Road pavement structural

design
Dr Rawid Khan
 Design methods
• Pavements types
• 1 Flexible pavement
• 2 Rigid pavement
• Design methods
• 1 Empirical method
• 2 Analytical/Mechanistic method
• 3 Mechanistic – Empirical method
 AASHTO method of flexible
pavement design
AASHTO method of flexible pavement design.
This design method utilizes four main design
variables:
 Time
 Traffic and loading
 Reliability
 Climate.
 AASHTO 93
• Material properties and pavement structural
values are evaluated through the use of the
resilient modulus of the sub grade .
• The AASHTO method is a conservative design
method (in other words, pavements can be
over-designed), therefore average values for the
design variables can be used for all
applications.
 Serviceability index
• One of the significant outcomes of the AASHO
/AASHTO road test was the pavement serviceability
index, p, and terminal serviceability index, P .
t

• The index involves the measurement in quantitative

terms of the behavior of the pavement under traffic and
its ability to serve traffic at some selected point during
its service life.
• The scale for the pavement serviceability index is from
0 to 5, with a value of 5 representing the highest or best
index of serviceability. In the beginning of the AASHO
road test, researchers determined the initial pavement
serviceability index, p, to be 4.2 for flexible pavements
 Serviceability index
• A value of p of 2.5, for example, is an intermediate
one between initial construction and failure of the
asphalt pavement to render adequate traffic service.
• The terminal serviceability index, P , represents the
t

lowest pavement serviceability index that can be

experienced before rehabilitation, resurfacing, or
reconstruction is required. The values are between
2.0 and 3.0 with 2.5 recommended for major
highways, 2.0 for lower volume roads, and 1.5 for
low use facilities such as residential parking lots.
 Serviceability index
•serviceability index value is not known during
the initial design of the asphalt pavement, but is
usually assumed to be between 4.2 and 4.5. The
change in service-ability is calculated as the
difference between the initial serviceability, po,
and the terminal serviceability
= Po – P
 Time
•The pavement analysis period is the length of time
that a given design strategy covers. The analysis
period may also be known as the design life or design
period. The pavement performance period or design
period is the time that the initial pavement structure
is expected to perform adequately before needing
major rehabilitation or its terminal serviceability. A
typical or common analysis period is 20 years.
•The length of time that is selected for the design
period could be for engineering reasons or for
economic reasons.
 Traffic and loading
•The AASHTO method of flexible pavement
design requires all traffic and loading to be
converted to 80 kN (18,000 lbs) equivalent single
axle loads, or ESALs.
•The numbers of ESALs are added together over
the pavement design period.
 Traffic and loading
There are four key considerations that can influence the
accuracy of traffic estimates and the life cycle or design
period of an asphalt pavement. These four points are:
 The accuracy of the load equivalency values used to
estimate the relative damage induced by axle loads.
 The accuracy of traffic volume and weight information
used to represent the actual loading estimates.
 The estimate of total ESALs over the pavement design
period.
 The interaction of pavement age and traffic .
Example
 Reliability
•Reliability in terms of pavements, is the probability that a
pavement design will perform satisfactorily under traffic
and climatic conditions for pavement design period.
•Pavement facilities that are designated critical are
designed using higher reliability factors. Depending on the
type of pavement facility, reliability values can range from
50 to 99.9 percent .
•The 50 percent reliability may apply to a residential street
or a light duty parking lot, while the 99.9 percent reliability
values would apply to heavy usage expressways. It is also
necessary to select an overall standard deviation, So, for
reliability to account for traffic and loading variances that
are representative of local or regional conditions.
 Reliability
•The layer design method used in the AASHTO design method
for flexible pavements has been developed around a three-layer
pavement composition consisting of the wearing or surface
course (layer one), the base course (layer two), and the sub-
base course (layer three). This design also permits omitting the
sub-base course or layer three.
SN = D1 a1 +D2a2m1+D3a3m2
1 1

•where D is the wearing course thickness (inches); a , the

1 1

wearing course layer coefficient; D2 the base course thickness

(inches); a2, the base course layer coefficient; m1 the base
course drainage coefficient; D3 the sub-base course thickness
(inches); a3 the sub-base course layer coefficient; m2 the sub-
base course drainage coefficient.
 Drainage
•Excellent 2h
•Good 24h
•Fair 1 week
•Poor 4 weeks
•Very poor No drainage
 AASHTO design procedure
The following steps summarize the procedure:
1- Determine the required reliability and overall
standard deviation for the pavement.
2- Determine the ESALs for the life of the
pavement.
3- Determine the subgrade soil resilient modulus,
4- Determine the design serviceability loss.
 AASHTO design procedure
5- Using the four values selected and the
AASHTO design nomograph, determine the
required structural number (SN) for the asphalt
pavement.

6 -The selected structural number and its

required values are then computed to determine
the thickness of each layer.
 •AP
•logio S!

•4.2-
1.5
•logi ow 18= ZR*S. + 9.36* logi 0(SN+1)— 0.20 + 1094 + 2.32*logioMR—
8.07
•0.40
+
•(SN+1)5. 19

•TL •TL
•5
0
Design serviceability loss, APS!

•1
0
•99. •5.
9 0
•4
0

•2
0

•. •1 •1
•9 .0 0
9 2
•.
5
•5

•.4
•9 0 . 6 •.1
•I
•.0
5

.05
•8
0

•7 1.0
0
•Example:
•6 •w 1 8 = 5 x 1.5
0 2.0 3.0
106
•R = 95%
•5
0 •S.= 0.35
•9 8 7 •5 4 •2 1
•MR= 5000 psi 6 3
•APS! = 1.9
•Solution: SN = 5.0 •Design structural number (SN)
 Example
•Determine the asphalt pavement thickness for a
large multi-type vehicle parking facility
(such as a freeway rest area) that will have
2,000,000 ESALs of loading during its design
life. The designer has selected 90 percent
reliability with an overall standard deviation of
0.45. The initial serviceability index is 4.5 and
the terminal serviceability index is 2.0. The
wearing course is a dense graded asphalt mixture.
 Example
• The base course is a crushed stone base to be
placed directly over the soil sub grade. The soil
subgrade has a CBR value of 3.3 percent. The
base course thickness should not be greater than
450 mm. There is no sub-base course. The
moisture conditions can be described as good if
for 20 percent of the time the pavement structure
is exposed to moisture levels approaching
saturation
 Problem
SN2 SN1

SN3

D1

D2

D3
 Solution
Reliability, R = 90 %
Overall standard deviation, So = 0.45
w18 = 2,000,000 ESALs
• Resilient Modulus, M = 1,500 (CBR) =
R

1,500(3.3) = 5,000 psi (34.5 MPa)Design

serviceability index, PSI = po — pt = 4.5 — 2.0 =
2.5
•Using the given values and the AASHTO design nomograph
•the structural number has been determined to be 4.0.
 Solution
•the layer strength coefficient, a1, for a dense graded hot mix
•asphalt wearing course is 0.017.
•The crushed stone base course a2 value is 0.0055. The m2value
•has been determined as 1.05. These problems are typically solved
•through a trial and error process until acceptable thickness values
•are determined, although specific equations can also be easily
•derived
• Several solutions may also be valid.
 Solution

•For the wearing course, an initial trial value of

•75 mm will be used.
• SN1 = a1D1 = (0.017) (75 mm) =

1.28

• Solving for the crushed stone

base course
 Solution

In an effort to reduce the crushed stone

thickness a 100mm wearing course will be

selected. SN1 = (0.017)(100 mm) = 1.70

D2 = 4 - 1.70
(0.0055)(1.05) = 400 mm