Design of Flexible Pavement

IRC 37

IIT
Flexible Pavement Design – Indian Road Congress

Should Pavements be Designed ???

• Pavement failures are not catastrophic in nature.

• But bad roads can be cause of serious economic loss and also loss of life
• Great deal of money is involved – 3 Cr – 8 Cr /km
• Even in low volume PMGSY Roads – 50 lakhs/ km

6/50
Pavement
• Is a structure that carries Complex
Loading
vehicular loading Condition
• Should not be confused to
footpath/walkways used by Complex
Rational Challenge
Material
Design in Design
pedestrians Behaviour

• Build over prepared

Different
foundation/subgrade Climatic
Condition

Facilities where pavements are provided

• Airport Pavement
• Haul Roads, Loading Yards, Bus Terminals
• Highway Pavements
Flexible Pavement Rigid Pavement

Rigid
Flexible

8/50
Flexible Pavement Rigid Pavement
Scope of IRC 37
Typical Cross Section of a Flexible Pavement on Embankment
Dense graded bituminous surface course along with binder course.
Marshal mix design of these dense bituminous mixes needs to be
carried out. DBM and BC. Resist tensile stresses developed due to
heavy wheel load of vehicles

Prevents entry of surface water into pavement layer during the

Thick Bituminous Surface rain. 20 mm thick pre mix carpet
Thin Bituminous Surface
Wet Mix Macadam and Water Bound Macadum, soil –aggregate
mixes and stabilised soil mixes. It sustains the wheel load stresses
Granular Base Course and disperses through larger area

Granular Sub Base/Drainage Granular sub-base- Drains of water, crushed stones aggregates,
gravel, coarse sand and selected soil such as moorum (Orange
book).

Subgrade
Subgrade – Soil, gravel and organic matter,
Max. Laboratory dry density not less than 17.5 KN/Cum (upto 3 m
height)

Embankment – raise the grade line for making roads above ground
Embankment water level, damage due to capillary water.
Max. Laboratory dry density not less than 15.2 KN/Cum (upto 3 m
height) and not less than 16 KN/Cum for exceeding 3 m
Material: Soil, Moorum, Gravel, Reclaimed Material from Pavement
Compaction not less than 95%
 IRC 37 – 2018

DESIGN OF FLEXIBLE
PAVEMENTS
 Failure in Flexible Pavement
• Rutting due to permanent deformation in the sub grade

For Rutting
• Average rutting of 20 mm
or
For Cracks
• Restricted to 20 % of
pavement surface area
• Fatigue Cracking in the Bituminous Layer
for traffic <30MSA
• Restricted to 10 % of
pavement surface area
for traffic >30MSA

Which ever is earlier

9/50
a) Bottom up cracks b) Top down cracks
Bottom up
cracking of
a sample
cored from
a section
of NH
Surface cracking : top down nature, alligator cracking,
caused due to fatigue
Rutting
Sum Up The Failures In Pavements

The salient modes of Pavement failure:

1. Fatigue cracking of bituminous layers, due to high horizontal

tensile strains occurring at the bottom of bituminous layers
(Bottom up cracking)
2. Permanent deformation or Rutting, caused by vertical
compressive strains on subgrade (Rutting of subgrade)
3. Permanent deformation within the bituminous layers
(viscous deformation of bituminous mix)
4. Surface cracking of the wearing course, the bituminous layer
(Top down cracking)
 Critical Stresses & Failure Criteria

1. RUTTING FAILURE
Due to Vertical Strain (εv) at Top of the Subgrade
2. FATIGUE FAILURE
Due to Horizontal Tensile Strain (εt) at Bottom of the
Bituminous Layer

Prevent penetration of
water in to the pavement
Supports the wearing
course
Prevent rise of water or
capillary action

Bears all the load thus

acts as a foundation of
road
RUTTING FAILURE CRITERIA (MORTH-56)

The equivalent number of standard axle load (80kN)

repetitions that can be served by the pavement, before the
critical average rut depth of 20 mm or more occurs, is
given by equations:

90% chance that the

pavement will last its design
life
 Proforma – I, Visual Assessment IRC-82:2015)

IIT
Jammu
FATIGUE FAILURE CRITERIA

The equivalent number of standard axle (80kN) load

repetitions that can be served by the pavement, before the
critical condition of the cracked surface area of 20 % or
more occurs, is given by equations:
Sum Up The Failures In Pavements

• The first two modes of failure are taken care of by

the equations Fatigue Model and Rutting Model
respectively

• The rest two modes of failure are taken care of by

appropriate asphalt mix design which is also very
important
 How IRC Makes Your Life Easier

IRC gives pavement design catalogue, which is based on two

parameters:-

1. CBR

2. Design Traffic - Cumulative Number of Standard Axles

Based on the CBR values and MSA, we can get a tentative

design of pavement layer composition
 CBR- California Bearing Ratio

IS 2720 (Part 16) IS 2720 Part 31

CBR- The ratio of force per unit area
Surface
required to penetrate a soil Mass with irregularities
standard penetration plunger at a
CBR is calculated at 2.5 mm and 5.0
uniform rate of 1.25 mm/min, to the mm
corresponding penetration load of the
Standard material is called CBR
CBR = Test Load/ Standard load* 100
 Design Traffic - Cumulative Number of Standard Axles

1. Initial traffic after construction in P - No. of Vehicles as per last count

terms of number of Commercial X - No. of years between last count
Vehicles per day (A)
2. Traffic growth rate during the D- Lane Distribution Factor
design life in percentage (r), 5%
3. Design life in number of years (n). Type of Road D
(20 yr for NH and SH, Single Lane Road 1
15 yr for Other Roads) Two lane single Carriageway 0.5
4. Spectrum of axle loads. Four Lane single carriageway 0.4
5. Vehicle Damage Factor (F). Dual Carriageway (two lane) 0.75
6. Distribution of commercial traffic Dual Carriageway (three lane) 0.60
over the carriageway (D).
Dual Carriageway (four lane) 0.45
Design Traffic - Cumulative Number of Standard Axles

Note- CV with wt. > 30kN is taken for design

VDF is a multiplier to convert no. of CV

with diff axle loads and configuration into
no. of repetition of standard axle load

Fourth Power Law

Axle load survey
Transportation Engineering Division, VNIT Nagpur
LET’S TAKE AN EXAMPLE
TO UNDERSTAND THE
COMPLETE DESIGN
A design example of flexible pavement
• N= 50 msa (projected traffic)
• Design subgrade CBR= 5%
• Let us design a conventional flexible pavement and check with
IITPAVE software.
• Pavement composition as per IRC 37 (2018) :
Pavement composition as per 2012 version
Pavement composition as per 2018 version
 Design Example
As per 2018 version, from plate 1 we get:

• GSB = 200mm
• WMM = 250mm
• DBM = 140mm
• BC = 40mm
 Now we have to check if the layer
thickness obtained from plates can
cater to the stresses and strains induced
by 50msa traffic
 3 - STEP PROCESS

1. Calculate The Allowable Strains

2. Calculate The Actual Induced Strains

3. Compare Actual Strains v/s Allowable Strains

 STEP-1
Calculate The Allowable Strains
(Maximum Permissible Strain)

1. Vertical Compressive Strain (εv) at Top of the

Subgrade [RUTTING]

2. Horizontal Tensile Strain (εt) at Bottom of

the Bituminous Layer [CRACKING]
Vertical Compressive Strain (εv)
at Top of the Subgrade

90% reliability because N > 20msa

 Vertical Compressive Strain (εv)
at Top of the Subgrade

90% reliability because N > 20msa

Here, NR = 50 msa,
Putting this value in the above equation, we get,

εv= 3.71 x 10-4

(Maximum Permissible ε )
v
 Horizontal Tensile Strain (εt)
at Bottom of the Bituminous Layer

90% reliability because N > 20msa

 Horizontal Tensile Strain (εt)
at Bottom of the Bituminous Layer

90% reliability because N > 20msa

To calculate εt, we need:

1. Nf = 50msa (given)

2. C = We will Calculate

3. MRm = We will Calculate

 Horizontal Tensile Strain (εt)
at Bottom of the Bituminous Layer

Here, Vbe = 11.5% (effective bitumen content), known

Va = 3.5% (air voids), known

Putting these value in the above equation, we get,

M = 0.371
&
C = 2.35
 Horizontal Tensile Strain (εt)
at Bottom of the Bituminous Layer
MRm is the Resilient Modulus of Bitumen
For this, we first need to know which bitumen we will use
 Horizontal Tensile Strain (εt)
at Bottom of the Bituminous Layer
So, MRm = 3000 Mpa
C = 2.35
Nf = 50 msa

Putting these value in the above equation, we get,

εt = 1.78 x 10-4
(Maximum Permissible ε )
t
Transportation Engineering Division, VNIT Nagpur
 STEP-2
Calculate Actual Strains using IIT Pave

1. Vertical Compressive Strain (εv) at Top of the

Subgrade

2. Horizontal Tensile Strain (εt) at Bottom of

the Bituminous Layer
We Need a few more information for
using IIT Pave
 Calculate MRS & MGRAN

1. MRS is Resilient Modulus of Subgrade

2. MGRAN is Resilient Modulus of GSB

1. Resilient Modulus of Subgrade (MRS)

Putting CBR = 5% in first equation, we get,

MRS = 50 MPa
 2. Resilient Modulus of GSB (MGRAN)

h = 200 + 250 (GSB + WMM)

h = 450mm
Supporting Layer below GSB is Subgrade
So, MRSUPPORT = MRS = 50 MPa
 2. Resilient Modulus of GSB (MGRAN)

Putting h = 450mm & MRSUPPORT = 50 Mpa

in the above equation, we get

MGRAN = 156.3 MPa

 SOME OTHER VALUES
(From IRC37)
• Poisson’s ratio µ = 0.35 at 35 deg C

• Wheel load for a single wheel= 80/4=20kN

• Tyre pressure = 5.6kg/cm = 0.56 Mpa

The above are the additional input data for

IITPAVE
PAVEMENT THICKNESS TO BE CHECKED
Dual Wheel c/c distance = 310mm

155mm BC = 40mm Total

Bituminous

TOTAL = 630mm
Layer
DBM = 140mm = 180mm

WMM = 250mm Total

Granular
Layer
GSB = 200mm = 450mm
IIT Pave Software Inputs
Total
Bituminous
Layer
= 180mm
IIT Pave Software Inputs

Total
Granular
Layer
= 450mm
IIT Pave Software Inputs

Layer 3 is
Soil Subgrade
(Infinite)
IIT Pave Software Inputs

180mm is Bottom of Bituminous Layer

for Calculating εt
IIT Pave Software Inputs

180mm is Bottom of Bituminous Layer

for Calculating εt
IIT Pave Software Inputs

This is point of load application

(0 is Below centre of Dual Wheel)
(155 is Below centre of Single Wheel)
IIT Pave Software Inputs

630mm is depth at Top of Soil Subgrade

for Calculating εv
 IIT Pave Software Output

Vertical Tangential Radial

Strain (εv) Strain Strain

Z is the depth from top of road surface

R is the Radial Distance

IIT Pave Software Output
180.00
180.00 L

180 means at a depth of 180mm which is the interface

b/w bituminous & granular layers
180.00 means just above the interface

180.00 L means just below the interface

IIT Pave Software Output
180.00, R = 155

180.00, R = 0.00

These are at the same depth but point of loading is

below the Single Wheel of the Dual Wheel Assembly
180.00 means just above the interface

180.00 L means just below the interface

IIT Pave Software Output

Maximum of these 4 values is taken as the Actual Horizontal

Tensile Strain (εt) at Bottom of the Bituminous Layer
[+ve values are tensile strains]

So, ε = 0.0001723
IIT Pave Software Output

Maximum of these 2 values is taken as the Actual Vertical

Compressive Strain (εv) at Top of the Subgrade Layer
[-ve values are compressive strains]

So, ε = 0.0003202
 STEP-3

Check
Allowable Strain (From Equations)
v/s
Actual Strains (From IIT Pave)
 FINAL CHECK

Allowable Actual
Actual or
Strain or < Remark
Induced
Permissible Allowable

εt 0.0001723 0.000178 Yes OK

εv 0.0003202 0.000371 Yes OK

These check imply that the tested pavement thickness is

sufficient to handle the stresses & strains on the road &
Design is Safe
Thank you for your attention

Thank You