4/11/2005

Introduction to Pavements Pavement Design

Lecture CME 402 Kouros Mohammadian, Ph.D.

Role of Paved Surfaces

Provide smooth driving surface Provide well-drained driving surface that prevents hydroplaning, splashing and saturation related structural damage Distribute stresses (from tires) to the soil (aka subgrade) at a magnitude that will not shear or deform the soil Delineate the traveled path by providing a visual perspective of the horizontal and vertical alignment of the road.

Introduction to Pavements
Significance of Capital invested in pavements
Pavements are expensive Our modern cities include very extensive road systems with a very high cost to pave (the highway system in the US is the most expensive public works project undertaken) Therefore, pavement structure, construction, maintenance and rehabilitation (major resurfacing) should be done in a cost effective manner.

Loads and Stresses

Typical automobile weighs approximately 12 kN (1N=0.2248 lb) with tire pressure of 240 kPa (1Pa=1N/m2 1kPa=0.1 N/cm2) Tractor Semi-trailer truck weighs 355.8 kN (the legal limit) with tire pressure of 690 kPa Tire pressure = stress on the traveled surface The typical soil-bearing capacity is 345 kPa; therefore, we need a stronger surface to carry the heavy loads and withstand the stress.

4/11/2005

Loads and Stresses

Pavement Type I: Flexible Pavement

Layered structure (typically 3 layers) resting on a prepared soil Transmits loads and distributes stresses via aggregate interlock, friction and cohesion Thickness of each layer is function of loads and stresses (i.e. what type of traffic traveling), material properties and load repetitions in design life Design life: life before major rehabilitation/reconstruction is required Each layer distributes stresses to the layer underneath it dropping pressure/stress to values it can withstand The wearing surface has the following special functions
Withstands highest pressure under tires Provides longitudinal and lateral skid resistance Protects base from grinding and wheel abrasion Waterproofs the pavement structure

The tire imprint can be approximated by a circle of radius a

p=

P P = area a 2

a =

P 0.1 p

Where a in cm, P is tire load in N and p is tire pressure in kPa

The area over which the tire load is spread gets larger with the depth under the traveled surface. Therefore, stresses reduce with depth and so does the need for quality material

Pavement Type II: Rigid Pavement

Typically double layered, consisting of a Portland Cement Concrete slab (with optional reinforcement) over optional aggregate base (also called sub-base) Optional base is used if the the subgrade is poor The slab acts like a beam over the irregularities of soil The beam action enhances load transmission and stress distribution Layer thickness is function of loads, material properties and load repetitions in design life Both flexible and rigid pavements might have additional layers
A filter material below the sub-base A layer of insulation (e.g. Styrofoam) More than one type of base material

Failure in Pavements
Structural
Tensile/fatigue cracking with load repetitions Soil shear and excessive deformation

Functional
Excessive distresses and roughness of ride
Temperature cracking Raveling Pot holing Bleeding Etc.

Will discuss later

In general, failure is not sudden but happens due to deterioration from repeated excessive deflections

4/11/2005

Design Objectives/Criteria
Any pavement (flexible or rigid) should be designed to resist loads and weather (i.e. should have proper drainage) In designing to carry loads
For Flexible pavements, we make surfacing material strong enough that it will not fail and make each layer thick enough to keep the next layer from failing For rigid pavements, we must design the slab to not break in flexure, considering the support from below
The primary purpose of the base in rigid pavements is not to reduce stresses but has to do with pumping

Flexible Pavement Stresses and Deflections

Typically, pavement consists of three layers and the applied load (i.e. vehicle weight transferred through the tires) is an area load To simplify the analysis of deflections and stresses, we start by assuming a single-layered pavement, a point load and elastic, homogeneous and isotropic material. Given the above assumptions, we can calculate the stress at a point using the following equation (developed by Boussinesq)

z = 1000 K

More technically, we design to limit stresses and strains, both horizontal and vertical below those that will cause excessive cracking and deformation due to repeated loads. The heavier the loads the lower the number of repetitions that cause fatigue failure
One truck would cause damage (consume pavement life) that is equivalent to say 100 or more cars (non-linear relation)

P 3 1 , where K = z2 2 [1 + (r / z ) 2 ]5 / 2

z is the stress in kPa at a point of depth z mm, P is the wheel load in N, r is the radial distance in mm from the centerline of the point load to the point in question. Several researchers developed other equations by expanding the point load to an elliptical area representing tire footprint with radius: P where a(mm), P(N), and p(kPa) a= 0.001 p

Ahlvin and Ulery (1962) Equations

Vertical Stress (cause of deformation) in kPa
z = p (A+B)

The AASHTO Design Method for Flexible Pavements (1972, 1986, 1993)
History
Procedure first developed using data from the AASHO Road Test in Illinois (1960) several test sections built test sections had a variety of layer thickness combinations of Asphalt Concrete, base and sub-base Test trucks of different sizes and weights were driven repeatedly over the test sections Pavement deterioration monitored in terms of cracking, rutting, roughness, etc. (called distresses) Pavement deflection under load also measured to reflect strength Large amounts of data collected, analyzed and design guidelines developed

Radial-Horizontal Stress (cause of cracking) in kPa

r = p[2A + C + (1 - 2 )F]

Vertical Deflection in mm
where,
z =

p(1 + )a z [ A + (1 ) H ] a E

= Poisson ratio (change in width to length ratio under vertical axial load) E = modulus of elasticity (Youngs modulus) = stress/strain (kPa) A,B,C,F,H = function values = f(r/a, z/a) from Tables

The above equations can be used to analyze simple pavements They can be the basis of more complex theoretical analysis and design (e.g. get depth z to keep z, r, z within permissible limits) Computer programs are available for such analyses (e.g. ELSYM5 by FHWA) Advanced methods: e.g. finite element Most design methods in practice are semi-empirical

4/11/2005

AASHTO Method: Design Objective and Approach

Objective
Given the expected traffic load magnitudes and repetitions, determine the minimum thickness of pavement layers that is enough to:
Avoid overloading or overstressing the subgrade Avoid overloading or overstressing any one or more of the pavement layers Maintain good serviceability performance over the pavement design life

Pavement Performance Under Repeated Loading

Performance
How well it withstands repeated loads without being deformed, cracked and/or distressed (e.g. raveling, rutting, etc.)

Pavement Serviceability Index (PSI)

A number between 0 and 5 that indicates overall condition of the pavement (0: worst, 5:best) PSI is correlated to the extent and severity of failure (the wider the failed areas and the more severe the failure, the lower the PSI) Initial PSI right after construction: 4.2-4.5 Terminal PSI before rehabilitation is needed ranges from 2.5-3, or even 1.5 under severe economic constraints

Approach
we attempt to determine how strong the pavement structure should be at construction such that it lasts throughout the design life at an acceptable performance level subject to expected traffic levels, subgrade characteristics, and reliability & accuracy Then, based on construction material properties and drainage, we determine the thickness of each layer

Roadbed Soil (Subgrade) Characteristics Under Repeated Loading

Background
Under operational conditions, the subgrade is subject to cycles of loading and unloading (vehicle passes over pavement stresses are developed in the subgrade The load is off stresses are relieved next vehicle passes etc.) In pavement design, we need to determine the properties of the subgrade under such conditions (i.e. how the subgrade behaves under such conditions). We use the Resilient Modulus (Mr).

Construction Materials
In pavement design, we need to have an indication of the quality of the material used for each surface layer (to determine what layer thickness is required for a given quality) The quality of the material used for any layer (i.e. wearing surface, base and sub-base) is measured by a structural-layer coefficient a
a1, a2 and a3 are the coefficients for the wearing surface, base and subase layers, respectively (Table 4.6)

Resilient Modulus Mr
Reflects the properties of the soil under repeated loading Typically, Mr is determined via a relationship with the CBR (California Bearing Ratio) which is usually determined by transportation agencies Mr = 1500 CBR, where Mr in psi (lb/in2) CBR = ratio of the load-bearing capacity of the soil to the load-bearing capacity of a high quality aggregate, multiplied by 100

For any layer, the multiplication of its structural-layer coefficient and its thickness is referred to as its Structural Number, which reflects the strength of the layer
For a given structural number of a layer, the lower the quality of the material, the thicker the layer should be

The overall SN of the pavement is the summation of the SN of the three layers

4/11/2005

Traffic Loads
Obviously, a wide range of vehicle axle types and axle loads are expected to use any paved surface In pavement design, we convert each vehicle type (wrt axle type/load) into a common vehicle with a specific axle type/load The AASHTO method uses the Equivalent Single Axle Load (ESAL) that has an 18 kip (i.e. 18 k-lb = 80.1 kN) single-axle load
The idea is to determine the impact of any axle load on the pavement in terms of the equivalent impact that an 18-kip single axle load would have

Environment
Temperature
Induces thermal stresses (e.g. cold weather cracking) Affects creep properties (pavement softens in hot weather) Frost Action
When ambient temperature falls below freezing for several days
Water in soil pores freezes Shallow water table rises by capillary action to the frost line forming ice crystals and lenses that are several centimeters thick

During spring, the ice lenses melt, resulting in a considerable increase in the water content of the soil
Thawing of frozen subgrade reduces subgrade strength by 50-80%

Equivalency factors (Tables 4.2-4.4) depend on

Chosen terminal serviceability (TSI) Pavement strength in terms of Structural Number (combination of layer thickness and its material quality summed over all 3 layers)

Sandy or silty clays may be susceptible to frost action In design, reduce Mr accordingly

Rain
Penetration of rain water also reduces pavement strength

Drainage
Fast drainage ensures material strength and vice versa In pavement design, we use drainage factors to modify the SN of the base and sub-base based on drainage quality Definition of Drainage Quality
Quality of Drainage
Excellent Good Fair Poor Very poor

Reliability and Accuracy

Inputs such as future ESAL and material properties are never 100% accurate. Therefore, our design is not 100% reliable.
there is a chance TSI will be reached before end of design life

In pavement design
We need to have an indication of how accurate our input values are and how reliable we would like our design to be. For accuracy, we use an overall standard deviation (S0)
Typical values are in the order of 0.3 to 0.5

Water removed within

2 hours 1 day 1 week 1 month (water will not drain)

For reliability, we use a reliability factor (R) based on highway class

E.g. 80% reliability means roughly an 80% chance that the pavement would remain above TSI over its intended design life Improving the pavement reliability implies making the pavement stronger (i.e. higher SN) Higher class facilities should be highly reliable

Recommended Factors (M)

Percent of Time Pavement Structure is Exposed to Moisture Levels Approaching Saturation Quality of Drainage
Excellent Good Fair Poor Very poor

< 1%
1.4-1.35 1.35-1.25 1.25-1.15 1.15-1.05 1.05-0.95

1-5%
1.35-1.3 1.25-1.15 1.15-1.05 1.05-0.8 0.95-0.75

5-25%
1.3-1.2 1.15-1 1-0.8 0.8-0.6 0.75-0.4

> 25 %
1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4

4/11/2005

Reliability and Accuracy (contd)

Recommended Level of Reliability
Functional Class
Interstate and other freeways Other principal arterials Collectors Local

Design Procedure
Determine the Structural Number required for given axle loadings, reliability, overall standard deviation, change in PSI, and soil resilient modulus
The basic design equation given by AASHTO (1993) is
log10 W18 = Z r S0 + 9.36 log10 ( SN + 1) 0.2 + log10 [ PSI /( 4.2 1.5)] 0.4 + [1094 /( SN + 1)5.19 ] + 2.32 log10 M r 8.07

Urban
85-99.9 80-99 80-95 50-80

Rural
80-99.9 75-95 75-95 50-80

In the actual design procedure, we do not use R directly but we usually get the equivalent standard normal deviation value Zr
Zr = function of R (Table 4.5)

Where
W 18 = predicted number of 18,000-lb single axle load applications Zr = standard normal deviation for a given reliability S0 = overall standard deviation for a pavement type SN = structural number indicative of the total pavement strength PSI = serviceability loss during design life (PSI TSI) Mr = resilient modulus in psi

SN can be determined using an equation solver on a calculator or computer

SN can alternatively be determined from the AASHTO design chart, shown at Figure 4.7

Design Procedure (contd)

To determine the thickness of each layer
use the equation: SN = a1D1 + a2D2M2 + a3D3M3, where
a1, a2 and a3 are the structural-layer coefficients of the wearing surface, base and sub-base layers, respectively D1, D2 and D3 are the thicknesses (in inch) of the wearing surface, base and sub-base layers, respectively M2 and M3 are the drainage coefficients for the base and sub-base layers, respectively

If the thicknesses of any 2 layers are predetermined

use the equation to determine the thickness of the third layer (guidelines for thicknesses are available)

If no thickness is predetermined
Using Mr of the subbase get SN2 for the above base and AC surface; using Mr of the base get SN1 for the above AC surface layer; compute and round thicknesses; make sure layer thicknesses are above minimum