CIVIL ENGG.

DEPARTMENT
BIRLA VISHVA
KARMA MAHAVIDYALAYA ENGG.
COLLEGE
VALLABH VIDYANAGAR-388120

M.TECH - TRANSPORTATION ENGINEERING

Topic
Design of –Flexible
Pavements
1

SUBJECT – Pavement Analysis and Design

– TE505 FACULTY GUIDE- Prof. Amit .A.
Amin
PREPARED BY:-
2 Table of
Contents
 Introduction
 IRC METHOD OF DESIGN OF FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS (IRC:
37-2012)
 Guidelines for Design by IRC: 37: 2012
3 Introductio
n
 Flexible pavements are those which on a whole have low or negligible
flexural strength and rather flexible in their structural action under load.
 The wheel load acting on the pavement will be distributed to a wider
area, and the stress decreases with the depth. Flexible pavement layers
reflect the deformation of the lower layers on to the surface layer
4 IRC METHOD OF DESIGN OF
PAVEMENTS
FLEXIBLE (IRC: 37-2012)
 1. IRC:37-1970
 based on California Bearing Ratio (CBR) of subgrade
 Traffic in terms of commercial vehicles (more than 3 tonnes laden
weight)
 2. IRC:37-1984
 based on California Bearing Ratio (CBR) of subgrade
 Design traffic was considered in terms of cumulative number of
equivalent standard axle load of 80 kN in millions of standard axles
(msa)
 Design charts were provided for traffic up to 30 msa using an
empirical
approach.
5 Continue
…
 3. IRC:37-2001
 based on Mechanistic-Empirical method
 Pavements were required to be designed for traffic as high as
150 msa.
 The limiting rutting is recommended as 20 mm in 20 per cent of the
length
designfor
traffic
 4. IRC:37-
2012

 based on
The limiting rutting is recommended as 20 mm in 20 per cent of the
Mechanistic-
length for design traffic up to 30 msa and 10 per cent of the length
Empirical
for the design traffic beyond
method
6 Guidelines for Design by IRC: 37:
2012
 Design Traffic:
 The recommended method considers design traffic in terms of
the cumulative number of standard axles (80 kN) to be carried
by the pavement during the design life.
 Only the number of commercial vehicles having gross vehicle
weight of 30 kN or more and their axle- loading is considered for
the purpose of design of pavement.
 Assessment of the present day average traffic should be based
on seven- day-24-hour count made in accordance with IRC: 9-
1972 "Traffic Census on Non-Urban Roads".
7 Traffic growth rate
(r):
 Estimated by Analyzing:
 The past trends of traffic growth,
 Change in demand of Traffic by factors like specific development,
Land use changes etc.
 If the data for the annual growth rate of commercial vehicles is
not available or if it is less than 5 per cent, a growth rate of 5 per
cent should be used (IRC:SP:84-2009).
8 Design life
(n)
 The design life is defined in terms of the cumulative number of
standard axles in msa that can be carried before a major
strengthening, rehabilitation or capacity augmentation of the
pavement is necessary.
 Depending upon road type, Design traffic is ranges from 10 to 15
years.
9 Vehicle damage factor
(VDF)
 It is defined as equivalent number of standard axles per commercial
vehicle.
 The Vehicle Damage Factor (VDF) is a multiplier to convert the number of
commercial vehicles of different axle loads and axle configuration into
the number of repetitions of standard axle load of magnitude 80 kN.
1 Lane distribution
0
factor
 Distribution of commercial traffic in each direction and in each lane is
required for determining the total equivalent standard axle load
applications to be considered in the design.
 In the absence of adequate and conclusive data, the following
distribution
assumed until
may more
be
reliable datalanes
carriageway on placement
are available:
of commercial vehicles on
the
 1) Single-lane roads
 2) Two-lane single carriageway
roads
 3) Four-lane single carriageway
roads
 4) Dual carriageway roads
1 Computation of Design
1
traffic
 The design traffic in terms of the cumulative number of standard axles to
be carried during the design life of the road should be computed using
the following equation:
1 Sub-
2
grade
 Requirements of CBR: Sub grade is made up of in- situ material,
select soil or stabilized soil.
 Compacted to a minimum of 97% of laboratory drydensity
achieved
heavy compaction.
with
 Minimum CBR of 8% for traffic > 450
CVPD
 CBR can also be determined from Dynamic Cone Penetrometer
(60º
bycone)
..
 Log10 CBR = 2.465-
1.12log10 N
 Where, N = mm/blow
1 Sub-grade
3
(Continue…)
 Where different types of soils are used in sub grade minimum 6 to 8
average value for each type is required.
 90th percentile for high volume and 80th percentile for other category
of road
adopted
is as design CBR .
 Maximum permissible
variation

 Where variation is more average CBR should be average of 6 samples

and not three.
1 Effective
4
CBR
 Where there is significant difference between the CBRs of the select sub
grade
embankment
and soils, the design should be based on
effective CBR.
 The effective CBR of the subgrade can be determined
from Fig.
1 Lab procedure for CBR
5
calculation:
 The test must always be performed on remoulded samples of soils in the
laboratory.
 The pavement thickness should be based on 4-day soaked CBR value of
the soil, remoulded at placement density and moisture content
ascertained from the compaction curve.
 In areas with rainfall less than 1000 mm, four day soaking is too severe a
condition for well protected sub-grade with thick bituminous layer and
the strength of the sub-grade soil may be underestimated.
 If data is available for moisture variation in the existing in-service
pavements of a region in different seasons, molding moisture content
for the CBR test can be based on field data.
 Wherever possible the test specimens should be prepared by static
compaction.
Alternatively dynamic compaction may also be used.
1 Resilient
6
Modulus:
 Resilient modulus is the measure of its elastic behavior
determined from recoverable deformation in the laboratory tests.
 The modulus is an important parameter for design and the
performance
pavement.of a
 The relation between resilient modulus and the effective CBR is
given as:

 The CBR of the sub-grade should be determined as per IS: 2720

(Part 16) (36) at the most critical moisture conditions likely to occur at
site.
1 Various cases in
7
design.
 The flexible pavement with different combinations of traffic loads and
material
properties.
 1) Granular base and Granular sub-base.
 2) Cementitious base and sub-base with agg.
Interlayer.
 3) Cementitious base and sub-base with SAMI.
 4) RAP agg. Over cemented sub-base
 5) Cemented base and Granular sub-base
1 Problem
8
statement.
 Design the pavement for construction of a new flexible
following
pavement data:
with the
 Four lanes divided National
Highway.
 Design life is 15 years.
 Data collection
 Material properties :
 California Bearing Ratio (CBR)
 Resilient Modulus (MR)
Modulus of Elasticity (E)
 Poisson’s ratio (µ)
1 Material
9
properties
 CBR : The CBR values are calculated after every kilometre on
selected stretch of 10 km having the same type of soil. Suppose the
2.8, values
4.5, 3.9, 4.2, 2.9,
obtained 4.7,3.8,
are: 4.3, 4.0 and 4.6%. Based on the
design
collectedCBR (90th
data the percentile CBR) is calculated as below:
 Solution:
 Arrange in ascending order : 2.8, 2.9, 3.8, 3.9, 4.0, 4.2, 4.3, 4.5,
4.6 and 4.7.
 Calculate the percentage greater than equal of the value as
 For CBR of 3.8, percentage of values greater than equal to 3.8 =
follows:
= 80%
(8/10) x100
 Similarly for 2.8 % is 100%, 4.5% CBR is 80% and
so on. a plot is made between Percentages of values
 Now greater than
equal to the
CBR values versus the CBR as follows.
2 Continue
0
…

 RESULT : The 90th Percentile CBR value is

2.90%
2 Effective
1
CBR:

 (Figure 5.1, Page 11, IRC: 37: 2012)

2 Poisson’s
2
ratio
 Poisson’s ratio µ is define as the ratio of lateral strain (ɛl) to the axial
strain (ɛa), caused by load parallel to the axis along which ɛa is
measured.
 It is found that for most of the pavement structures, the influence of
µ value is normally small.
 For most of cement treated materials (soil cement, cement treated
base, lean
concrete and PCC), the value of µ normally lies between 0.10 and 0.25.
 Unbound granular material lie between 0.2 and 0.5 and those for
bituminous mixes range from 0.35 to 0.50
2 Elastic
3
modulus
 Elastic moduli of various pavement materials are obtained either
through tests or through the recommendations available in the
guidelines.
 Repeated flexure or indirect tensile tests arecarried out to determine the
dynamic
modulus Ed of bituminous
mixes.
 Resilient modulus
 Resilient modulus is the measure of its elastic behaviour
determined from recoverable deformation in the laboratory tests.
 The behaviour of the subgrade is essentially elastic under the
transient
loadingtraffic
with negligible permanent deformation in a
single pass.
 This can be determined in the laboratory by conducting
tests.
2 Calculation of MR for Sub-
4
grade.
 The resilient modulus is calculated as follow;
MR (Mpa) = 10 x CBR …………. For
CBR 5
= 17.6 x CBR0.64 ………For CBR
>5
(From equation 5.2, Page no. 12, IRC: 37:
2012)
2 Calculation of M R for Granular
5
Sub-base
base and
 The resilient modulus is calculated as follow;
MRgsb = 0.20 x h0.45 x MR subgrade
h = Thickness of sub-base layer in mm, ……
sub- base,
= Cumulative thickness of Base layer and
Sub- base layer in mm ... for base
2 Traffic
6
count
 Assessment of average daily traffic should be normally based on 7 day-
24hr count made in accordance with IRC: 9 “Traffic census on non-urban
roads”.
 Classify traffic into different categories such as two wheelers, three
wheelers, passenger cars, trucks etc.
 But only commercial vehicle with laden weight
> 3 tonne is taken into
consideration of design.
 Commercial vehicles are further categorised as single axle single
wheel, single axel dual wheel, Tandem axle dual wheel and Tridem axle
dual wheel.
 Where no traffic count data is available, data from roads of similar
classification and importance may be used to predict the design traffic
2 Calculation of Design
7
factor
 1) Design Traffic,
 2) Axle load survey,
 3) Vehicle Damage
Factor
 4) Lane Distribution
Factor
2 Design
8
Traffic:
 Initial traffic after construction in terms of number of
per day (CVPD).
Commercial Vehicles
 Traffic growth rate during the design life in
percentage.
 Design life in number of years.
 Spectrum of axle loads.
 Vehicle Damage Factor (VDF).
 Distribution of commercial traffic over the
carriageway.
2 Calculation of Design
9
traffic:
 For our case the number of heavy commercial vehicleper day is taken
as 7 day average for 24 hour count comes to be 2792 vehicle per day as
per the last count.

 i. e. P = 2792 cvpd, r = 7 %, and x = 10 years

 A = 2792 (1+0.07)10 = 5000 cvpd.
 RESULT: Traffic in the year of completion of construction is 5000 cvpd
in both the
directions.
3 Axle load
0
survey :
 Required for VDF calculation and Fatigue damage analysis of
cementitious base.
 The axle load spectrum is formulated by considering 10 kN, 20
kN and 30 kN intervals for single, tandem and
tridem axle respectively.
 RESULT: As per study the percentage of Single, Tandom and
Tridom axle
are 45%, 45% and 10% respectively
3 Axle load
1
spectrum
3 Vehicle damage
2
factor
 The formula to calculate VDF is given as
follows:

 W1, W2, ….. are the mean values of the various axle load groups.
 V1, V2, …. are the respective traffic volumes.
 Ws is the standard axle load.
 Standard axle load for Single axle, Tandem axle and Tridem axle is 80
KN, 148 KN and 224 KN as per IRC: 37:2012 (Page 7)
 RESULT: The VDF for Single axle load, Tandem axle load and Tridem
axle load is 4.11, 8.37 and 7.51.
3 Vehicle Damage factor
3
(Continue.)
 Were sufficient information on axle loads are not available or the small
size of project does not warrant an axle load survey the default values
of VDF may be adopted as given in the table given below.
3 Lane distribution
4
factor.
 Distribution of commercial traffic in each direction and in each lane is
required
determining
for the total
equivalent
in the design.
standard axle load applications to be
considered
 Single lane road : Total vehicle in both direction.
 Two lane single carriage way : 50% of total vehicle in both
direction.
 Four lane single carriage way : 40% of total vehicle in both
 Dual carriage way: Two lane 75%, Three lane 60%, Four lane 45% of
direction.
number of CV in each direction.
 RESULT: In the present design problem we are given to design a four lane
divided highway, therefore the Lane distribution factor is 75 percent of
number of commercial vehicle in each direction.
3 Million standard
5
axle
 The design traffic is calculated in terms of cumulative number of
standard axle of 80 kN carried during the design life of the road.

 r = 7.5
%,
 n = 20 yr. ( Expressway and Urban roads), 15 yr (NH and SH), In this
problem
have to
wedesign National highway take n as 15
years,
 A is 5000cvpd in both direction and 2500 in one
direction
3 Calculation of Million std.
6
axle.
 Single axle load (N1): 45 percent vehicles are of single axle.
 A : 0.45 x 2500 = 1125, F : 4.11
 N1 = 33.06 x 106 = 33.06 msa
 Tandem axle load (N2): 45 percent vehicles are of tandem axle.
 A : 0.45 x 2500 = 1125, F : 8. 37
 N2 = 67.33 x 106 = 67.33 msa
 Tridem axle load (N3): 10 percent vehicles are of tridem axle.
 A : 0.10 x 2500 = 250, F : 7.51
 Total msa (N1+N2+N3) = 33.06 + 67.33 + 13.42 = 113.81 ̴ 150 msa (Aprox.)
 RESULT: The cumulative million standard axles tobe consider for
design is 150 msa.
3 Determination pavement
7
thickness
 Case 1 : Bituminous pavement with untreated
granular layer
3 Determination of thickness for
8
Case 1
 The thickness of various layers is determined with the help pavement
design catalogue given in IRC: 37: 2012 from page 26 to 28, for various
values of effective CBR.
3 Continue
9
…
 RESULT:
 For design traffic of 150msa and CBR of 7%
 Thickness of subbase (GSB) is 230 mm,
 Thickness of base (G. Base) is 250 mm,
 Thickness of Dense Bitumen macadam (DBM) is
140 mm,
 Thickness of Bituminous concrete (BC) is 50
mm
4 Case 2 : Bituminous pavement
0 and
with cemented
cemented sub-base
base with aggregate inter
layer of 100mm
4 Continue
1
…
4 Determination of thickness for
2
case 2.
 RESULT:
 For design traffic of 150msa and CBR of 7%
 Thickness of Cementitious sub-base (CT Subbase)
is 250 mm,
 Thickness of Cementitious base (CT Base) is 120
mm,
interlayer
Aggregate
is 100mm
 Thickness of Dense Bitumen macadam (DBM) is 50
mm
 Thickness of Bituminous concrete (BC) is 50 mm
are
 Obtained by interpolating the thickness of CBR 5%
and 10%.
4 Calculation of Resilient Modulus
3
(MR) 2
case for
 M R subgrade = 17.6 x CBR0.64 = 17.6 x 70.64 =
61.15 Mpa.


 M(From table 7.1Resilienent Modulus of Bituminous Mixes, page
R Bituminous layer = 3000 Mpa
23,37: 2012) IRC:
 Pavement composition for 90 per cent Reliability is BC + DBM
= 100 mm,
 Aggregate interlayer = 100 mm (MR = 450 MPa),
 Cemented base = 120 mm (E = 5000 MPa),
 Cemented subbase = 250 mm (E = 600 Mpa)
4 Case 3 : Bituminous pavement with cemented
4 cementedsub-basewith
base and SAMI layer over
cemented base.
4 Continue
5
…

 PAGE 33 AND 34 OF IRC: 37: 2012

4 Determination of thickness for
6
Case 3
 RESULT:
 Design traffic of 150 msa and CBR of 7%
 Thickness of Cementitious sub-base (CT Subbase)
is 250 mm,
 Thickness of Cementitious base (CT Base) is 165
mm,
 Thickness of Dense Bitumen macadam (DBM) is 50
mm
 Thickness of Bituminous concrete (BC) is 50 mm
are
 obtained by interpolating the thickness of CBR 5%
and 10%.
 SAMI is provided on the top of cemented base.
4 Case 4 : Bituminous pavement with base of
7 fresh aggregate or RAP treated with foamed
bitumen/ and
emulsion Bitumen
cemented Sub-
base
4 Continue
8
…

 PAGE 36 AND 37 OF IRC: 37:

2012
4 Determination of thickness for
9
case 4
 RESULT:
 Design traffic of 150 msa and CBR of 7%
 Thickness of Cementitious sub-base (CT Subbase) is 250 mm,
 Thickness of Treater reclaimed aspalt pavement (Treated
RAP) is 180 mm,
 Thickness of Dense Bitumen macadam (DBM) is 50 mm
 Thickness of Bituminous concrete (BC) is 50 mm are
 Obtained by interpolating the thickness of CBR 5% and 10%.
 Instead of RAP base of fresh aggregates treated with
bitumen emulsion/
foamed bitumen can be used to obtain stronger base.
5 Case 5 : Bituminous pavement with cemented
0 granular
base andsub-base with 100mm WMM layer
over cemented base:
5 Continue
1
…
5 Determination of thickness for
2
case 5
 RESULT:
 Design traffic of 150 msa and CBR of 7%
 Thickness of Granulated Subbase (GSB)
is 250 mm
 Cementitious sub-base (CT Subbase) is
 Thickness of aggregate layer is 100 mm, Thickness of
195 mm,
macadam
Dense (DBM) is 50 mm
Bitumen
 Thickness of Bituminous concrete (BC) is 50 mm
 Obtain by interpolating the thickness of CBR 5%
and 10%.
 The upper 100 mm of granular sub-base should be open
graded so that its permeability is about 300 mm/day or
higher for quick removal of water entering from surface.
5 Calculation of Resilient Modulus (MR)
3
and
Modulus of Elasticity (E):
 For traffic of 150 msa, Subgrade CBR 7%,
 M R subgrade = 17.6 x CBR0.64 = 17.6 x 70.64 =
61.15
 M RMpa.Bituminous layer = 3000 Mpa (From table 7.1 Resilienent
Bituminous Mixes,of
Modulus page 23, IRC: 37:
2012)
 M R Aggregate = 450 Mpa and
 E of cemented base is 5000 MPa,

 E Granular subbase =M R subgrade x 0.20 x

h0.45
 Where, h = Thickness of GSB = 250
mm
5 Design
4
check
 To check the suitability of pavement design discussed above
we carry out checks, which ensure safety against the
failure of designed pavement.
 The flexible pavement is checked for two types of failures i.e.
Rutting in pavement and Fatigue in bottom layer of
bituminous surfacing.
 The following condition should be satisfied for the design to
be
satisfactory
 Design strain < Allowable strain
 Allowable strain = Obtained by fatigue model and rutting model
 Design strain = IITpave software
5 Recommendati
5
on
 Specifications should be modified according to local condition. In
wet climate wearing course should be impermeable.
 Long duration and low intensity rainfall causes more damage as
compare with rainfall of small duration and more density.
 If DBM and SDBC/BC are designed properly (4% air voids and protected
shoulder)
impermeably can be ensure.
 Adequate provision for sub-surface drainage prevent pavement
damage.
 Thickness charts with BC/ SDBC are valid for all rainfall area.
 For pavement carrying heavy traffic wearing course laid over WBM
shows better performance.
 For low traffic (upto 5 msa) bitumen surfacing with two coats is
found to be suitable.
5 Conclusio
6
n
 Time to time revisions of code provision are needed keeping in view
changes in traffic pattern and development of new technologies. Further
with the gain of experience in the design as well as construction
procedure of flexible pavement have demanded certain changes.
 Hence by considering the above factors IRC: 37: 2012 includes some
changes in the
conceptual design of
flexible
and consideration
pavement of
such
strain
as inclusion
in design.of Resilience
moduli
 This code also encourages the use IIT pave software which is newly
recommended.
 Since the use of semi-mechanistic approach, the design is not only
based on the experience but it also gives parameters (strain parameter)
to check the obtained design.
 Solution to the above pavement design problem shows that the
thickness design varies with the variation in various factors.
5 Referenc
7
es
 IRC: 37: 2012, “Guidelines for Design of Flexible pavement”,
second revision.
 IRC: 37: 2001, “Tentative guidelines for Design of Flexible
pavement”
5
8
THANK YOU For Bearing.

Bhavik A. Shah (17TS809)