Structural Design
The process of designing pavement layers is called the structural design of the highway.
Structural design selects appropriate design parameter values to achieve good pavement
performance over pavement life. Design parameters are:
- Type of pavement.
- Layers (no. of layers, materials, thickness)
- Joint spacing and reinforcement (in the case of rigid pavement)
The following is a discussion of the design procedure of the most common methods used to
design flexible pavement and rigid pavement.
1. Design of Flexible Pavement Using AASHTO 1993 Method:
[Page 30, Part 6]
1. Reliability (R) and Standard Deviation(S0):
Reliability and standard deviation work as safety factors for the design. Typical values for
R=95% and S0= 0.45. [Page 31, Part 6]
2. Equivalent single axle load (ESAL):
This method depends on using a factor for each axle load that converts its damage to an
equivalent multiplier of the damage of a standard axle load which is considered the 18000
Ibs or 8 KN of a single axle.
ESAL is calculated from the following equation: [equation (3-10), Page 36, Part 6]
ESAL=[ ( ΣPiFi )∗AADT ]∗365∗D∗G∗L
Where :
Pi: Percentage of an axle
Fi: The equivalent factor of that axle
[Table (3-9), Page 35, Part 6] [equations (3-7), (3-8), (3-9) Page 34, Part 6]
AADT: Average annual daily traffic (for both directions)
D: Distribution factor, if not known = 0.5
G: Total growth rate [equation (2-1), Page 9, Part 6]
L: Lane distribution factor, 0.9 for two lanes in each direction, and 0.8 if 3+ lanes in each
direction.
If there is not enough data about traffic to be using the road, we can use an approximate
method:
ESAL=[ Pt∗T∗AADT ]∗365∗D∗G∗L
Where:
Pt: Truck factor 1.5 ~ 2.5
T: Percentage of trucks
3. Resilient Modulus (Mr) For Pavement Layers:
Resilient Modulus is calculated from the following equations for subgrade, sub-base,
and base, which consists of only granular materials and not stabilized with additives:
Mr=1500 CBR ( psi )−for CBR< 10 %
0.65
Mr=3000 CBR ( psi )−for CBR ≥ 10 %
4. Initial (P0) and Terminal (Pt) Serviceability Index:
The initial serviceability index's typical value is 4.2 or 4 according to construction
quality, and the terminal index is determined according to highway classification.
[Table (3-12), Page 40, Part 6]
5. Layers Factors(a0, a1, a2) and Drainage coefficients (m1, m2):
Layer factors describe layer strength. These factors are obtained from Tables and charts
that relate these factors to other attributes like CBR and Resilient Modulus.
[ Page 41, Part 6]
Drainage coefficients represent the layer’s ability to drain water.
[Table (3-17), Page 47, Part 6]
6. Get the Structural Number (SN) from the AASHTO chart (Limiting Layer
Analysis):
Use Mr of Base to get SN1= a1t1
Use Mr of Sub-base to SN2 = a1t1 + a2t2m2 (if we will use sub-base)
Use Mr of Subgrade to get SN3 = a1t1 + a2t2m2 + a3t3m3
7. Calculate the Thickness of each layer:
From previous equations, we can calculate the thickness (t 1, t2, t3) of each layer rounded
to 1cm, then check if it meets minimum thickness requirements.
[Table (3-18), Page 51, Part 6]
2. Design of Rigid Pavement Using PCA Method:
[Page 74, Part 6]
The PCA procedure is to assume a thickness for the slab and then check it by making
fatigue analysis and erosion analysis. Before design, we must determine important factors
that affect the design: k of subgrade/sub-base, the Load safety factor (LSF), Concrete
Modulus of Rapture (MR), and whether shoulders are paved or not.
Fatigue Analysis:
PCA Tables define the stress (single/tandem) in pavement slab for given conditions of (slab
thickness, and k of subgrade/sub-base). [Table (4-3), Table (4-4), Page 82, Part 6]
Stress is obtained from the appropriate Table and then a stress ratio is calculated two times
(one for single axles and one for tandem axles) from this equation:
Stress ratio = Stress / Concrete Modulus of Rapture (MR)
For each axle load (Multiplied by LSF), an allowable load repetition for that axle load is
obtained from the fatigue analysis chart. Note that all lines of single axles must pass by the
same stress ratio point, which is the same for all tandem axles. [chart (4-2), Page 88, Part 6]
For each axle load, the damage is calculated from the following relation:
Actual load repetition
Damage %= ∗100
allowable load repetition
Calculate the summation of damage for all axles (single and tandem). If the sum is < 100,
the thickness is safe for fatigue.
Erosion Analysis:
PCA Tables define the erosion factor(single/tandem) in pavement slab for a given condition
of (slab thickness, and k of subgrade/sub-base).
[Table (4-5), Table (4-6), Table (4-7), Table (4-8) Page 84, Part 6]
Erion factor is obtained from the appropriate Table for single and tandem axles.
For each axle load (Multiplied by LSF), an allowable loa repetition for that axle load is
obtained from the erosion analysis chart. Note that all lines of single axles must pass by the
same erosion factor point, the same for all tandem axles.
[chart (4-3), chart (4-4), Page 89, Part 6]
For each axle load, the damage is calculated from the following relation:
Actual load repetition
Damage %= ∗100
allowable load repetition
Calculate the summation of damage for all axles (single and tandem). If the sum is < 100,
then the thickness is safe for erosion.
The following Table can be used to organize the calculations:
Axle Load Fatigue Analysis Erosion Analysis
Allowable Allowable
Load Load * Load Actual load repetition Damage Damage
load load
(ton) LSF (kips) (%) (%)
repetition repetition
Single axle
Stress: ------------- Stress Ratio: ----------------- Erosion Factor: ----------------
Tandem axle
Stress: ------------- Stress Ratio: ----------------- Erosion Factor: ----------------
Total (%)