CIV5705

Pavement Design & Analysis

Module 2 – Material characterisation &

modelling
Dr. Andreas Nataatmadja
Material Types

• asphalt
• unbound granular materials
• modified materials
• stabilised materials
• subgrade materials
• concrete
Pavement Strains
Material Properties
• Cohesion
• Friction angle
• Particle size
• Moisture sensitivity
• Tensile strength
• Compressive strength
• Setting and curing time
• Fatigue behaviour
• Binder types & properties
• Temperature sensitivity
Material Requirements

 sufficient strength to withstand the applied traffic and

environmental stresses
 sufficient hardness to withstand applied loads without
inducing particle breakdown
 ability to be placed and compacted to meet specification
requirements
 durable and not degrade or disintegrate significantly over
the life of the pavement
 quality that is fit-for-purpose.
Material Characterisation

characterisation
/ˌkærɪktəraɪˈzeɪʃən/
noun
1. description of character, traits, etc.
2. the act of characterising

The characterisation of these materials is conducted to provide

inputs to one of two currently available design procedures: the
empirical method and the mechanistic, or structural, method.
Factors Affecting Asphalt
Stiffness (Austroads, 2017)
Important Asphalt
Parameters in Design

• Conventional vs. Modified asphalt

• PI and T800pen
• Modulus
• Fatigue resistance
• Air voids
• Temperature
• Vehicle speed
Effect of Air Voids
Effect of Temperature
Effect of Vehicle Speed
Source of Modulus
• direct measurement of the flexural modulus
obtained from four-point bending tests conducted at the
in-service temperature (WMAPT) and for the rate of
loading (frequency) in the road-bed
• interpolation of flexural modulus at the WMAPT and
rate of loading in the road-bed from a range of four-point
bending tests that span the WMAPT and rate of loading in
the road-bed conditions
• measured using the standard indirect tensile test
(ITT) adjusted to the in-service temperature (WMAPT)
for the rate of loading in the road and for the expected in
situ air voids.
• estimated from the bitumen properties and mix
volumetrics using Shell nomographs for the in-service
temperature (WMAPT) and rate of loading in the road.
Four-point Bending Test
ITT (Indirect Tensile Test)
 Shell Method

• The modulus of the bituminous binder is

determined for the specific bitumen in the
specific pavement design situation (traffic
speed, operating temperature).

• The asphalt modulus is determined from the

bitumen modulus, together with the volumetric
composition of the mix.
• RMS-NSW AC_Modulus computer program
• Shell BANDS computer program
PI and T800pen after RTFO
Typical Penetration and
Viscosity Values (Fresh
Bitumen)
Rolling Thin Film
Oven (RTFO) test
http://www.pavementinteractive.org/article/rolling-
thin-film-oven/
Viscosity after RTFO
Typical values for
preliminary design

Name Penetration Viscosity

(Pa.s)
AR320 32 660
AR450 31 920
AR1000/320 32 660
C600/170 32 660
Van der Poel Nomograph

Time of loading (s) = 1/v

v in kph
WAMPT

Can interpolate using data

from the nearest towns
Bonnaure
Nomograph

Vb is normally % volume
total binder

% volume adsorbed
binder is ignored
Modulus of PMB
(compared with C320)
Typical Asphalt Modulus
Fatigue: Controlled Strain
vs. Controlled Stress
Thin asphalt:
• Relatively independent of asphalt stiffness
• Pavement substructure is dominant
• Fatigue performance is controlled by asphalt strains

Thick asphalt:
• Dependent on asphalt stiffness
• More dominant than the supporting structure
• Fatigue performance is controlled by asphalt stress

Intermediate asphalt: difficult to predict

Factors affecting asphalt
fatigue life and flexural
stiffness
PMB and Multigrade

• Polymers and bitumen modification can

improve fatigue resistance
• But no fatigue predictive models are available
Fatigue Equation

Total bitumen!
Reliability Factor for
Asphalt

Major highway,
freeway
Example of Fatigue
Curves (RF = 6.0)
Rutting or Permanent
Deformation of Asphalt

• Not included in the design procedures because no

model is available which will reliably predict the
development of rutting with the passage of
traffic/time.
• Likely problem areas are those associated with
heavy vehicles travelling at low speed or
accelerating or braking (climbing lanes,
intersections, etc.).
Rutting Tests

Wheel tracking test

Scale effect! Uniaxial rutting test

No principal stress rotation!

Unbound Granular
Materials

• Base, subbase, selected layer

• Crushed rock, gravel, sand
• Modified material with UCS < 1 MPa
• Material is cross-anisotropic
• Modulus is stress-dependent
 Factors affecting
performance

 The stability is a function of confining pressure and effective stress.

 Excessive loading may cause large excessive deformation or failure.
 Traffic loading frequency may cause transient pore water pressure
development in granular materials if permeability is low. Critical degree
of saturation is about 90%.
 Excess pore water pressure will reduce the effective pressure and
stability.
 Increasing moisture will decrease matric suction and increase particle
slippage. Decreasing matric suction will reduce effective pressure.
 Moisture can disintegrate some granular materials through the
development of internal expansive forces (due to expansive secondary
minerals such as montmorillonite) and delamination process.
 Factors Affecting
Behaviour

 the intrinsic properties of coarse particles, including hardness, surface

friction and contamination, and the geological origin and history of the source
rock from which the material is derived
 manufactured aggregate properties such as particle shape, size and
surface texture, particle size distribution, fractured faces, nature and quantity
of fine particles, and fillers – these factors are related to manufacturing
 compacted layer properties such as density, moisture content and particle
orientation, which are in turn related to the construction and compaction
processes
 boundary conditions such as in situ moisture and temperature regimes,
and the stresses applied at the boundaries of the constructed pavement
Shear Strength

• The resistance to shear stress, at failure, on a surface within a soil

mass.

• Laboratory testing methods include the direct shear test, triaxial

shear test and simple shear test. Triaxial shear testing includes the
Texas triaxial shear test.

• The California Bearing Ratio (CBR) test provides an indicator or

index of strength. However, tests on gravelly materials tend to give
CBR values higher than those obtained in the field . CBR has to be
supplemented by other tests such as gradation, Atterberg limits, etc.

• Mechanistic pavement design procedures do not use CBR as an

input other than for estimating subgrade modulus.
Elastic Modulus

• Static modulus << dynamic modulus

• Static modulus: from triaxial, Texas
triaxial, plate bearing test, etc.
• Dynamic modulus: from Repeat Load
Triaxial (RLT), called resilient modulus
(Mr or Er)
• Er (MPa) = 10 CBR (%) only for CBR ≤
15%
Static Triaxial
Texas Triaxial
CBR
RLT
Resilient Modulus

• Modulus of a rock particle may vary

between 10,000 to 100,000 MPa
• Modulus of a particle assemblage may only
have up to 1000 MPa, depending on
stresses, moisture, PSD, etc.
• Higher strength & modulus are generally
resistant to permanent deformation
• Large permanent deformation is often
accompanied by lower strength & modulus
Soil Suction

• Soil matric suction is a negative pore water

pressure, it acts like a confining pressure
• Drier soil has higher matric suction, hence may
have higher strength
• Wetter soil and coarser soil have lower matric
suction, hence may be easy to crumble
• Fines up to 10% may not affect stiffness.
Higher fines content may increase suction but
also more prone to water lubrication effect
Permanent Deformation

RLT does not correctly simulate wheel

stresses (no principal stress rotation)
 Effect of Permanent
Deformation
• In compaction, permanent deformation gives
higher strength and stiffness
• Undercompaction produces unsatisfactory strength
and stiffness
• Overcompaction may represent failure, thus
reducing strength and stiffness
• Wheel loading may cause rutting failure if strength
and stiffness are inadequate
• Therefore good compaction is essential
• Rutting is not considered in a routine pavement
design
Modulus & Poisson’s ratio

• Modulus of unbound granular materials is

stress dependent (non-linear). The higher the
compressive stresses, the higher the
interlocking and thus the modulus
• Poisson’s ratio normally varies between 0.1-0.5
for non-failure situations
• Due to an isotropy: Eh = 0.5 Ev; νh = νv
• Cracked bound materials are assumed to
behave like high standard unbound granular
Non-linear Modulus
Presumptive Modulus
Modulus of Normal
Standard Base
Modulus of High
Standard Base
Presumptive of Maximum
Modulus of Subbase

For high quality crushed rock subbases,

which have a laboratory soaked CBR greater
than 30%, an assigned maximum moduli of
the lesser of the value from the table for
Normal Standard Base and 210 MPa may be
used, otherwise a value of 150 MPa may be
assigned.
Sublayering Base &
Subbase
Sublayering is an attempt to assign different modulus values
for different depth, mimicking non-linear response

• Base and subbase on top of unbound material will be

combined into one layer
• Divide the total thickness into 5 equi-thick sublayers.
• The vertical modulus at the topmost sublayer is the
minimum of the previous table(s) and this:

• The ratio of moduli of adjacent layers is:

Note on sublayering
base & subbase
• CIRCLY may not be able to combine these
layers for sublayering
• Hence, you may need to combine base &
subbase manually and then input the
results into CIRCLY as 5 sublayers
• The modulus of each sublayer must not
exceed the actual modulus of the material
Sublayering Subgrade
System
• Subgrade may consist of a natural subgrade overlain by
one or more layers (Selected material, bridging layer,
capping layer)
• If the uppermost layer is > 2m thick, then its modulus is
used design, no sublayering required. Otherwise, each
layer must be sublayered individually.

• Where there is more than one type of selected material,

the total selected subgrade thickness in the above
equation is the thickness of one selected material type
• The ratio of moduli of adjacent sublayers is:
Cement Treated (CT) Base

• Stabilised base: UCS should be at least 2 MPa

• Good choice for high moisture and weak foundation but
prone to reflective cracking
• Factors affecting modulus:
Design Modulus

Design moduli may be estimated from:

• flexural moduli measurements of

laboratory compacted and 90-day cured
beams, then adjusted to representative
in situ values
• UCS tests
• presumptive values.
Flexural Test
Presumptive Parameters
of CT base
Modulus Correlations

Note: Max modulus 5000MPa.

UCS can also be estimated from ITS.
ITS values is approx. 1/8 to 1/10 UCS value.
Shrinkage and Reflected
Cracking
Controlling the development of reflective cracking by:

• Minimise cement
• Use slow setting cement
• Reduce clay content
• Lime pretreatment
• Use effective curing
• Asphalt cover at least 175 mm
• Apply SAM, SAMI or geotextile seal
• Use PMB asphalt cover
 Post cracking
After cracking, CT layer becomes like granular layer of a
high standard quality

If asphalt cover ≥ 175 mm is used, post cracking life may

be considered (as long as pavement is in a reasonable
shape).

Post-cracking properties:
• Topmost vertical modulus: the lesser of 1/5 initial design
modulus and 500 MPa
• Poisson’s ratio = 0.35
• Anisotropic, but no sublayering needed
Fatigue Life of CT Base

Testing is time consuming. For common material types and

binder contents, approximately 50% of the strain at static
break corresponds to a fatigue life of some one million load
repetitions.

Equation seems to indicate that the higher the modulus the

lower the fatigue life. But we still like to have high modulus
(better material) because less strain is produced, thus
producing longer fatigue life. RF is from this table:
Presumptive Fatigue
Constants of LMC
 Subgrade

DCP measures in situ condition

CBR measures in situ or laboratory condition
Laboratory: soaked (4 or 10 days) or unsoaked
Other presumptive
CBR values

Thin = 300 mm
Thick = 1200 mm incl.capping
CBR from DCP
CBR from
Benkelman
Beam Test
Subgrade Variability
Modulus (in MPa) = 10 CBR (in %)
only for CBR ≤ 15

Normally, the subgrade is assumed to be cross-anisotropic

(EV/EH = 2) with a maximum modulus of 150 MPa

Poisson’s ratio:
0.45 for near saturated cohesive subgrade (e.g. wet clay),
Suggest 0.40 for clay subgrade (not saturated)
0.35 for cohesionless subgrade (e.g. sand)
Usually, the subgrade CBR for pavement design is
taken as the 10% percentile value i.e. 90% of the field
data are higher than the design CBR.
Design CBR
Design Considerations
• Allowances must be made for any changes in subgrade
moisture content that may occur after construction while
the pavement is in service.

• Consider the effect of compaction variability (density,

moisture content)

• Evaluate potential swell

• Consider compaction at Equilibrium Moisture Content

(EMC)

• Apply cover or capping layer

Typical Moisture Conditions
for CBR Testing
Compaction Parameters
Potential Swell
Example of Subgrade
Cover Requirement
Subgrade Failure Criterion

• To limit rut depth to 20 mm

• Only for normal traffic loading
• Applicable to any layer within the
subgrade system (capping, bridging,
selected material):
END OF MODULE 2