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Highway Pavements
AASHTO
The Asphalt Institute
Portland Cement Association
MEPDG

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 Inputs

Design life (analysis period)

Traffic (W18)
Foundation stiffness (MR)
Performance criterion (PSI)
Reliability (ZR, So)
Outputs

Required pavement capacity: Structural Number

(SN)

log10 (W18 ) = Z R So + 9.36 log10 ( SN + 1) 0.20

Structural Number
PSI
log10
4.2 1.5 + 2.32 log M 8.07
+ 10 ( R)
1094
0.40 +
( SN + 1)
5.19

W18 = design traffic (18-kip ESALs)

ZR = standard normal deviate
So = combined standard error of traffic and performance prediction
PSI = difference between initial and terminal serviceability index
MR = resilient modulus (psi)
SN = structural number

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 MR
Reliability, %

(AASHTO, 1993)

n
S N = a1D 1 + i= 2
a iD im i

No Unique Solution!

(AASHTO, 1993)
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 Reliability (R) .

Overall standard deviation (So) .

Cumulative ESALs .

Effective road bed resilient m od u lu s (MR) .

Resilient m od u li of pavem ent layers (su rface, .

base & su bbase), MRi
Serviceability loss (PSI) .

Stru ctu ral nu m bers (SN i) .

Stru ctu ral layer coefficients (a i) .

Drainage coefficients (m i) .

Layer thicknesses (H i) .

Consid er freeze / thaw and sw elling .

Life-cycle cost .

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 Chance that pavement will last for
the design period without failure

Reliability

(AASHTO, 1993)
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 So = Standard Deviation
Flexible Pavements: So = 0.40 - 0.50
Rigid Pavements: So = 0.30 - 0.40

All variability is lumped into

a single set of parameters!

(AASHTO, 1993) 11

Com pu te ESAL (W 18) d u ring the d esign life in

the d esign lane

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Lab testing

Correlations

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 (AASHTO, 1993)
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Based u p on Present
Serviceability Rating
(PSR)
Su bjective rating by
ind ivid u al/ p anel
Initial/ p ost-
constru ction
Variou s tim es after
constru ction
0 < PSR < 5

PSR < ~2.5:

Unaccep table

(AASHO, 1961)
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 PSI = po pt
PSI = Pavem ent Serviceability Ind ex, 1 < PSI < 5

p o = Initial Serviceability Ind ex

Flexible p avem ents: 4.2

p t = Term inal Serviceability Ind ex

Range from 1.5-3

(AASHTO, 1993)
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Basic Equations

p0
Serviceability (PSI)

p0 - pt

pt

Time
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 PSR correlated to physical pavem ent
m easu res via Present Serviceability Ind ex
(PSI):
2
PSI = 5.03 1.91log(1 + SV ) 1.38 RD 0.01(C + P)1/ 2

SV = slope variance (measure of roughness) Empirical!

RD = average rut depth (inches)
C + P = area of cracking and patching per 1000 ft 2
PSI PSR

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Use d esign nom ograph three tim es to

d eterm ine the requ ired SN above su bgrad e,
su bbase, and base

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 (AASHTO, 1993)

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n
SN = a1 D1 + ai Di mi
i=2

SN = stru ctu ral nu m ber

ai = ith layer stru ctu ral coefficient

Di = ith layer thickness (inches)

m i = ith layer d rainage coefficient

n = nu m ber of layers (3, typically)

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Are they fund am ental engineering properties of

pavem ent m aterials?
Can they be m easured in the laboratory?

Can they be d efined easily for new m aterials?--

e.g.,
Mod ified H MA
Geosynthetic reinforced unbound m aterials

NO! NO! NO!

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 (AASHTO, 1993)
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a 2 0 .2 4 9 ( lo g 10 E base ) 0 .9 7 7

E base in p s i

(AASHTO, 1993)
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 a3 = 0.227(log10 Esubbase ) 0.839

Esubbase in psi

(AASHTO, 1993)
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mi increases/decreases the effective value for ai

Captures effect of environment on material properties

(AASHTO, 1993)

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 (AASHTO, 1993)
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SN 1 a 1D 1

Solve for D1 & round off (1/ 2 increm ents)

SN 2 a 1D 1 + a 2D 2m 2

Solve for D 2 & round off (1 increm ents)

SN 3 a 1D 1 + a 2D 2m 2 + a 3D 3m 3

Solve for D 3 & round off (1 increm ents)

Consid er m in. practical thicknesses

Consid er m aterial cost

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(Huang, 2004)
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 Asphalt Institu te:

Pavement response
Traffic ( ) calculated Incremental fatigue
using DAMA damage models
Climatic
data
Transfer functions

Design &
material
property Performance
parameters prediction models
(rutting, % cracks,
etc.)

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Design Criteria
Lim it vertical stress at top of road bed soil (prevent .
rutting)

Lim it horizontal tensile strain at bottom of H MA .

layer (prevent fatigue cracking)

Ru tting < 0.5 in Lim iting Criteria:

Fatigu e Cracking < 20-25%

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 t

c
t at bottom of all bound layers (cracking)
c at top of subgrade (rutting)
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Design Inpu ts

Traffic: .
18-kip ESALs for Pt=2.5 & SN =5

Subgrad e resilient m od ulus .

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 Material Properties

H igh Quality H MA .

Em ulsified AC base: .
Type I processed d ense grad ed aggregate .a
Type II sem i -processed grad ed aggregate .b
Type III sand s or silty-sand s .c
Criteria for base-subbase .d

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Environm ental

MAAT (m ean annual air tem p.) .

To account for changes in H MA Mr
N ote that at:
45F (frost effects)
60F (p ossible frost effects)
75F (no frost effects)

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 Thickness Design
Fu ll d ep th m in. H MA = 4in .
H MA over Em u lsified Base .
Chart TOTAL pavem ent thickness .a
Min. HMA Traffic
2 in 105
5 in > 107

H MA over granu lar base .

Chart H MA surface thickness .a
Choose base thickness based on: .b
Min. HMADrainageTraffic
.i
Frost protection .ii
3 inavailability/ cost10 4
Material .iii
Agency
5 in requirem ents10 .iv6

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Design Selection
Full d epth H MA .
Less total required thickness .a
Relatively insensitive to frost/ m oisture .b

Aggregate base: .
Inexpensive .a
Read ily available .b
Show n good perform ance .c

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 Exam ple

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Total ESALs
Buses + Trucks
2.13 m illion + 1.33 m illion = 3.46 m illion

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 CBR tests along a Road show :
CBR 8

M R conversion

AASHTO Conversion

M R = 1500(CBR ) = 1500(8) = 12,000 psi

NCHRP 1-37A Conversion

M R = 2555(CBR ) = 2555(8) = 9,669 psi

0.64 0.64

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Determ ines H MA & su bgrad e properties

Can select m ean annual air tem perature (MAAT):
45F (frost effects)
60F (p ossible frost effects)
75F (no frost effects)
Softw are allow s m ore selections

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 Decid e on basic stru ctu re
H MA
Aggregate base (6 or 12 inches)
Softw are allow s for m ore choices

Can also choose

Full-d epth asphalt
H MA over em ulsified asphalt base

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Source: Asphalt Institute, MS-1, 1981

Use graph

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 Final Design
9.5 inches H MA
12 inches aggregate base
6 inches UTB
6 inches aggregate subbase

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