TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING-II

Lecture-8
Flexible Pavement Design

Muhammad Usman Haider

Lecturer
Email:
usman4haider@gmail.com
 Flexible Pavement Design
• Load distribution in asphalt pavement
• Properties of flexible pavements
• Design objectives and constraints
• AASHTO, 1993 Design Method
• Pavement damage
Pavement Responses Under Load

Axle
Load

Asphalt pav. is designed to provide

sufficient thickness to distribute the
applied load with depth
 Properties of flexible pavements
• Fast Deterioration with Time
• Repeated Loads
• Variable Load Configuration
• Variable Load Magnitude
• Variable Tyre Pressure
• Traffic Growth
• Change of Material Properties with Environmental
Conditions
• Change of Subgrade Properties with Distance
• Channelized Traffic Load
• Multi-Layer System
• Unconventional Failure Definition
 Design objectives
• Maximum economy, safety, and serviceability over
the design period
• Maximum or adequate load-carrying capacity in
terms of load magnitude and repetitions
• Minimum or limited deteriorations over the design
period
• Minimum or limited noise or air pollution during
construction
• Minimum or limited disruption of adjoining land use
Maximum or good aesthetics
 The constraints
• Availability of time and fund for design and
construction
• Minimum allowable level of serviceability before
rehabilitation
• Availability of materials
• Minimum and maximum layer thickness
• Capabilities of construction and maintenance
personnel and equipment
• Testing capabilities
• Capabilities of structural and economic models
available
• Quality and extent of the design data available
 AASHTO, 1993 Design Method
• Equivalent Single Axle Load (ESAL)
• Design Procedure
Equivalent Single Axle Load (ESAL)
 Traffic loads applied on the pavement surface range from light passenger cars to heavy
trucks. To design a pavement section the damage caused by all axle loads that will be
applied on the pavement during its designed life has to be considered.
 Different magnitudes and different numbers of repetitions are converted to an equivalent
number of repetitions of a standard axle load that causes the same damage to the
pavement. A standard axle load was selected as 18000 Lb (80 kN) applied on a single
axle with a dual wheel at each end.
 The ESAL is the equivalent number of repetitions of the 18-kip (80 kN) standard axle
load that causes the same damage to the pavement caused by one-pass of the axle
load in question.
 Equivalent Axle Load Factors (EALF) to relate the damage caused by different load
magnitudes and axle configurations to the standard axle load as shown in
Equation below

where Wt18 is the number of 18-kip (80-kN) single-axle load applications to time t
(failure) and Wtx is the number of x-axle load applications to time t (failure).
Equivalent Axle Load Factors, Single axles
Equivalent Axle Load Factors, tandem axles
Equivalent Axle Load Factors, triple axles
Equations to calculate pavement thickness

 Lx is the load in kips on one single axle, one set of tandem axles, or
one set of triple axles;
 L2 is the axle code (1 for single, 2 for tandem axles, and 3 for triple
axles);
 pt is the terminal serviceability index
 b18 is the value of bx when Lx is equal to 18 and L2 is equal to
 one.
SN is the structural numbers, which is an index that combines the
effect of material properties, layer thicknesses and drainage quality
ESAL at first day and cumulative ESAL during design
life
 ESAL at first day may be calculated as
follow

 Cumulative ESAL during design life can be calculated as

follow

where
 Ni is the number of repetitions of axle group i,

 EALFi is the equivalency factor for axle

 group m is number of axle groups

 n is the designed life of the pavement in years

 i is the expected annual traffic growth rate.

Since the EALFs are not very sensitive to SN, a SN value of 5 may
be assumed in most cases. Unless the design thickness is
significantly different, no iterations will be needed

MANAGEMENT OF
Design Procedure
 Step 1 — Reliability
 Step 2 — Overall Standard Deviation
 Step 3 — Cumulative Equivalent Single Axle Load
 Step 4 — Effective Roadbed Soil Resilient Modulus
 Step 5 — Resilient Moduli of Pavement Layers
 Step 6 — Serviceability Loss
 Step 7 — Structural Numbers
 Step 8 — Structural Layer Coefficients
 Step 9 — Drainage Coefficients
 Step 10 — Layer Thicknesses
 Step 11 — Freeze or Thaw and Swelling (additional)
 Step 12 — Life-Cycle Cost (additional)

MANAGEMENT OF
Step 1 — Reliability
 A reliability level (R) is selected depending on the
functional classification of the road and whether the
road is in urban or rural area. The reliability is the
chance that pavement will last for the design period
without failure. A larger reliability value will ensure
better performance, but it will require larger layer
thicknesses.

MANAGEMENT OF
Step 2 — Overall Standard Deviation
 The overall standard deviation ðSoÞ takes into
consideration the variability of all input data. The
1993 design guide recommends an
approximate range of 0.4 to 0.5 for flexile
pavements

MANAGEMENT OF
Step 3 — Cumulative Equivalent Single Axle Load
 In this step, the designer assumes a designed life, typically in the range of 10
to 20 years. The cumulative expected 18-kip (80-kN) ESAL (W18) during the
designed life in the design lane is then determined as discussed earlier. If the
cumulative two-directional 18-kip ESAL is known, the designer must factor the
design traffic by directions by multiplying by the directional distribution factor
(D) to get the ESAL in the predominate direction. For example, if the traffic
split during the peak hour is 70 – 30%, D is taken as 0.7.
 To get the ESAL in the design (right) lane, the design traffic in the
predominant direction is multiplied by the lane distribution factor (L)

MANAGEMENT OF
Step 4 — Effective Roadbed
Soil Resilient Modulus

Worksheet for
estimating effective
roadbed soil resilient
modulus

MANAGEMENT OF
Step 5 — Resilient Moduli of Pavement Layers
 The resilient moduli ðMRÞ of the surface, base, and
subbase layers are either determined using
laboratory testing or estimated using previously
developed correlations

MANAGEMENT OF
Step 6 — Serviceability Loss
 The serviceability loss is the difference between the
initial serviceability index (po) and the terminal
serviceability index (pt). The typical Po value for a
new pavement is 4.6 or 4.5. The recommended
values of pt are 3.0, 2.5 or 2.0 for major roads,
intermediate roads and secondary roads,
respectively

MANAGEMENT OF
Step 7 — Structural Numbers
 The required structural number above the subgrade
(SN3) is determined using following equation (that
also can be described using the figure).

F ig u r 8 .2
e 2 MANAGEMENT OF
Step 8 — Structural Layer Coefficients
 The structural layer coefficient is a measure of the relative
ability of a unit thickness of a given material to function as a
structural component of the pavement.
 Three structural layer coefficients (a1, a2 and a3) are required
for the surface, base and subbase, respectively.

Chart for estimating structural

layer
coefficient of dense-graded
asphalt concrete based on
the elastic (resilient) modulus
(a1)

MANAGEMENT OF
 C h a r t f o r e s t im a t in
g s t r u c t u r a l la y e r
c o e f f i c ie n t o f b a s e
c o u r s e(a 2 )

MANAGEMENT OF
C h a r t f o re s t im a t in g s t r u c t u r a l la y e
r c o e f f i c ie n t o f s u b b a s e (a 3
)

MANAGEMENT OF
Step 9 — Drainage Coefficients
 Drainage coefficients are measures of the quality of
drainage and the availability of moistures in the
granular base and subbase

MANAGEMENT OF
Step 10 — Layer Thicknesses
 Minimum Thickness (in.) (AASHTO, 1993)

MANAGEMENT OF
Sample Problem 1

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Solutio
n

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Solution (continued)

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Solution (continued)

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Considerations for Structural Design of Rigid
Pavement

(a)Determination of soil properties, design traffic

loadings and environmental parameters
(b) Selection of materials for various pavement
layers
(c) Structural thickness design of pavement
layers
(d) Drainage design for the pavement system
(e) Safety and geometric design

MANAGEMENT OF
 Properties of flexible pavements
• Fast Deterioration with Time
• Repeated Loads
• Variable Load Configuration
• Variable Load Magnitude
• Variable Tyre Pressure
• Traffic Growth
• Change of Material Properties with Environmental
Conditions
• Change of Subgrade Properties with Distance
• Channelized Traffic Load
• Multi-Layer System
• Unconventional Failure Definition
 Axle Configurations
An axle is a central shaft for a rotating wheel or gear

Single Axle With Single Wheel Tandem Axle

(Legal Axle Load = 6t) (Legal Axle Load = 18t)

Single Axle With Dual Wheel

(Legal Axle Load = 10t)

Tridem Axle
(Legal Axle Load = 24t)
 Truck Configuration

5 Axle Truck – 40t

2 Axle Truck – 16t

LCV

3 Axle Truck – 24t 4 Axle Semi Articulated – 34t

 Standard Axle
Single axle with dual wheels carrying a
load of 80 kN (8 tonnes) is defined as
standard axle

80 kN

Standard Axle
 Evaluation Of Pavement Component
Layers
• Sub-grade
• To Receive Layers of Pavement
Materials Placed over it
• Plate Bearing Test
• CBR Test
• Triaxial Compression
Flexible Pavement Design Using CBR
Value Of Sub-grade Soil
 California State Highways
Department Method
 Required data
 Design Traffic in terms of
cumulative number of standard

axles(CSA)
 CBR value of subgarde
 Traffic Data
 Initial data in terms of number of
commercial vehicles per day (CVPD).

 Traffic growth rate during design life

in %
 Design life in number of years.

 Distribution of commercial vehicles over the

carriage way
Traffic – In Terms Of CSA (8160
Kg) During Design Life
• Initial Traffic
 In terms of Cumulative Vehicles/day
 Based on 7 days 24 hours Classified Traffic
• Traffic Growth Rate

 7.5 % may be Assumed

 Design Life
• National Highways – 15 Years
• Expressways and Urban Roads –
20 Years
• Other Category Roads – 10 – 15
Years
 Vehicle Damage Factor (VDF)
Multiplier to Convert No. of Commercial
Vehicles of Different Axle Loads and
Axle Configurations to the Number of
Standard Axle Load Repetitions
indicate VDF Values

 Normally = (Axle Load/8.2)n

n=4-5
 INDICATIVE VDF VALUES
Initial Terrain
Traffic in
terms of Plain/Rolling Hilly
CV/PD

0 – 150 1.5 0.5

150 – 1500 3.5 1.5

> 1500 4.5 2.5

 Distribution Of
Traffic
Single Lane Roads:
 Total No. of Commercial Vehicles in both Directions
Two-lane Single Carriageway Roads:
 75% of total No. of Commercial Vehicles in both
Directions
Four-lane Single Carriageway Roads:
 40% of the total No. of Commercial Vehicles in
both
Directions
Dual Carriageway Roads:
 for two lane dual carriage way75% of the No. of
Commercial Vehicles in each Direction
For three lane-60%
For four lane-45%
Computation of Traffic for Use of Pavement
Thickness Design Chart
365 x A[(1+r)n – 1]
N = --------------------------- x D x F
r
N= Cumulative No. of standard axles to be catered for design in
the terms of msa
D = Lane distribution factor
A = Initial traffic, in the year of completion of construction, in terms
of
number of commercial vehicles per day
=p(1-r)˟
P=no. of commercial vehicle as per last count
X=no. of year between the last count and the year of completion
of construction
F = Vehicle Damage Factor
n = Design life in years
r = Annual growth rate of
 CBR Testing Mac hin
Definition: e
It is the ratio of force per unit area
required to penetrate a soil mass with
standard circular piston at the rate of 1.25
mm/min. to that required for the
corresponding penetration of a standard
material.
 Subgrade
• Soak the Specimen in Water for FOUR
days and CBR to be Determined.

• Use of Expansive Clays NOT to be Used

as Sub-grade

• Non-expansive Soil to be Preferred.

 Subgrade
• Subgrade to be Well Compacted to Utilize its Full
Strength

• Top 500 mm to be Compacted to 97% of MDD

(Modified Proctor).

• Material Should Have a Dry Density of 1.75

gm/cc.
Flexible pavement design chart (IRC) (for CSA<
10 msa)
Flexible Pavement Layers (IRC) (CSA< 10 msa)
Thickness & composition (mm)

Flexible Pavement Layers (IRC) (CSA< 10 msa)

Flexible pavement design chart (IRC)
Flexible pavement layers (IRC)
Flexible pavement layers (IRC)
 Sub-base
• Material – Natural Sand, Moorum, Gravel,
Laterite, Kankar, Brick Metal, Crushed
Stone, Crushed Slag, Crushed Concrete

• GSB- Close Graded / Coarse Graded

• Parameters – Gradation, LL, PI, CBR

• Stability and Drainage Requirements

 Sub-base
• Min. CBR 20 % - Traffic up-to 2 msa
• Min. CBR 30 %- Traffic > 2 msa
• If GSB is Costly, Adopt WBM, WMM
• Min. Thickness – 150 mm - <10 msa
• Min. Thickness – 200 mm - >10 msa
 Sub-base
• Min. CBR – 2 %
• If CBR < 2% - Pavement Thickness for 2 %
CBR + Capping layer of 150 mm with Min.
CBR 10% (in addition to the Sub-Base)
• In case of Stage Construction – Thickness of
GSB for Full Design Life
 Base Course
• Unbound Granular Bases – WBM /
WMM or any other Granular
Construction
• Min. Thickness – 225 mm – < 2
msa
• Min. Thickness – 250 mm - > 2
msa
• WBM – Min. 300 mm ( 4 layers – 75mm
each)