UP

Civil Engineering materials and

pavement design
SGM221
Theory 10
5, 10, 12 October 2022
Theory 10

SAPEM 10, 9.2

TRH4
SAPEM 10, 7.3
Kleyn
SAPEM 10, 8

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Pavement design methods

 DCP
 Mechanistic design (TRH4)
 CBR
 Concrete

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Structural Design: Pavement Behaviour

 Balanced pavements
 Gradual decrease in material quality with increasing depth
 Avoid strength concentrations
 Deep and shallow pavements
 Excellent performance from deep, well balanced granular
pavements

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Structural Design: Pavement Behaviour

 Balanced pavements
 Inverted pavements
 Unbound, granular base on lightly cemented subbase
 Confinement of unbound base
 Prevent moisture ingress

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Factors

 Pavement structure
 Combination of layers and materials
 Environment
 Wet/dry, hot/cold etc
 Traffic
 Magnitude of loads, number of loads, changes over time
 Construction quality
 High density, good riding quality – longer life
 Maintenance / management
 Keep in good condition – longer life
 Pavement category
 N1 vs S702

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Calculating expected pavement life from information

 From stress and strain to life

 σ and ε provide response of structure (combination of materials)
to loads and environment
 Materials models are used to transpose this to a number of
repetitions to specified level of failure
 Specified level of failure is just an indication that it does not
provide required structural / functional level of performance any
more
 Thus life to predefined condition

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Functional and structural lives

 Functional life
 The life as experienced by the user
 Riding quality, skid resistance

 Structural life
 The life as perceived by the engineer – can it carry the loads
 Structural failure of layers
 Causes for potential structural failures

 Functional failures can lead to structural failures

 Functional life typically require more regular maintenance than structural
life – if well designed and constructed!

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Pavement and Materials design models

 Empirical design models

 Use within the limits of the model
 If original pavements were less than 5 years old with less than 1
million E80s – can not just extrapolate!!

 Mechanistic design models

 Ensure that materials evaluation caters for range of potential
conditions
 See spreadsheet
 Ensure that the correct materials (under specific conditions) form
part of the pavement model

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Perpetual pavements

 Pavement designed and built to last longer than 50 years without

requiring major structural rehabilitation or reconstruction, and
needing only periodic surface renewal in response to distresses
confined to the top of the pavement
 Construct the lower layers once
 Ensure that the available strength is far more than will ever be
required
 Protect for long period
 Focus on functional aspects on the surface

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Perpetual pavements

 Much less costly to maintain surfacing than base and subbase layers
 Shorter maintenance periods – less traffic congestion

 Use the inherent energy already spent on the pavement

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Mechanistic design
 Mechanistic analysis
 Calculates σ and ε
 Based on Boussinesq theory
 Typically ignore dynamic effects

 Components of ME design system

 Input
 Load characterization
 Pavement system characterization
 Structural analysis
 Critical parameters
 Transfer functions
 Pavement bearing capacity estimation

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Flexible pavements

 Elastic multilayer theory

 Assumptions
 Programs
 ELSYM, BISA, MECDE, etc
 Basic engine also used in mePADS etc
 Closed solutions

 FEM analysis
 Break model into smaller elements and calculate for each element
 More complicated, can add more detailed loads etc

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Flexible pavements

 Assumptions
 Available software

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Applications in SA

 Traditional approach followed

 Issues around traditional approach – CAPSA 2004/8
 Maree and Freeme approach
 Theyse update
 SANRAL current project – major improvement
 In line with international approaches
 In conjunction with international approaches

 SARDS

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Examples of approach

 Input information
 Design data and response analysis
 Analysis of behaviour
 Structural capacity

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Input

 Load characterization
 88 kN legal axle load (1996)
 80 kN design axle load
 40 kN dual wheel design load
 520 kPa uniform contact pressure
 Pavement characterization
 System geometry (layer thickness
 Material input parameters (resilient and strength)

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Response Analysis

 Structural analysis
 Static, linear elastic multi-layer analysis
 Pavement response, σ and ε
 Critical parameters depend on
 Material type
 Failure mechanism

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Critical Parameters and Failure Mechanisms

 Asphalt, εh at
bottom of layer
 Fatigue
cracking

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Critical Parameters and Failure Mechanisms

 Granular, Factor of Safety (FoS) at mid-depth of layer

 Shear deformation
 Permanent deformation

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Critical Parameters and Failure Mechanisms

 Cemented, εh and σv at bottom and top of layer

 Effective fatigue
 Crushing failure

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Critical Parameters and Failure Mechanisms

 Subgrade, εv at top of
layer
 Permanent
deformation

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Sensitivity

 Effect of changes in
 Material parameters
 Seasonal, over time (rutting), etc
 Environmental parameters
 Seasonal, diurnal
 Maintenance capacity
 Changes in capacity over time
 Traffic loading
 New developments, changes in land-use, changes in traffic
types, etc

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Effect of overloading

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Maintenance philosophy
MAINTENANCE:
Preventative / Routine
GOOD
IDEAL SCENE

REHABILITATION UNACCEPTABLE

POOR
T0 (NEW ROAD) T1 T3

TIME

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Worked example of TRH4 catalogue design

 This file contains a worked example of the TRH4 catalogue design

process
 All relevant explanations are provided for the process

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Information

 Design a pavement using the TRH4 catalogue method for the

following conditions:

 Cemented base pavement

 Category C pavement
 750 000 E80s required traffic

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Process

 Select appropriate catalogue from back of TRH4 (see next slide)

 Select Category C row
 Select column where 750 000 E80s fall

 One pavement structure possible

 Foundation from right-hand column

 Final structure
 S / 125 C3 / 125 C4 / 150 G7 / 150 G9 / G10

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TRH4 catalogue for Cemented base pavements

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CBR design method

 Thickness design curves developed from 12 years of CBR tests

 both failed and good performing pavements on California highway system
 Curves "A" and "B"
 minimum pavement thicknesses for light and medium-heavy traffic
 additional curves added by U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
 design of flexible airfield pavements
 Tire inflation pressure - 400 kPa
 Design curves embody assumption of the pavement structure lying on compacted
soils (at least 300 mm of compacted subgrade)
 Limitations such as the fact that the CBR test is only performed on the minus 19 mm
material is incorporated into this method

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39
Concrete pavement

 Currently – cncPave
 Cement and Concrete Institute

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CnCPave design

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CnCPave design

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CnCPave design

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CnCPave design

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DCP design method

 Introduction
 Description
 Operation
 Data inputs
 Automated analysis and outputs

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Introduction

 Non-destructive testing device

 Measures bearing capacity of pavements
by measuring the in-situ shear strength of
pavement layers
 Max penetration depth
 800mm
 Used for unbound granular and cemented
layers
 (UCS < 4 MPa)

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Operation

 3 man operation
 Dropping load forces cone to penetrate pavement layers
 Record penetration depth after x amount of blows (5)
 Data recording to a depth of 800mm

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 Number of blows
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

100

Pavement depth [mm]

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Penetration measured after

each 5 blows
Animation accelerated 10:1

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 Number of blows
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

100

Pavement depth [mm]

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Penetration measured after

each 5 blows
Animation accelerated 10:1

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 Number of blows
10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

100

Pavement depth [mm]

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

Penetration continues
until 800 mm total
penetration
Penetration measured after
each 5 blows
Animation accelerated 10:1

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Data inputs

 Location data
 Visual condition data
 Pavement condition
 Estimation of the granular moisture content
 Base type
 Design traffic & Road category
 Design layer thicknesses
 Penetration depth vs number of blows

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Data analysis

 Shear strength of whole structure

 Remaining life
 Determination of true structural layer thickness
 design vs true
 Pavement design parameters
 Strength (CBR / UCS)
 Stiffness (E-values)
 Penetration rates
 Pavement Balance
 Classification of pavements – deep or shallow

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DCP Field Curve

 DCP curve
 Pavement strength
 DSN800 = Number of blows to penetrate
800mm
 Layer strength
 DN number (mm/blow) = Slope of DCP
curve

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DCP Analysis: Pavement strength

 Total # blows to penetrate 800mm

 Remaining life (# 80kN axle loads to cause a 20mm Rut) = f(DSN800)
 DSN800 = f(material strength,density, moisture content)

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DCP analysis: Pavement Strength

Remaining Life =
f(DSN800) for
various moisture
regimes
through an
empirical equation

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Layer Strength

 Individual Layer strengths = f(penetration rate / layer) or DN number

 Low penetration rates = strong layers
 High penetration rates = weak layers

 Identification of layers with different strengths

 Good correlations between shear strength (DN values) and
CBR/UCS and E-values

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DCP Layer strength (DN number)
Number of Blows
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
0
L1: DN=2.0 mm/blow
Depth of Penetration (mm)
100
200
300
L2: DN = 5.3 mm/blow
400
500
600
L3: DN = 25.0 mm/blow
700
800
DSN800= 155
900

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Layer Strength Diagram (LSD)

 Identification of material thickness of similar strength

 Quantification of layer strength
 DN vs depth DN Num ber (m m /blow )
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
 User defined layers 0

Layer 1: DN=2mm/blow
 Redefined layers 100

200

Pavement Depth (mm)

300

400 Layer 2: DN =
5.3mm/blow

500

600
Layer 3:
DN = 25mm/blow
700

800
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Layer Strength Diagram

 Correlations between DN, CBR and UCS

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 MATERIAL DCP: DNDCP
MATERIAL DCP DERIVED E-
ACCORDING TO (mm/blow)
SPECIFICATIONS VALUES* (MPa)
TRH 14 [25]
G1: Crushed stone 86 - 88 % SD 1,4 - 1,1 780 - 1 000
G2: Crusher run 100 - 102 % 1,8 - 1,4 600 - 780
G3: Crusher run 98 % MOD.AASHTO < 2,0 >535
G4: Natural gravel CBR > 80 < 3,7 > 278
G5: Natural gravel CBR > 45 < 5,7 > 176
G6: Natural gravel CBR > 25 < 9,1 > 107
G7: Natural gravel CBR > 15 < 14 > 68
G8: Natural gravel CBR > 10 < 19 > 50
G9: Natural gravel CBR > 7 < 25 > 37
G10: Natural gravel CBR > 3 < 48 > 18
C3: Cemented
1,5 - 3,0 MPa 1,8 - 0,6 600 - 2000
(stabilised) ravel
C4: Cemented
0,75 - 1,5 MPa 3,4 - 1,8 300 - 600
(stabilised) gravel

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Design Master Curves

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Master curve vs true DN values
DN Num ber (m m /blow )
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
0
Required pen rate
(Master curve)
100
Recorded
pen rate
200
Required DN <
Recorded :

Pavement Depth (mm)

300 Inadequate

400

500 Required DN >

Recorded :
Adequate
600

700

800

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Strength-balance curves
shallow vs deep structures

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Standard Pavement Balance Curves

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Worked example of DCP design

 This file contains a worked example of the DCP design process

 All relevant explanations are provided for the process

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Basic DCP data

 Basic DCP data consist of the number of blows of the DCP to

penetrate a certain depth of the pavement
 This data are plotted on a standard DCP field curve as shown in the
next slide
 DCP curve is indicating the number of blows required to penetrate a
certain depth of the pavement
 Always done to at least 800 mm depth
 Two standard DCP parameters are obtained from the DCP field
curve
 These are the DSN800 and the DN values

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DCP Analysis: Pavement strength

 DSN800 = Total number of blows to penetrate pavement to 800 mm

 Remaining life of the pavement (The number of 80kN axle loads to
cause a 20 mm Rut) = f(DSN800)
 DSN800 = f(material strength, density, moisture content)
 Refer to next slide for the equation and the graph

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DCP analysis: Pavement Strength

Remaining Life = MISA = f(DSN800) for

various moisture
regimes
through an
empirical equation

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DCP analysis: Example calculation
 Data
 DSN800 = 230 – refer to total number of blows from DCP field curve in
example
 Wet environment – therefore Cm = 14

 Calculation of remaining life

 Remaining life = Cm * 10-9 * (DSN800)3.5
 Remaining life = 14 * 10-9 * (230)3.5
 Remaining life = 2.58 million E80s or MISA

 If dry environment then

 Remaining life = 64 * 10-9 * (230)3.5
 Remaining life = 11.81 million E80s or MISA

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Layer Strength

 Individual Layer strengths = f(penetration rate / layer) or DN number

 Low penetration rates = strong layers
 High penetration rates = weak layers
 Identification of layers with different strengths
 Good correlations between shear strength (DN values) and
CBR/UCS and E-values

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DCP Layer strength (DN number)
Number of Blows
0 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180
0
Depth of Penetration (mm) L1: DN=2.0 mm/blow
100
200
300
L2: DN = 5.3 mm/blow
400
500
600
L3: DN = 25.0 mm/blow
700
800
DSN800= 155
900
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Layer Strength Diagram (LSD)
DN Num ber (m m /blow )
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
 Identification of material thickness of 0

similar strength 100

Layer 1: DN=2mm/blow

 Quantification of layer strength

200
 DN vs depth
 User defined layers

Pavement Depth (mm)

300
 Redefined layers
400 Layer 2: DN =
5.3mm/blow

500

600
Layer 3:
DN = 25mm/blow
700

800

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Table indicating the required DN values for the
different TRH14 material categories
MATERIAL DCP: DNDCP
MATERIAL DCP DERIVED E-
ACCORDING TO (mm/blow)
SPECIFICATIONS VALUES* (MPa)
TRH 14 [25]
G1: Crushed stone 86 - 88 % SD 1,4 - 1,1 780 - 1 000
G2: Crusher run 100 - 102 % 1,8 - 1,4 600 - 780
G3: Crusher run 98 % MOD.AASHTO < 2,0 >535
G4: Natural gravel CBR > 80 < 3,7 > 278
G5: Natural gravel CBR > 45 < 5,7 > 176
G6: Natural gravel CBR > 25 < 9,1 > 107
G7: Natural gravel CBR > 15 < 14 > 68
G8: Natural gravel CBR > 10 < 19 > 50
G9: Natural gravel CBR > 7 < 25 > 37
G10: Natural gravel CBR > 3 < 48 > 18
C3: Cemented
1,5 - 3,0 MPa 1,8 - 0,6 600 - 2000
(stabilised) ravel
C4: Cemented
0,75 - 1,5 MPa 3,4 - 1,8 300 - 600
(stabilised) gravel
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1st Pavement design example
 Data provided
 3 layer pavement
 200 mm x G3; 150 mm x G5; 450 mm x G7
 Wet environment
 Calculate life

 Calculation
 Determine DSN800
 From previous table
 200 mm / 2.0 mm/blow = 100 blows
 150 mm / 5.7 mm/blow = 26 blows
 450 mm / 14 mm/blow = 32 blows
 Therefore DSN800 = 100 + 26 + 32 = 158 blows

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1st Pavement design example

 Calculation
 From previous slide
 DSN800 = 100 + 26 + 32 = 158 blows

 Remaining life = Cm * 10-9 * (DSN800)3.5

 Remaining life = 14 * 10-9 * (158)3.5
 Remaining life = 0.50 million E80s or MISA

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2nd Pavement design example

 Data provided
 3 layer pavement
 Three layers (200 mm; 150 mm; 450 mm)
 Wet environment
 Design pavement B = 40
 Traffic 0.7 MISA

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DCP analysis: Pavement Strength

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Standard Pavement Balance Curves

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© WJvdMS
Table indicating the required DN values for the
different TRH14 material categories
MATERIAL DCP: DNDCP
MATERIAL DCP DERIVED E-
ACCORDING TO (mm/blow)
SPECIFICATIONS VALUES* (MPa)
TRH 14 [25]
G1: Crushed stone 86 - 88 % SD 1,4 - 1,1 780 - 1 000
G2: Crusher run 100 - 102 % 1,8 - 1,4 600 - 780
G3: Crusher run 98 % MOD.AASHTO < 2,0 >535
G4: Natural gravel CBR > 80 < 3,7 > 278
G5: Natural gravel CBR > 45 < 5,7 > 176
G6: Natural gravel CBR > 25 < 9,1 > 107
G7: Natural gravel CBR > 15 < 14 > 68
G8: Natural gravel CBR > 10 < 19 > 50
G9: Natural gravel CBR > 7 < 25 > 37
G10: Natural gravel CBR > 3 < 48 > 18
C3: Cemented
1,5 - 3,0 MPa 1,8 - 0,6 600 - 2000
(stabilised) ravel
C4: Cemented
0,75 - 1,5 MPa 3,4 - 1,8 300 - 600
(stabilised) gravel
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