Rigid Pavement Design Report

 Rigid Pavement thickness design

The new rigid pavement is designed in accordance with IRC: 58-2011 for the main
carriageway.

 Factors Governing Design

 Axle load characteristic / Wheel Load

The legal axle load limits in India are 10.2, 19 and 24 tonnes for single axle, tandem axle
and tridem axles respectively. However, the design wheel load for the project road has been
arrived through the axle load surveys conducted during traffic survey.

Tyre inflation pressures and shape of contact areas of the commercial vehicles (CV) also
govern load stresses. As per code most of the CVs, it ranges from 0.7 to 1 MPA, but it is
found that stresses in concrete pavements having thickness of 20 cm or more are not
affected significantly by the variation of tyre pressure. A tyre pressure of 0.8 MPa has been
adopted for design.

 Wheel base characteristics

Distance between successive axles is the wheel base. Number of vehicles with the wheel
base less than 4.5 m (transverse joint spacing) shall be enumerated for the analysis of Top
Down Cracking (TDC). In our case, all the commercial vehicles are considered with wheel
base less than 4.5 m on a conservative side.

 Design Period

The design period of cement concrete pavement is considered for a life span of 30 years.

 Design Traffic

The rigid pavement is being provided for the main carriageway. As per sub clause 5.5.2.3
of IRC: 58-2011, 25 % of the total commercial traffic in the direction of predominant
traffic is considered as design traffic for four-lane highway for the analysis of bottom-up
cracking (BUC).
As per sub clauses 5.3 and 5.5.2.4 of IRC: 58-2011, design traffic for estimation of top
down cracking analysis depends on the number of commercial vehicles with the spacing
between the front axle and the first rear axle and travelling during the night period.

As per traffic volume count survey, the Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) of
commercial vehicles at the location is presented in Table 1

Table: Summary of AADT

Total
Bus LCV 2-Axle 3-Axle MAV
CVPD
57 33 41 28 11 170
 The cumulative number of axles during the design period is computed using the below
equation.
C= 365 x A x {(1+r) n - 1}
r
where, A = Initial nos. of commercial vehicles during design period
r = Annual rate of growth of commercial traffic volume
n = Design period in years

 Temperature Differential

Temperature differential between the top and bottom of concrete pavements causes the
concrete slab to warp, giving rise to stresses. the temperature differential adopted is 19.3
oC referring Table 1 of IRC: 58-2011.

 Characteristics of Subgrade and Sub-base

The strength of subgrade is expressed in terms of modulus of subgrade reaction (k). It is

obtained from Table 2 of IRC: 58-2011 for the design CBR, which is 10 % for this
project. A s p e r I R C : 5 8 - 2 0 1 1 a Dry Lean Concrete (DLC) sub-base of 150 mm
thickness is mandatory for the concrete pavement. Thus, the effective modulus of subgrade
reaction over DLC is obtained from Table 4 of IRC: 58-2011.

Design CBR of subgrade is 8% in existing carriageway. The k-value corresponding to 8%

CBR is 50.3 MPa/m (by interpolation) Table 2 of IRC: 58-2011. Thus, the value of
effective k over 150 mm DLC is 283 MPa/m (by interpolation) in the referring Table 4 of
IRC: 58-2011.

 Characteristics of Concrete

The Flexural Strength of the Concrete is adopted as 3.8 MPa (28days) for M 30 grade
concrete.

 Modulus of Elasticity and Poisson’s ratio

The Modulus of Elasticity, E, and Poisson’s Ratio, μ of Cement Concrete varies with
concrete materials and strength. E is adopted as 30000 MPa, μ is adopted as 0.15.

 Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (α)

The Coefficient of Thermal Expansion varies with type of aggregate. However, for the
design purposes α value is taken as 10x10-6 per 0C.

 Fatigue behaviour of Cement Concrete

Due to repeated application of flexural stresses by the traffic loads, progressive fatigue
damage takes place in the cement concrete slab in the form of gradual development of
micro cracks especially when the applied stress in terms of Flexural strength of
concrete is high. The ratio between the flexural stress due to the load and flexural strength
of the concrete is termed as Stress Ratio (SR). If the SR is less than 0.45 the concrete is
expected to sustain infinite number of repetitions. As the SR increases the number of load
repetitions (N) required causing cracking decreases.
 Dowel bars at Transverse Joints

Maximum bearing stress between the concrete and dowel bar has been computed as per
IRC: 58-2011.

 Tie bars at Longitudinal Joints

Tie bars are used across the joints of concrete pavements wherever it is necessary or
desirable to ensure firm contact between slab faces or to abutting slabs from separating.
The area of steel required per meter length is computed by using the following
formula:

The length of any tie bar should be at least twice that required to develop bond strength
equal to the working stress of the steel. It is calculated by using the equation shown below:
Design of Slab Thickness
Design Parameters Unit

Design Period = 30 Years

Grade of Concrete = M 30

Characteristic compressive strength of concrete, fck = 30 Mpa

Flexural Strength of Concrete (28days) = 3.8 Mpa

Modulus of elasticity of concrete, E = 30000 Mpa

Poisson's ratio, μ = 0.15

Coefficient of thermal expansion of concrete, ∝ = 10 x 10-6 per 0C

Maximum day-time temperature differential in slab (for

= 19.3 0C
bottom-up cracking)

Night-time temperature differential in slab (for top-down

= 14.5 0C
cracking)

Thickness of Subgrade = 0.5 m

Thickness of Granular Sub base (GSB) = 0.15 m

Thickness of Dry Lean Concrete (DLC) = 0.15 m

Thickness of Pavement Quality Concrete (PQC), h = 0.23 M (adopted)

Spacing of Transverse Joints (L) = 4.5 m

Spacing of Longitudinal Joints (W) 2.286 m

Modulus of Subgrade Reaction

Subgrade CBR (%) = 8

Modulus of subgrade reaction (k) = 50.3 Mpa/m

Effective k over 150 mm DLC = 283 Mpa/m

Radius of relative stiffness, l

= 0.569 m
Design Traffic for Fatigue Analysis
Design period = 30 years
(expressesd in
Annual rate of growth of commercial traffic = 0.075
decimal)
Two-way commercial traffic volume per day = 170 CVPD
50 percent (CVs
% of traffic in predominant direction = 85
in each direction)
Total commercial vehicles in predominant direction
during design period
= 3621620 CVs
Average number of axles per commercial vehicle = 2.35
Total axle load repetitions during design period = 8510807 axles
25 % of cumulative repetitions = 2127702
(40 % of
Day time Design Traffic (12 hrs) = 1276621 cumulative
repetitions)
(50 % of 12 hr day
Day time 6 Hour design traffic = 638310
time traffic)
Therefore, Design Traffic for Bottom-up cracking
= 638310
analysis
(40 % of
Night time Design Traffic (12 hrs) = 851081 cumulative
repetitions)
(50 % of 12 hr
Night time 6 Hour design traffic = 425540
night time traffic)
Design Traffic for Top-down cracking analysis = 425540

Table: Axle Category

Proportion of the Category-wise Category-wise

Axle Category Axle Category Axle Repetitions Axle Repetitions
(%) for BUC for TDC
Front (Steering) Single 37.13% 237005 158003
Rear Single 15.64% 99832 66555
Tandem 47.23% 301474 200983

Expected number of applications of different axle load groups during the design period
is estimated from the axle load spectrum obtained from the Axle Load Survey conducted and is
presented in Table . The cumulative fatigue damage (CFD) is computed for each axle category
of single and tandem axles and presented below.
 Table : Axle Load Spectrum

Rear Single Axle Rear Tandem Axle

Load Group, kN Load Group, kN
Mid % of Mid % of
Lower Upper Point Axles Lower Upper Point Axles
Limit Limit Limit Limit
185 195 190 0.00% 380 400 390 0.00%
175 185 180 0.00% 360 380 370 0.00%
165 175 170 0.00% 340 360 350 0.00%
155 165 160 0.00% 320 340 330 0.46%
145 155 150 0.00% 300 320 310 0.48%
135 145 140 0.46% 280 300 290 0.66%
125 135 130 1.12% 260 280 270 2.26%
115 125 120 2.96% 240 260 250 4.84%
105 115 110 6.87% 220 240 230 3.54%
95 105 100 7.89% 200 220 210 8.64%
85 95 90 26.45% 180 200 190 25.36%
<85 80 54.25% <180 170 52.13%
Total 100.00% Total 98.37%

Cumulative Fatigue Damage Analysis for BUC

Rear Single Axle
Expected Flexural Stress Allowable Fatigue
Load,
Repetitions, Stress, Ratio, Repetitions, Damage,
KN
(ni) Mpa SR (Ni) (ni/Ni)
190 0 3.476 0.8315 50 0
180 0 3.350 0.8015 114 0
170 0 3.225 0.7715 262 0
160 0 3.100 0.7415 604 0
150 0 2.974 0.7116 1390 0.000
140 459 2.849 0.6816 3200 0.144
130 1118 2.724 0.6516 7365 0.152
120 2955 2.598 0.6216 16954 0.174
110 6858 2.473 0.5916 39025 0.176
100 7877 2.348 0.5617 89828 0.088
90 26406 2.222 0.5317 216700 0.122
80 54159 2.097 0.5017 702605 0.077
Total Fatigue due to rear single axle for BUC 0.932
 Cumulative Fatigue Damage Analysis for BUC
Rear Tandem Axle
Expected Allowable Fatigue
Load, Flexural Stress
Repetitions, Repetitions, Damage,
KN Stress, Mpa Ratio, SR
(ni) (Ni) (ni/Ni)
390 0 3.023 0.723 1008 0
370 0 2.667 0.638 10756 0
350 0 1.845 0.441 Infinite 0
330 1387 1.715 0.410 Infinite 0
310 1447 1.602 0.383 Infinite 0
290 1990 1.493 0.357 Infinite 0
270 6813 1.596 0.382 Infinite 0
250 14591 1.371 0.328 Infinite 0
230 10672 1.142 0.273 Infinite 0
210 26047 1.030 0.246 Infinite 0
190 76454 0.975 0.233 Infinite 0
170 157158 0.874 0.209 Infinite 0
Total Fatigue due to rear tandem axle for BUC 0

Cumulative Fatigue Damage for bottom-up cracking = 0.932 <1

Cumulative Fatigue Damage Analysis for TDC

Rear Single Axle
Expected Flexural Allowable Fatigue
Load, Stress
Repetitions, Stress, Repetitions, Damage,
KN Ratio, SR
(ni) Mpa (Ni) (ni/Ni)
190 0 2.944 0.704 1701 0
180 0 2.866 0.686 2862 0
170 0 2.787 0.667 4817 0
160 0 2.709 0.648 8107 0
150 0 2.631 0.629 13645 0.000
140 306 2.553 0.611 22965 0.013
130 745 2.474 0.592 38651 0.019
120 1970 2.396 0.573 65051 0.030
110 4572 2.318 0.555 109484 0.042
100 5251 2.240 0.536 189572 0.028
90 17604 2.161 0.517 364325 0.048
80 36106 2.083 0.498 825010 0.044
Total Fatigue due to rear single axle for TDC 0.224
 Cumulative Fatigue Damage Analysis for TDC
Rear tandem Axle (Stress computed for 50% of Axle Load)

Expected Flexural Stress Allowable Fatigue

Load,
Repetitions, Stress, Ratio, Repetitions, Damage,
KN
(ni) Mpa SR (Ni) (ni/Ni)

390 0 2.474 0.592 38651 0

370 0 2.422 0.580 54688 0
350 0 2.370 0.567 77379 0
330 925 2.318 0.555 109484 0.008
310 965 2.266 0.542 156511 0.006
290 1326 2.214 0.530 232375 0.006
270 4542 2.161 0.517 364325 0.012
250 9728 2.109 0.505 613784 0.016
230 7115 2.057 0.492 1142073 0.006
210 17365 2.005 0.480 2459948 0.007
190 50969 1.953 0.467 6717551 0.008
170 104772 1.901 0.455 28864207 0.004
Total Fatigue due to rear tandem axle for TDC 0.073

Cumulative Fatigue Damage for bottom-up cracking = 0.298 <1

Hence, assumed design thickness of 23 cm is safe and OK.

Design of Dowel Bars
Design Parameters
Slab Thickness, h = 230 mm
Joint width, z = 15 mm
(20mm for Expansion Joint, 8mm for Contraction Joint)
Modulus of subgrade reaction, k = 283 MPa/m
Radius of relative stiffness,(l) = 569.33 mm
E for Dowel Bar = 200000 MPa
Modulus of Dowel support, Kmds = 250000 MPa/m
Maximum Single Axle load = 140 kN
Maximum Single Wheel Load = 70 kN
(Considering dual wheel as single Wheel for a safe design)
Wheel load to be considered for dowel bar design = 49 kN
Safety of the dowel bar can be examined for a load of = 50 kN (Say)
Assume the percentage of load transfer through dowel bar
= 40 %
as
MPa (for M30
Characteristic compressive strength of concrete, fck = 30
grade)
Diameter of the dowel bar assumed, bd = 32 mm (assumed)

Permissible bearing stress in concrete,

Fb=(101.16-b)fck/95.25 = 21.92 MPa
Spacing between the dowel bars = 300 mm (assumed)
First dowel bar is placed from the pavement edge at a
= 150 mm
distance
Length of the dowel bar = 450 mm (assumed)
Dowel bars up to a distance of 1.0 x radius of relative stiffness (l),from the point of load
application are effective in load transfer
Number of dowel bars participating in load transfer when
the wheel load is just over the dowel bar close to the edge = 3 dowels
of the slab= 1+ l/Spacing
Assuming the load transferred by the first dowel is Pt and
that the load on dowel bar at a distance of l from the first
dowel to be zero, the total load transferred by dowel bar
system
[1+ (l-S)/l+(l-2S)/l]Pt = 1.42 Pt
Load carried by the outer dowel bar, Pt = 14.09 kN
Check for Bearing Stress
Moment of inertia of dowel,
I = πb4/64 = 51445.76 mm4
Relative stiffness of dowel bar embedded in concrete,
β = 4√kmds b/4EI = 0.021
Bearing stress in dowel bar,
Fbmax = (Pt x k) x (2+ßz)/(4ß3EI) = 21.41 Mpa which is < 21.92 Mpa

Hence , the dowel bar spacing and diameter assumed are safe
Design of Tie Bars
Design Parameters
Slab Thickness, h = 0.23 m
Lane Width, b = 2.286 m
Coefficient of Friction, f = 1.5
Density of concrete KN/m3 = 24 KN/m3
Allowable tensile stress in deformed bars St = 200 MPa
(As per IRC:15-2011)
Allowable Bond Stress in deformed tie bars = 2.46 MPa
(As per IRC:15-2011)

Design of Deformed bars

Select diameter of tie bar, dt = 12 mm
Area of deformed steel bar required per metre width of joint to
resist the frictional force at slab bottom,
As=bfW/Sst = 94.64 mm2/m
Spacing of tie bars, A/As = 1194 mm
(Provide a spacing of = 700 mm c/c)
Length of tie bar,
L= 2xSstxA / BxPtbt = 487.63 mm
Increasing length by 100mm for loss of bond due to painting
and another 50mm for tolerance in placement.
Therefore, the required length of tie bar = 637.63 mm
= 640 mm (say)
Design Recommendation (As per IRC 58:2011)
In reference to the scope of the work undertaken, following are the recommendations:
1 Pavement slab thickness of 23 cm using the designed mix complying with design
requirements is to be provided on 150 DLC over 150 mm GSB surface on the prepared
existing road surface CRM material and it should be confirm to the grade line.
2 Joint spacing should be 4.5 m for contraction joint and 75 m for expansion joint.
3 Construction joints should as far as possible, be placed at the location of contraction
joints except in case of emergency when a key joint may be used.
4 Dowel bars of 32 mm dia plain steel 45 cm long, spacing 30 cm c/c are to be provided
for the transverse joints. (Contraction joint, Construction joint and Expansion joint)
5 Two-lane divided road is to be constructed with slab panel 4.5m x 2.286m, along with
tie bar provision in longitudinal joint.
6 Tie bars 12 mm dia of length 64 cm at 70 cm c/c are to be provided for longitudinal
joints.
7 The designed and controlled cement concrete mix with minimum flexural strength of
3.8 Mpa corresponding to compressive strength of 30 Mpa (M 30) should be used.