Proceedings of National Conference: Advanced Structures, Materials And Methodology in Civil Engineering

(ASMMCE – 2018), 03 - 04th November, 2018

PAPER CODE: T-406

“Advanced Structures, Materials and Methodology in Civil Engineering”

(ASMMCE 2018) (November 03-04, 2018)

EFFECT OF AXLE LOAD SPECTRUM ON DESIGN OF RIGID

PAVEMENT
Ezatullah Rahimia, S.N. Sachdevab
aM.Tech student, Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology Kurukshetra, Haryana-136119, India,
Email:[email protected]
bProfessor, Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana-136119, India,

Email:[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Design of rigid pavements is done considering the flexural stress under the simultaneous action of load and
temperature gradient for different categories of axles. Sum of cumulative fatigue damage caused by single, tandem
and tridem axle load applications causing tensile flexural stress at the top and the bottom of the pavement slab should
be less than one for the design to be safe. The legal axle load limits in India are 10.2 tonnes (100KN), 19tonnes
(186KN) and 24 tonnes (235KN) for single, tandem and tridem axle respectively. In service cement concrete
pavements are subjected to stress due to a variety of factors acting simultaneously. The severest combination of
different factors that induce the maximum stress in the pavement will give the critical stress condition. The flexural
stress due to the simultaneous application of traffic loads and temperature differential between the top and bottom
fibres of concrete slab is considered for design of pavement thickness. The influence of traffic as an input parameter
for mechanistic-empirical pavement analysis on the percentage of fatigue cracks on slabs determines the required slab
thickness for jointed concrete pavement. The traffic is considered in the design in terms of number of commercial
vehicles per day and the axle load spectrum of the vehicles. Most often, the number of commercial vehicles is known
but the axle load of the vehicles or the axle load spectrum is not known. This paper presents an overview of the effect
of variation in axle load spectrum on thickness design of a rigid pavement which will help us understand the need of
how accurately the axle load spectrum is required for the design.
KEYWORDS: Axle load spectrum; cumulative fatigue damage analysis; thickness design of rigid pavement; ESAL

INTRODUCTION

A rigid pavement is constructed from cement concrete or reinforced concrete slabs. The design of rigid pavement is
based on providing a structural cement concrete slab of sufficient strength to resists the loads from traffic. The concept
of axle load spectrum is the computation of cumulative fatigue damage for thickness design of rigid pavement. The
basic factors governing design of concrete pavements are design period, design commercial traffic volume,
composition of commercial traffic in terms of single, tandem, tridem and multi-axles, axle load spectrum, tyre
pressure, lateral replacement characteristic, directional distribution, strength of foundation and climatic consideration.
The legal axle load limits in India are 10.2 tonnes, 19tonnes and 24 tonnes for single, tandem and tridem axle
respectively, a huge number of axles operating on NH convey much weighty loading than the valid limits. Data on
axle load spectra of the commercial vehicles is need to count the repetitions of single, tandem and tridem axles in each
orientation attended pending the design term. Axle load survey may be conducted for a continuous 48-hour period.
The vehicle to be surveyed may be selected randomly to avoid bias. Information on typical spacing among repeated
axles of commercial vehicles in needed to clarify the proportionality of axles that should be weighed for top-down
cracking caused by axle loads during night time. The slab has the

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Disposition of curling up due to minus temperature differential. Data on the spacing of axles may be collected during
the traffic survey. If the spacing between any pair of consecutive axles is less than the spacing of transverse joints,
such axles need to be considered in the design traffic for computing top-down cracking damage. Cement concrete
pavement may be designed to have a life span of 30 years or more.
For safe thickness design the cumulative fatigue damage due to wheel load and curling stresses at the bottom and top
is less than one. In other words, a pavement is deemed to have failed if sum of cumulative damages is greater than
one. This paper represent the effect of axle load on thickness design of rigid pavement, by increasing the axle load
frequency the thickness will increase and by increasing the thickness, the cumulative fatigue damage will decrease.
Load spectrum consist the distribution of loading for different classes of vehicles (class 4 to class 13) and different
axle types (single, tandem and tridem) with these detailed loading data the design procedure can quantify the
cumulated damage from any particular type of loading that a cumulated traffic index (e.g. equivalent single axle load
ESAL) was not capable of. However, using load spectra enhance some particle challenges for pavement engineers.
The object of this study was to explore approaches that can provide a meaningful about load spectra and relate
cumulative traffic loading to pavement performance (Yanqing Zhao , Yiqiu Tan & Changhong Zho, 2012).

LITERATURE REVIEW

Chen-Ming kue et al (2001) reported that the concept of single axle load equivalency factor (LEF) was studied and
developed by AASHO. The model was used to simulate the AASHO road test pavement section and developed by
different formula for various pavement under axle loading. Some factors effected on design of pavement thickness
like base course, joint and subgrade strength. One of the most famous method for evaluating stress, surface deflection
and fatigue damage is equivalent single axle load (ESAL), it was developed by American Association of State
Highway Official (AASHO). To improve and calculate accumulative traffic, a new regression formula was isolated
by using 3-D finite element modeling. The ESWL concept was conducted by US corps engineer in 1950, between
many procedures of counting equivalent wheel load factor (EWLF), the (ESAL) concept was one of the important
procedure for pavement design.
This methodology was based on some the relationship between serviceability of pavement and wheel repetition. The
equations shown the relationship between equivalent single axle repetition, slab thickness D (inch), axle load L1
(kips), axle type L2 (single axle=1, tandem=2 and tridem=3) and terminal serviceability of pavement Pt.
So 80 kN (18kips) single axle was accepted as standard axle. LEF of different type of axle calculated by equation (1).
1
𝑑𝑥 𝑤18 (𝑙1+𝑙2)4.62 10𝐺𝑡/𝛽18
LEFx= = 𝑤𝑥
1 = =[(18+1)4.62 ]×[ ] Eq. (1)
𝑑18 𝑤𝑥 ×𝑙23.28 10𝐺𝑡/𝛽𝑥
𝑤18

3.63(𝐿1+𝐿2)5.2
β=1.00+ Eq. (2)
(𝐷+1)8.46 ×𝐿23.52

4.5−𝑃𝑡
Gt=log [ ] Eq. (3)
4.5−1.5

Where
β – Factors depends upon the thickness of slab, axle load and axle type
Gt – it’s depend upon the terminal serviceability of pavement
LEFx – equivalent load factor of the x axle load type
dx- the damage caused by one application of the axle type x
d18- the damage caused by one application of the standard axle load
βx- the β of the axle type x
β18- the β of the standard axle 80KN
Wx – the number of load application at Pt for the axle type x
W18 - the number of load application at Pt for the standard axle
Pt - terminal serviceability of pavement (2 and 2.5)

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Table 1 shows the material properties of a typical pavement.

Table.1 Material properties of PCC slab and base course in AASHO road test (1962)

Pavement Young‘s Poisson‘s Unit weight Thermal

type modulus ratio (kg/cm3) expansion
(static 28 days) coefficient
PCC slab 28.9 Gpa 0.15 2.41× 10-3 9.9× 10-6 1/Co
Base 0.289 Gpa 0.40 1.98× 10-3 14.4× 10-6 1/Co

The figures 1 to 4 show the relationship between equivalency load factor, slab thickness, terminal serviceability and
axle loads.

Fig.1 LEF variation ratio for Pt. change Fig.2 LEF variation due to different axle

Fig.3 LEF variation for different slab thickness

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 Fig.4 The effect of dowel joints on LEF for various situation

Danny x. Xiao et al (2016) have studied that the truck axle load spectrum in the Mechanistic Empirical pavement
Design Guide (MEPDG) had advancement in pavement design due to individual axle load. In this issue it was reported
that characterized three image of loading to pavement design volume, load and damage. Four Epitome indicators were
investigated in this study, cumulative truck volume (CTV), cumulative truck load (CTL), equivalent single axle load
(ESAL) and relative pavement performance impact (RPPI).
(CTV)- is the volume of traffic that the engineers who need to know how many vehicles travel on a road at what time
and it’s depend upon on annual average daily traffic (AADT).
(CTL)- It is a new index about loading information of traffic flow.
(ESAL)- It is an equivalent axle loading for calculating the different axle load of traffic.
(RPPI)- It is to identify normalized axle load spectrum in each vehicle class and axle type.

Sara I.R. Amorim et al (2015) reported that most of pavement need to the design traffic, based on the alteration of
the traffic spectrum to be counted in to a number of equivalent passages of a standard axle using the (ESALF). In
general these factors considered only the type of axle like (single, tandem and tridem), but they do not consider the
types of wheels like single and dual wheel. The first equivalency factors used to determine the number of ESAL ware
based on present serviceability index and it is depend upon on the type of pavement and thickness of the pavement
surface. Table 2 shows the different axles load spectrum by various frequency of axles it has done as the example on
IRC: 58-2015.
Table.2 Different types of axle load spectrum

Rear Single Axle Rear Tandem Axle Rear Tridem Axle

Load Mid-Point of Frequency Load Mid-Point of Frequency Load Group Mid-Point of Frequency
Group Load Group (%) Group (kN) Load Group (%) (kN) Load Group (%)
(kN) (kN) (kN) (kN)
185-195 190 18.15 380 - 400 390 14.5 530-560 545 5.23
175-185 180 17.43 360 - 380 370 10.5 500-530 515 4.85
165-175 170 18.27 340 - 360 350 3.63 470-500 485 3.44
155-165 160 12.98 320 - 340 330 2.5 440-470 455 7.12
145-155 150 2.98 300 - 320 310 2.69 410-440 425 10.11
135-145 140 1.62 280 - 300 290 1.26 380-410 395 12.01
125-135 130 2.62 260 - 280 270 3.9 350-380 365 15.57
115-125 120 2.65 240 - 260 250 5.19 320-350 335 13.28
105-115 110 2.65 220 - 240 230 6.3 290-320 305 4.55
95-105 100 3.25 200 - 220 210 6.4 260-290 275 3.16
85-95 90 3.25 180 - 200 190 8.9 230-260 245 3.1
< 85 80 14.15 < 180 170 34.23 < 230 215 17.58
100 100 100

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Surya Teja Swarna et al (2017) it have been reported that for finding the stress in concrete pavement using
westergard’s & Bradbury’s theory has not given correct values. Thus in IRC: 58-2011 and IRC: 58-2015 has given
some chart for design based on KGPSLAB software. Table 3 shows the stress in CCP for different type of load.
Table.3 Stress in concrete pavement without concrete shoulder for 250mm PQC and k=300Mpa/m

A.C.Bordelon et al (2015) reported that the influence of traffic loading for Mechanistic-Empirical (ME) pavement
analysis was investigated for finding percentage of fatigue cracking & thickness of slab. This investigation has
developed on the Illinois weigh station of United States. The load spectrum for many sites were developed by changing
the (AADTT) volume to generate the same (ESALs).

B.S Morton et al (2004) reported that for designing the concrete pavement there are several parameter, two of these
important are axle load and contact stress, which that these are directly depended upon on tyre inflation pressure. It
was investigated on South African and international load variation in maximum axle load is between 8-9 tonne and
the grass combination mass is 56 tonnes with the maximum axle load 9 tonnes. Figure 5 and 6 shows Axle Load
Distribution and Tyre Inflation Pressure Distribution in pavement.

Fig 5 cumulative distribution of axle load Fig.6 axle load versus tyre inflation pressure (steering axles)

As per IRC: 58-2015 the cumulative number of commercial vehicles during the design period may be estimated from
the equation (2).
365×𝐴{(1+𝑟 𝑛)−1}
𝐶= Eq. (4)
𝑟
C = Cumulative number of commercial vehicles during the design period
A = initial number of commercial vehicles per day in the year when the road is opened to traffic
r = annual rate of growth of commercial traffic volume (expressed s decimal)
n = design period in year

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Design of slab thickness: thickness design depends upon the flexural stress due to loading and temperature. The
flexural stress at the bottom layer of the CC slab is the high during the day time when the axle loads act midway on
the pavement slab while there is a positive temperature as illustrated in fig 7 and 8. This condition is likely to produce
Bottom-Up cracking.

Fig 7 Axle load placed in the middle of the slab during mid-day Fig 8 placement of axles for maximum edge flexural
stress at bottom of the slab without concrete shoulder

During the night hours, the top surface is cooler than the bottom surface and the end of the slab curl up a concave
shape resulting in loss of support for the slab as shown in fig 9. Positioning of axles of different configurations on the
slab with successive axles placed close to the transverse joints is shown in fig 10. These axles positions can initiate
Top-Down cracking during night hours.

Fig.9 Placement of two axles commercial vehicle Fig.10 Different axle load positions causing tensile stress at the top
fiber of the slab with tied concrete shoulder.

Cumulative fatigue damage analysis:

For a typical slab thickness and other design factors, the pavement shall be checked for cumulative top-down and
bottom-up fatigue damage. For bottom-up cracking, the flexural stress at the edge due to the combined action of single
or tandem rear axle load and positive temperature differential is considered as the equation (5).
For top-down cracking the flexural stress due to combined action of single, tandem and tridem rear axle load and
negative temperature differential is calculated as the equation (6).
𝑗 𝑛𝑖
CFD (BUC) =∑𝑖 (10AM to 4PM) Eq. (5)
𝑁𝑖
𝑗 𝑛𝑖
CFD (TDC) =∑𝑖 (0AM to 6AM) Eq. (6)
𝑁𝑖
Where,
Ni – allowable of number load repetitions for the ith load group during the specified six-hour period
ni – predicated number of load repetitions for the ith load group during the specified six-hour period
j – Total number of load group

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If the sum of cumulative fatigue damages (1) due to wheel load and curling stresses at the bottom and (2) wheel load
and curling stresses at the top is less than 1, the pavement is safe. In other words, a pavement is deemed to have failed
if sum of cumulative damages is greater than one.
Thus if CFD (BUC) + CFD (TDC)≤1, the pavement is save from large scale cracking. The design thickness may be
increased by 10mm to (1) to permit two retexturing and (2) grinding to rectify faulting during the service life.
Fig 11 shows the relationship between flexural stress and slab thickness due to single axle load of 80 kN at ∆𝑇 = 0oC
without concrete shoulders and fig 12 shows the relationship between flexural stress and slab thickness due to Tandem
axle load of 480 kN at ∆𝑇 = 21oC with tied concrete shoulders.

Fig. 11 stress due to single axle load of 80kN fig. 12 stress due to Tandem axle load of 480kN

CONCLUSIONS
On the basis of above mentioned studies it can be concludes that:

1. Design of rigid pavements is done considering the flexural stress under the simultaneous action of load and
temperature gradient for different categories of axles.
2. Sum of cumulative fatigue damage caused by single, tandem and tridem axle load applications causing tensile
flexural stress at the top and the bottom of the pavement slab should be less than one for the design to be
safe. Thus if CFD (BUC) + CFD (TDC) ≤1, the pavement is save from large scale cracking.
3. By increasing of slab thickness, the cumulative fatigue damage will decrease and by decreasing slab thickness
it is versa.
4. The main factors governing design of concrete pavements are design period, design commercial traffic
volume, composition of commercial traffic in terms of single, tandem, tridem and multi-axles, axle load
spectrum, tyre pressure, lateral replacement characteristic, directional distribution, strength of foundation and
climatic consideration.
5. Axle load spectrum affects the thickness of concrete pavement. More severe the axle load frequency in the
higher categories of load spectrum like 150 kN and higher, more is the flexural stress and fatigue damage
which requires more thickness of the pavements. However, more frequency of axles loads in the lower
categories of axle load spectrum of value less than 150 kN does not lead to a higher thickness of the pavement.
6. The function of LEFs is to change repetitions of particular axle to the equivalent utilization of the standard
axle.
7. The flexural stress at the bottom layer of the concrete slab is the maximum during the day hours, there is a
positive temperature gradient. This condition is likely to produce Bottom-Up cracking. The flexural stress at
the top layer of the concrete slab is the maximum during night hours, so the temperature of the top layer is
cooler the bottom layer, than this condition is likely to produce Top-Down cracking.
8. By the increasing of load repetition the flexural stress will increase and by increasing flexural stress, fatigue
damage also increases.

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REFERENCE
[1] AASHO (American Association of State Officials) road test (1962).

[2] A. C. Bordelon1; J. E. Hiller2; J. R. Roesler3; and V. G Cervantes4 (2015) “Investigation of ESALs versus Load
Spectra for Rigid Pavement Design” Airfield and Highway Pavements 2015 © ASCE 2015.

[3] B.S Morton1, E. Luttig1, E. Horak2 and A.T. Visser2 (2004), “The Effect of Axle Load Spectra and Tyre Inflation
Pressures on Standard Pavement Design Methods”, Proceedings of the 8th Conference on Asphalt Pavements for
Southern Africa (CAPSA'04).

[4] Chen-Ming kue and Shen-Hsian Lin (2001) “An analytical study of axle load equivalency factors of concrete
pavements” Journal of the Chinese Institute of Engineers.

[5] Danny x. Xiao, Zhong Wu (2016) “Using systematic indices to relate traffic load spectra to pavement
performance” International Journal of Pavement Research and Technology 9 (2016) 302–312.

[6] Indian Roads Congress (IRC: 58-2015) “Guidelines for the Design of Plain Jointed Rigid Pavements for
Highways” (Fourth Revision).

[7] Jorge A. Prozzi & Feng Hong (2009) “Optimum statistical characterization of axle load spectra based on load
associated pavement damage” International Journal of Pavement Engineering.

[8] Sara I.R. Amorim, Jorge C. Pais, Aline C. Vale & Manuel J.C. Minhoto (2015) “A model for equivalent axle load
factors” International Journal of Pavement Engineering.

[9] Surya Teja Swarna, Braj Bhushan Pandey (2017) “Analysis and design of concrete pavements: A new approach”
Invitation International seminar on Repair, Rehabilitation and Retrofitting of Bridge & Structures.

[10] Yanqing Zhao, Yiqiu Tan & Changhong Zhou (2012) “Determination of axle load spectra based on percentage
of overloaded trucks for mechanistic empirical pavement design” Road Materials and Pavement Design.

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