Elements of concrete pavement

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
 Elements of concrete pavement
• Joints: prevent the occurrence of premature cracks
• Reinforcement
– is assumed to add nothing to the structural capacity but to hold
cracks
• Tie bars:
– placed along the longitudinal joint to tie the two slabs together .
Also ensure load transfer across the joint
• Dowel bars:
– load-transfer devices across joints thus,
– must be fairly heavy and spaced at close intervals to provide
resistance to bending, shear, and bearing on the concrete
• Joint sealants:
– chemical product to seal the joint (e.g. against water, debris…)
From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
 Type of Joints
● 3 types according to function and construction
➢Contraction joints:
➢Construction joints:
➢Isolation joints
● 2 types according to position (direction)
➢Transverse joints
➢Longitudinal

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
 Type of Joints
● Contraction joints:
➢ relieve tensile stresses resulting from contraction and warping of
the concrete.
➢ formed by groove, by sawing, or by placing a metal or fibre strip in
the uncured concrete.
● Expansion joints:
➢ constructed throughout the slab depth to permit expansion
➢ no interlock aggregate through joints, thus dowels are necessary
➢ highly susceptible to pumping and difficult to maintain
● Construction joints:
➢ Transition old/new construction (End of the day or breakdown)
➢ could be of butt type or key joints type

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
 Type of Joints
● Transverse joints
➢ transverse to the pavement centre
line
➢ essential to control shrinkage
cracking, thermal contraction
cracking, moisture or thermal
gradients cracking
➢ Load transfer through transverse
joint can be via:
▪ Aggregate interlock friction
▪ Keyed joint
▪ Dowels : smooth round bars
 Type of Joints
● Longitudinal joints
➢ used in highway pavement to relieve curling and warping
stresses
➢ full-width construction :used groove
➢ One time construction : used key joint or butt joints
➢ parallel to the pavement centre line
➢ Same purpose as transverse joint but no load transfer required
➢ This joint requires a tie between 2 sided of the joint
▪ Aggregate interlock friction
▪ Deformed Tierbar
Longitudinal joints
 Type of Joints
● Isolation joints
➢ to isolate the side road from the through street
➢ needed where the pavement abuts certain manholes, drainage
fixtures, sidewalks, aprons, and structures
Isolation joint
Isolation joint
Joint sealant

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
 Joint sealant

● Joint sealant are generally Silicone based that allow

movement (expansion) of the joint
● Characteristic of sealant:
➢ Low modulus, with tear resistance
➢ Adhesion to concrete
➢ Tough
➢ Elastic (permanently flexible rubber when cured)
➢ Self levelling
➢ UV and sunlight resistant
➢ Resistant to chemical ( waste gas, water and salt,
petrol, diesel…)
 Joint sealant types and properties

● Movement Accommodation Factor (MAF)

➢ Total movement the seal can accept as percentage of
original joint width
● Shore A Hardness
➢ Shore hardness is a measure of the resistance of a
polymers materials. Represent a scale used for
testing.A
 Joint sealant

● Joint dimensional proportions

Joint Width (mm) Joint Depth (mm)

6-8 6
8 8
10 10
15 10
20 12
25 15
30 15
Joint sealant
 Concrete pavement Layout Design

● A well-designed joint layout contributes to a good long-term

performance of pavement and will ease construction by
providing clear guidance. Some adjustments to the joint
layout might be necessary during construction to coincide
with actual location of nearby utility fixtures. Joint layout also
determine positions of dowel bars and tiebars.
● A typical joint layout for an intersection is presented
Concrete pavement Layout Design
Concrete pavement Layout Design
 Concrete pavement types
• JPCP, JRCP, CRCP, PCP, UTCRCP

• Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement (JPCP)

• Transverse joints (spacing < 5m), little or no reinforcing
steel in the slab; may contain (in heavily trafficked road)
steel dowel bars across transverse joints and steel tie
bars across longitudinal joints
• Most SA freeways, N1, N3, N2 etc

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
Concrete pavement types: JPCP
 Concrete pavement types

• Jointed Reinforced Concrete Pavement (JRCP)

• Steel reinforcement in the form of wire mesh or deformed
bars
• not increase the structural capacity of pavement but
allow the use of longer joints spacing (9.1 to 30m).
• Increase of amount of distributed steel in JRCP with the
increase in joint spacing
• designed to hold the slab together after cracking
• not good experience overseas
• none in SA

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
Concrete pavement types: JRCP

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
Concrete pavement types
• Continuous Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP)
– joints are weak spots of the rigid pavement
– elimination of joints decrease the thickness of the
conventional pavement of 20% to 30% and reduce
pavement maintenance cost and decrease standards
required for base.
– The CRCP has no regularly spaced transverse joints and
contains more steel reinforcement than JRCP. Thus high
transverse cracks within an acceptable spacing. Steel
serves to hold these transverse cracks tightly together.
– these cracks are relatively uniform at close intervals
(cracks spacing 1 to 3m)
– Use in SA -Overlays N1, Inlays N3, N2, M7, N12.

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
Concrete pavement types: CRCP

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
 Concrete pavement types

• Prestressed Concrete Pavements (PCP)

– Concrete is weak in tension but strong in
compression. The thickness of the concrete is
dictated by its modulus of rupture which varies with
the tensile strength of the concrete. Thus, pre-
application of compressive stress to concrete reduces
considerably the tensile stress caused by traffic loads.
– advantages of PCP: few, if any joints; no cracking
under normal loads; reduction of slab thickness;
utilization of the tension zone of concrete
– High cost
From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
Prestressed Concrete Pavements (PCP)

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
 Concrete pavement types

• Fibre concrete and Ultra Thin Continuously

Reinforced Concrete Pavement (UTCRCP).
• Big increase in flexural strength (10 MPa for UTCRCP)
• Reduce thickness (50mm for UTCRCP)
• High cost

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
Concrete pavement types: UTCRCP

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
Concrete pavement types

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
 Types distresses in concrete pavement
Damaged sealant:
Joint spalling (écaillage)
– Spalling is caused by high-compressive stresses that develop in the
concrete when joints or cracks cannot properly close because
incompressible materials are present.
 Types distresses in concrete pavement
1. Faulting (faille): develops with time

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 2 (2010)
Types distresses in concrete pavement
1. Erosion and Pumping: while approaches joint or crack

While passing the crack

From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 2 (2010)
Types distresses in concrete pavement
1. Erosion and Pumping: erosion occurs

pumping

Contribution From SCT 22, Concrete road Design & Construction, session 1 (2010)
Types distresses in concrete pavement
● Cracking:
➢ Transverse, longitudinal, diagonal, corner
Rigid pavement: Design methods
● Principals requirements of design and design Objectives
➢ Principals requirement of design:
▪ Serviceability
▪ Durability
▪ Safety
❖ Skid resistance
❖ Visibility
➢ Design Objectives
▪ Concrete quality
▪ Subgrade and subbase design
▪ Thickness design
▪ Joint design
▪ Construction
Rigid pavement: Design methods
● Portland Cement Association (PCA) Method
➢ Purpose:
▪ Determination of slab thicknesses adequate to carry traffic loads on
concrete pavement.
➢ This method is applied to JPCP, JRCP and CRCP
➢ Principles / design criteria
▪ Fatigue
▪ Erosion
▪ Load Safety Factor (LSF) =1 to 1.2 (applied to load)
▪ Cumulative damage <1
▪ CRC same as jointed concrete
▪ Degree of load transfer at transverse joints
▪ Verified with jslab (finite element method)
 PCA Method (continued)
● Design factors:
➢ Design factors:
➢ Concrete flexural strength or modulus of rupture (3.8 to 4.4 MPa)
➢ Used for fatigue criteria which control cracking under repeated truck
loadings
➢ Traffic (average or detailed)
➢ Subbase
▪ Granular
▪ Stabilised
▪ Lean concrete
❖ stronger stabilised layer
➢ Subgrade
▪ Modulus of subgrade reaction: K value
➢ Shoulders/ kerbs
➢ Dowels
PCA Method
● Design procedure:
➢ Composite k
➢ Detailed (axle distribution: single and tandem loads)
➢ Iteration process
➢ Simplified Average Daily Truck Traffic (ADTT)
➢ Design period
➢ Slab size
▪ Plain: 4.6 to 6.6m
▪ Reinforced: 13m
 PCA Method :Design procedure
● Example of calculation of pavement thickness
➢ Composite K
➢ Equivalent Stress “ES” fct (K and thickness)
➢ Stress ratio factor: ES/Modulus of Rupture
➢ Erosion factor : fct (K and thickness)
➢ Fatigue & Damage %: Expect rep. / allow rep.
➢ The trial thickness is not adequate design if either of totals of
fatigue or erosion damage are greater than 100%
➢ A greater trial thickness should be selected for another run in this
case
➢ A lesser trial thickness should be selected if the totals are much
lower that 100%
 Rigid pavement: Design methods
● Introduction
● Thickness design for dynamic load
● Thickness design for Post Loads
● Thickness design for distributed loads
 Industrial floor design: Introduction
● Guideline for thickness design of concrete floor on
ground subject warehouse, factories and warehouses
loading
➢ Plain and reinforced concrete
➢ Also applicable for outdoor concrete and material handling eras
 Industrial floor design: Introduction
● Three type of loading :
➢ Wheel loading of industrial Vehicle
: Fork-lift, Truck, straddle carriers
➢ Concentrated static load (posts of
storage racks)
➢ Distributed load due to material
stacked on the floor
 Industrial floor design: Introduction
● Thickness design procedures derived from highway and
airport pavement design practice
● Important thickness design factors
➢ Strength of subgrade/ subbase : Westergaard’s modulus of
subgrade reaction (k)
➢ Strength of concrete : flexural strength more important
● Thickness design objectives
➢ To prevent occurrence of excessive:
▪ Excessive flexural stresses resulting in cracking
▪ Excessive bearing stresses on concrete surface
▪ Excessive punching shear stress due to concentrated loads
▪ excessive or differential deflections due to settlement of subgrade
 Industrial floor design: Introduction
● Critical design consideration: fct of contact area
➢ Flexural tensile for Concentred wheel or post loads
▪ Limited to value less than flexural strength of concrete by a Safety Factor
▪ No adequate size of base plate under leg of heavy loaded post of storage
rack generates punching shear
▪ For large base plate: flexural stress under the plate controls design
consideration
➢ For distributed loads over large areas (stacked storage bay)
▪ Stresses due to negative moments in aisleways more critical than flexural
stress
▪ Excessive pressures due to heavy distributed loads causes faulted joints
due to differential settlement of subgrade
Controlling design consideration for various loading types/ contact area
 Thickness design for dynamic loads
● Applied by wheeled vehicles : trucks, fork-lift trucks
(chariot élévateur), straddle carries
● Design philosophy
➢ Controlled by flexural strength
● Design procedure involved determination of:
➢ axles loads: data sheets)
➢ Number of load repetitions
➢ Tyre contact area or tyre inflation pressure
➢ Spacing between wheels and axles
𝑆𝑐𝑡
➢ Stress Ratio (SR): 𝑆𝑅 = 𝑓𝑙
▪ SCt: flexural stress in concrete due to one application of a load
▪ fl: 28 days design flexural strength of concrete
 Thickness design for dynamic loads
● Axles loads
➢ fork-lift and straddle (information
from manufacturers’ data sheets)
 Thickness design for dynamic loads
● Number of load repetitions
(traffic estimation)
➢ Load magnitude
➢ Wheel configuration
➢ Frequencies of loading
 Thickness design for dynamic loads
● Stress ratio (SR)
➢ In flexural fatigue: if SR decrease
thus repetitions to failure increases
➢ When SR<= 0.55, concrete
withstand unlimited stress
repetitions ( i.e. > 40 000 rep)
➢ Flexural fatigue endurance limit
of concrete at stress ratio of 0.55
➢ Repetions of loads with SR<
endurance limit, increase pavement
ability to carry loads with SR>
endurance limit
➢ Rest periods between load rep
increase flexural-fatigue resistance
of concrete
➢ For thickness design, SR for
endurance limit is reduce to 0.5
(conservative)
Thickness design for dynamic loads: Design Charts

Fig 3.2: Single wheels axles

Thickness design for dynamic loads: Design Charts

Fig 3.3:Double wheels axles

Thickness design for dynamic loads: Design Charts

Fig 3.4: effective load contact area for various slab thickness
 Thickness design for dynamic loads: Design Charts

Fig 3.5: Estimateds lab thickness for fork-lift (based on conservative design
assumptions: k= 15 kPa/mm: Concrete working stress = 1.7 Mpa)
 Thickness design for industrial trucks (fork-lift)
● Fig 3.2 and 3.3 used for axle loads and axle wheel
configurations of most industrial trucks
● Fig 3.2 (for axles with single wheels ); enter in this chart:
➢ Allowable working stress (AWS) in kPa/KN of axle load
𝑓𝑙 ∗𝑆𝑅
▪ 𝐴𝑊𝑆 = (SR corresponding to load rep. as per Table 3.2)
𝑎𝑥𝑙𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑎𝑑

● Fig 3.2 and 3.3 (for axles with dual wheels)

➢ Fig 3.3 to convert dual wheel axles load to equivalent single-wheel
axle
▪ By multiplying by factor F
➢ Initial Thickness of the slab is assumed
➢ Equivalent load obtained is enter in Fig 3.2
➢ This is a trial-and- error process
 Thickness design for industrial trucks (fork-lift)
● Load contact area (slab contact of one tyre)
➢ Gross contact area: total contact area regardless of tyre-tread
design
➢ If data not available: contact area = load/ tyres inflation pressure
➢ Enter contact area in Fig 3.4 to get “effective” load-contact area (
correction of contact area)
➢ Correction because slab stresses for small load-contact area
are overestimated in conventional theory
▪ Degree of correction increased as contact area decreases
➢ Effective load contact area is used in Fig 3..2 and Fig 3.3. for more
accurate thickness
 Thickness design for industrial trucks (fork-lift)
● Example.
 Thickness design for Post Loads
● Posts loads supporting racks for storing products and
materials
● Design philosophy
➢ Concentrated loads may be more sever than wheel loads
● Design factor to consider :
➢ Maximum post loads
➢ Loads contact area
➢ Spacing between post
 Thickness design for Post Loads
● Design procedure involved determination of:
➢ Storage-rack loading
▪ Permanent storage racks up to 20m (post loads and spacing from manufacturer)
▪ Need appropriated size and thickness of base plate under post to avoid excessive
concrete bearing and shear stresses
➢ Bearing and shear stress
▪ Plate size so concrete bearing stress under maximum service not exceeding:
❖ 4.2 times of 28-day modulus of rupture (for interior of slab)
❖ 2.1 time of 28-day modulus of rupture( slab edge and corners)
▪ for large plate and thick slab, flexural stresses and shear stresses not excessive
❖ Allowable shear of 0.27 times the modulus of rupture and critical
section in shear at distance = ½ slab thickness from periphery of loaded
area
➢ Maximum concrete stress:
▪ Keep flexural tensile within safe limits (no limit available form slab performance
under rack loads)
▪ Specific ratio of flexural strength to maximum tensile stress is a safety Factor (SF)
❖ <=2 ( under no-critical loading condition
❖ + - 5 for situation where consequence of slab failure would be serious
➢ Post-load design Chart
 Post Loads Charts
● Fig 3.6: design chart for loads: k- 15 kPa/mm
 Thickness design for Post Loads
● Post configuration
and loads
➢ Y= longitudinal
➢ X: traversal

➢ For base plate with

small contact area
use Fig 3.4 to derive
effective contact
area. Effective
contact area to be
used in chart for
accurate thickness
 Thickness design for Post Loads
● Used of Post-load design chart (fig
 Thickness design for Post Loads
● Example.
 Thickness design for Distributed loads
● Covering large area loaded with materials placed directly
on the floor
● Design philosophy
➢ Stresses due to the negative moments in aisleways between stacks
may be more sever than flexural stresses (cause faulted joints due
to settlement)
● Design factor to consider :
➢ Magnitude of load
➢ Aisle width
➢ Width of loaded areas
➢ Location of joints relatives to aisles
 Thickness design for Distributed loads
● Design objectives:
➢ Prevent cracks in aisles or unloaded area
➢ Avoid excessive or differential settlement due to subgrade consolidation
● Thickness design tables
➢ Based on:
▪ Slabs on an elastic foundation (E=28.5 Gpa, poisson’s ratio= 0.15)
▪ Maximum tensile stress of 0.5 times flexuralstrength
▪ Allowable distributed load computed by
▪ 𝑊 = 0.33 𝑆𝑐𝑡 ℎ𝑘
❖ W= allowable loads (kPa)
❖ Sct: maximum flexural stress in the concrete (Mpa)
❖ h = slab thickness (mm)
❖ K = modulus of subgrade reaction, (kPa/mm)
➢ Fixed storage Layout
➢ Combination of loads
Tables Allowable distributed load (kPa)for Variablestorage
layout
Tables Allowable distributed load (kPa)for fixed storage layout