Title of the Module

Pavement Materials and Design

I. Introduction

A highway pavement is structure consisting of superimposed layers of processed materials

above the natural soil sub-grade, whose primary function is to distribute the applied vehicle loads to
the sub-grade. The pavement structure should be able to provide a surface of acceptable riding
quality, adequate skid resistance, favorable light reflecting characteristics, and low noise pollution.
The ultimate aim is to ensure that the transmitted stresses due to wheel load are sufficiently
reduced, so that they will not exceed bearing capacity of the sub-grade. Two types of pavements are
generally recognized as serving this purpose, namely flexible pavements and rigid pavements. This
chapter gives an overview of pavement types, layers, and their functions, and pavement failures.
Improper design of pavements leads to early failure of pavements affecting the riding quality.

3. Learning Outcome

 Discussed for both flexible & rigid pavement

 Estimate the damaging power of axle loads

 Design a pavement using the two methods

4. Learning Content

Study of Pavement Materials

 Necessary to understand the behavior of the materials individually and in combination

with other materials

 Characterization of materials – Purpose

 To classify / Grade

 To obtain necessary inputs for design of new pavement

 To obtain inputs regarding the condition of materials in an existing pavement

 To ensure proper quality during construction

Pavement Materials

 Soil

 Aggregates (Natural, Artificial)

 Bitumen, Tar, Emulsion, Cutbacks

 Modified Bituminous Binder (Polymer, Rubber)

 Bituminous Mixes
 Cement and Cement Concrete (Plain, RCC, PSC)

 Stabilised materials (Cement, Lime, others)

 Recycled Materials

 Geosynthetics

Properties of Pavement Materials

Pavement materials properties are evaluated by

 Conducting laboratory tests on representative samples

 Field Evaluation

 Estimation

The material properties to be considered should be relevant to the design approach adopted.

The properties should also reflect the performance of pavement structure.

Parameters

Parameters to be considered for Characterization of Pavement materials properties are

 Loads

Stationery/moving, heavy/light, application

mode (normal & shear, Impact)

 Climatic Conditions

Temperature, rainfall, moisture

 Weathering action

Wetting/Drying, Chemical action, Freeze-Thaw

Material Behavior

Fundamental material behavior is characterized usually in terms of

 Stress-Strain relationship

 Ability of material to recover after release of load

 Time dependency

 Temperature dependency

Pavement Material – Soil

Soils are used in

• Subgrade

• Embankment

• Shoulders

Compacted soil and stabilized soil are often used in sub-base or base course

Pavement Material – Soil

Significance of subgrade soil

 Primary function is to provide adequate support to the pavement

 Poor subgrade condition leads to

Black top pavements

 Formation of waves

 Corrugations

 Rutting and

 Shoving

Cement concrete Pavements

 Pumping phenomena

 Blowing – consequent cracking

 Pavement Material – Soil

Desirable Properties

 Stability

 Incompressibility

 Permanency of strength

 Minimum changes in volume

 Good drainage

 Ease of compaction

Pavement Material – Soil

Evaluation of Properties

 Index Properties

Grain Size Analysis

Consistency limits and Indices

 Strength

Shear tests

Bearing tests

Penetration tests . . . .

Important Quality Control Tests on Soils

Pavement Material – Aggregates

• Major component – road construction

• Used in

 Granular bases and sub-bases

 Bituminous courses

 Cement concrete pavements

Types of Aggregates

• Natural aggregates

 obtained from rock

• Artificial aggregates

 Broken brick ballast

 Slag

Natural Aggregates

 Igneous rocks

- cooling of molten material

 Sedimentary rocks

- deposition of granular material

 Metamorphic rocks

- transformation due to heat & pressure

Igneous rocks

• Granite

• Basalt (Trap)

 Hard and durable

 Resistant to abrasion

 Low absorption of water

 Fine grained to coarse grained texture

Very good for bituminous courses and cement concrete pavements

Metamorphic rock

• Quartzite

 Reasonably hard and durable

 Resistant to abrasion

 Low absorption of water

 Fine grained to medium grained texture

Good for base courses, bituminous courses and cement concrete pavements

Sedimentary rocks

• Limestone

• Sandstone

 Reasonably hard and durable

 Liable to a smooth polish

 Fine grained

 High absorption of water

• Kankar

 Soft to medium hard

Good for sub-base and base courses

Desirable Properties

 Strength

 Hardness

 Toughness

 Durability

 Shape

 Adhesion with bitumen

• Strength

1. Bear the traffic load without getting crushed

2. Top layer – in direct contact with traffic – Strongest

Crushing strength test

• Hardness

1. Continuous wear and tear under the wheels of vehicles - abrasion

2. Rubbed with each other due to application of traffic load - attrition

Hardness test – Los angeles abrasion test

Deval abrasion test

Polished stone test

• Toughness

1. Ability to sustain impact loading

Impact test

• Durability

1. Gradual deterioration due to continuous exposure to environment

Soundness test

• Shape
1. Angular or rounded

Shape tests – flakiness index,elongation index, angularity number

• Adhesion with bitumen

1. Thin film formed over the aggregates holds the whole mass together

2. Electrostatic attraction towards bitumen and water

3. More affinity towards water results in stripping off of bitumen

Stripping test

Code of Practice

Binder Specifications

Types of Binders

1. Tar

2. Natural asphalt/rock asphalt/lake asphalt

3. Bitumen

1. Tar

• COKE OVEN TAR

 Produced at temperatures above1200OC during manufacturing of coke.

 High aromatic content.

 Pitch content - 50 %.

• LOW AROMATIC TAR

 Produced at temperatures 600OC to 700OC.

 Less viscous.

 Paraffinic in nature.
  Pitch content - 35 %.

2. Natural / Rock / Lake Asphalt

• Naturally occurring Bituminous binder.

• Biggest deposits in Trinidad

– 100 Acres,

– 90 meter deep

– 10 to 15 Million MT

– Pen - 5 max

• Asphalt found in France, Italy & Switzerland - Rock Asphalt.

3. Bitumen

• Conventional Bitumen

 Paving Grade Bitumen

 Industrial Grade Bitumen

• Cutback

• Bitumen Emulsions

• Modified Bitumen

• Modified Bitumen Emulsions %

What is Bitumen?

• Last residue obtained from fractional distillation of Crude Oil

• Is black or dark brown in colour

• Is a visco-elastic material

– Does not have a distinct melting point

– Gradually softens when heated

– More solid at low temperatures and more liquid at high temperatures

• Has adhesive properties

• Has water proofing properties

• Forms good bond with a variety of aggregates

What are Performance Parameters?

• Mix and form a good bond with aggregate (at high temperature)

• Not melt on the road at highest atmospheric temperature

• Not crack at extreme low atmospheric temperature

• Be able to withstand repeated cycles of loading and unloading

• Be able to withstand repeated cycles of temperature change

• Not be inflammable

• Be free from impurities

What type of tests do we develop?

• Tests should be simple

• Tests should replicate the actual field conditions as accurately as possible

• Rate of change of properties with time, temperature and load should be measurable or

predictable

Modes of Failure

Rutting/ Permanent Deformation Fatigue Cracking Low Temperature Cracking

Penetration Based System

• More than 100 years old

• Has stood the test of time

• Based on Penetration at 25 OC

• Penetration 30 to 100 are suitable for road construction

• Harder grades suitable for heavier traffic loads

• Softer grades suitable for light traffic loads

Viscosity Based System

 Viscosity is considered to be the primary property

• Most tests over lap with that of Penetration based classification

• Classified as VG 10, 20, 30 and 40 based on viscosity at 60 degrees celcius.

Viscosity of TFOT Residue Based System

• Simulates aging of Bitumen

• Viscosity ranging from 40 to 700 pascal seconds at 60OC are suitable for road construction

• Most tests overlap with that of Penetration based classification

• Higher viscosity for higher traffic and low viscosity for lower traffic

Performance Based System

• Radically different from Penetration & Viscosity based system

• New set of tests developed for better simulation of field conditions

• Long term & short term aging taken into consideration

• Classification is based on the maximum and minimum pavement temperature that the Bitumen

can withstand (PG58 -22)

Test methods

Penetration Test

• Arbitrary Empirical Number

• Depth of penetration of a standard size needle under standard test conditions

• Very easy to perform at field level

• Helps in classification and Traceability

Softening Point Test

• Arbitrary test to indicate the temperature at which bitumen is more of a liquid and less of

a solid

• Higher softening points indicate higher resistance to melting on road

• Higher resistance to melting indicates higher rutting resistance

Ductility Test

• Arbitrary empirical test to measure the cohesive strength

• Cohesive strength is loosely related to the fatigue strength

• Testing temperatures may vary from country to country and from grade to grade also

Fraass Breaking Point

• Tests low temperature properties

• This mode of failure likely to take place only when temperatures are less than 0OC

Viscosity Test

• Viscosity at 135OC is a fair indicator of the coating ability of Bitumen

 • Viscosity at 65OC is a replacement for Softening Point test and is an indicator of
the ability of Bitumen to resist rutting.

Thin Film Oven Test

This test simulates the process of aging of Bitumen during mixing and laying

• Sample is kept in an oven at 163OC for 5 hours

• TFOT aged bitumen can be tested for Penetration, Softening Point, Ductility, Viscosity, etc.

Other Tests

• Penetration ratio or penetration index

• Wax content

• Specific gravity

• Water content

• Matter soluble in organic solvents

• Flash Point

Performance Grade Tests

Mixing and Laying

• Tested in rotational viscometer

• Max. viscosity of 3 Pa-s at 135 °C

Rutting

• Due to melting of bitumen on the road

• Always occurs at max. pavement temp.

• Test to be conducted at max. pavement temp.

• Tested in Dynamic Shear Rheometer

• Complex Shear Modulus G*/Sind min. 1 kPa, @

10rad/s for unaged bitumen

• G*/Sind min. 2.2 kPa, @ 10 rad/s for RTFOT aged

bitumen

Fatigue

Due to repeated loading,unloading cycles

• Always occurs near the average pavement temp.

• Test to be conducted at average + 4OC pavement temp.

• Tested in Dynamic Shear Rheometer

• Fatigue Strength G*Sind max. 5000 kPa, @ 10 rad/s for RTFOT + PAV aged bitumen

Low Temp. Cracking

• Due to loss of elasticity at very low

temp.

• Always occurs at lowest pavement

temp.
• Testing done at min. temp. + 10OC

• Bending Beam Rheometer

• Creep Stiffness of max. 300,000kPa,

Rate of Change of Creep with load

(m-value) min. 0.30

• Direct Tension Test - For Modified Bitumens

• Failure strain min. 1%

Choice of Grade

Choice of Bitumen is based on

• Climatic Conditions - Maximum & Minimum temperature & rainfall.

• Intensity of Traffic - Number of vehicles per day, Traffic speed & axle load of vehicles.

Applications of 30/40 Grade

• Suited for areas where diff. between min. & max. temp. < 25oC.

• Suited for traffic intensity > 1500 cvpd

• Used in metropolitan areas.

• Used in airport runways.

Applications of 60/70 Grade

• More viscous grade.

• Higher softening point.

• Suited for traffic intensity > 1500 cvpd.

– Can withstand heavier axle loads.

– Better suited for highways, expressways & urban roads.

• Suited for areas where difference between min. & max. temp. is > 25oC.

• Reduced stripping in presence of water.

Applications of 80/100 Grade

• Less viscous grade.

• Used in all climatic conditions.

• Suited for traffic load < 1500 cvpd

• Better suited for high altitude/snow bound regions irrespective of traffic intensity.

Requirements of a pavement

An ideal pavement should meet the following requirements:

 Sufficient thickness to distribute the wheel load stresses to a safe value on the sub-grade

soil,

 Structurally strong to withstand all types of stresses imposed upon it,

 Adequate coefficient of friction to prevent skidding of vehicles,

 Smooth surface to provide comfort to road users even at high speed,

 Produce least noise from moving vehicles,

 Dust proof surface so that traffic safety is not impaired by reducing visibility,

 Impervious surface, so that sub-grade soil is well protected, and

 Long design life with low maintenance cost.

Types of pavements

The pavements can be classified based on the structural performance into two, flexible

pavements and rigid pavements. In flexible pavements, wheel loads are transferred by grain-to-

grain contact of the aggregate through the granular structure. The flexible pavement, having less

flexural strength, acts like a flexible sheet (e.g. bituminous road). On the contrary, in rigid

pavements, wheel loads are transferred to sub-grade soil by flexural strength of the pavement and

the pavement acts like a rigid plate (e.g. cement concrete roads). In addition to these, composite

pavements are also available. A thin layer of flexible pavement over rigid pavement is an ideal

pavement with most desirable characteristics. However, such pavements are rarely used in new

construction because of high cost and complex analysis required.

Flexible pavements

Flexible pavements will transmit wheel load stresses to the lower layers by grain-to-grain

transfer through the points of contact in the granular structure (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Load transfer in granular structure

Deflection on flexible pavement

The wheel load acting on the pavement will be distributed to a wider area, and the stress

decreases with the depth. Taking advantage of this stress distribution characteristic, flexible

pavements normally has many layers. Hence, the design of flexible pavement uses the concept of

layered system. Based on this, flexible pavement may be constructed in a number of layers and

the top layer has to be of best quality to sustain maximum compressive stress, in addition to wear
and tear. The lower layers will experience lesser magnitude of stress and low quality material can

be used. Flexible pavements are constructed using bituminous materials. These can be either in

the form of surface treatments (such as bituminous surface treatments generally found on
low volume roads) or, asphalt concrete surface courses (generally used on high volume roads such as

national highways). Flexible pavement layers reflect the deformation of the lower layers on to

the surface layer (e.g., if there is any undulation in sub-grade then it will be transferred to the

surface layer). In the case of flexible pavement, the design is based on overall performance of

flexible pavement, and the stresses produced should be kept well below the allowable stresses of

each pavement layer.

Types of Flexible Pavements

The following types of construction have been used in flexible pavement:

 Conventional layered flexible pavement,

 Full - depth asphalt pavement, and

 Contained rock asphalt mat (CRAM).

Conventional flexible pavements are layered systems with high quality expensive materials are

placed in the top where stresses are high, and low quality cheap materials are placed in lower

layers.

Full - depth asphalt pavements are constructed by placing bituminous layers directly on the soil

sub-grade. This is more suitable when there is high traffic and local materials are not available.

Contained rock asphalt mats are constructed by placing dense/open graded aggregate layers in

between two asphalt layers. Modified dense graded asphalt concrete is placed above the
sub-grade will significantly reduce the vertical compressive strain on soil sub-grade and protect from

surface water.

Typical layers of a flexible pavement

Typical layers of a conventional flexible pavement includes seal coat, surface course, tack coat,

binder course, prime coat, base course, sub-base course, compacted sub-grade, and natural sub-

grade (Figure 2).

Seal Coat:

Seal coat is a thin surface treatment used to water-proof the surface and to provide skid

resistance.

Tack Coat:

Tack coat is a very light application of asphalt, usually asphalt emulsion diluted with water. It

provides proper bonding between two layer of binder course and must be thin, uniformly cover

the entire surface, and set very fast.

Prime Coat:

Prime coat is an application of low viscous cutback bitumen to an absorbent surface like granular

bases on which binder layer is placed. It provides bonding between two layers. Unlike tack coat,

prime coat penetrates into the layer below, plugs the voids, and forms a water tight surface.

Figure 2: Typical cross section of a flexible pavement

Surface course

Surface course is the layer directly in contact with traffic loads and generally contains superior

quality materials. They are usually constructed with dense graded asphalt concrete(AC). The

functions and requirements of this layer are:

 It provides characteristics such as friction, smoothness, drainage, etc. Also it will prevent

the entrance of excessive quantities of surface water into the underlying base, sub-base

and sub-grade,

 It must be tough to resist the distortion under traffic and provide a smooth and skid-

resistant riding surface,

 It must be water proof to protect the entire base and sub-grade from the weakening effect

of water.
Binder course

This layer provides the bulk of the asphalt concrete structure. It's chief purpose is to distribute

load to the base course The binder course generally consists of aggregates having less asphalt

and doesn't require quality as high as the surface course, so replacing a part of the surface course

by the binder course results in more economical design.

Base course

The base course is the layer of material immediately beneath the surface of binder course and it

provides additional load distribution and contributes to the sub-surface drainage It may be

composed of crushed stone, crushed slag, and other untreated or stabilized materials.

Sub-Base course

The sub-base course is the layer of material beneath the base course and the primary functions

are to provide structural support, improve drainage, and reduce the intrusion of fines from the

sub-grade in the pavement structure If the base course is open graded, then the sub-base course

with more fines can serve as a filler between sub-grade and the base course A sub-base course is

not always needed or used. For example, a pavement constructed over a high quality, stiff sub-

grade may not need the additional features offered by a sub-base course. In such situations, sub-

base course may not be provided.

Sub-grade

The top soil or sub-grade is a layer of natural soil prepared to receive the stresses from the layers

above. It is essential that at no time soil sub-grade is overstressed. It should be compacted to the

desirable density, near the optimum moisture content.

Failure of flexible pavements

The major flexible pavement failures are fatigue cracking, rutting, and thermal cracking. The

fatigue cracking of flexible pavement is due to horizontal tensile strain at the bottom of the

asphaltic concrete. The failure criterion relates allowable number of load repetitions to tensile

strain and this relation can be determined in the laboratory fatigue test on asphaltic concrete

specimens. Rutting occurs only on flexible pavements as indicated by permanent deformation or

rut depth along wheel load path. Two design methods have been used to control rutting: one to

limit the vertical compressive strain on the top of subgrade and other to limit rutting to a

tolerable amount (12 mm normally). Thermal cracking includes both low-temperature cracking

and thermal fatigue cracking.

Rigid pavements

Rigid pavements have sufficient flexural strength to transmit the wheel load stresses to a wider

area below. A typical cross section of the rigid pavement is shown in Figure 3. Compared to

flexible pavement, rigid pavements are placed either directly on the prepared sub-grade or on a

single layer of granular or stabilized material. Since there is only one layer of material between

the concrete and the sub-grade, this layer can be called as base or sub-base course.

Figure 3: Typical Cross section of Rigid pavement

In rigid pavement, load is distributed by the slab action, and the pavement behaves like an elastic

plate resting on a viscous medium (Figure 4). Rigid pavements are constructed by Portland

cement concrete (PCC) and should be analyzed by plate theory instead of layer theory, assuming

an elastic plate resting on viscous foundation. Plate theory is a simplified version of layer theory

that assumes the concrete slab as a medium thick plate which is plane before loading and

to remain plane after loading. Bending of the slab due to wheel load and temperature variation and

the resulting tensile and flexural stress.

Deflection on concrete pavement

Types of Rigid Pavements

Rigid pavements can be classified into four types:

 Jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP),

 Jointed reinforced concrete pavement (JRCP),

 Continuous reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP), and

  Pre-stressed concrete pavement (PCP).

Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement:

are plain cement concrete pavements constructed with closely spaced contraction joints. Dowel

bars or aggregate interlocks are normally used for load transfer across joints. They normally has

a joint spacing of 5 to 10m.

Jointed Reinforced Concrete Pavement:

Although reinforcements do not improve the structural capacity significantly, they can drastically

increase the joint spacing to 10 to 30m. Dowel bars are required for load transfer.

Reinforcements help to keep the slab together even after cracks.

Continuous Reinforced Concrete Pavement:

Complete elimination of joints are achieved by reinforcement.

Failure criteria of rigid pavements

Traditionally fatigue cracking has been considered as the major, or only criterion for rigid

pavement design. The allowable number of load repetitions to cause fatigue cracking depends on

the stress ratio between flexural tensile stress and concrete modulus of rupture. Of late, pumping

is identified as an important failure criterion. Pumping is the ejection of soil slurry through the

joints and cracks of cement concrete pavement, caused during the downward movement of slab

under the heavy wheel loads. Other major types of distress in rigid pavements include faulting,

spalling, and deterioration.

Summary

Pavements form the basic supporting structure in highway transportation. Each layer of

pavement has a multitude of functions to perform which has to be duly considered during the

design process. Different types of pavements can be adopted depending upon the traffic

requirements. Improper design of pavements leads to early failure of pavements affecting the

riding quality also.

References

 Garber, Nicholas J, Traffic and Highway Engineering , 2020

 Besavilla, Venancio I., Jr. Basic Fundamentals of Transportation, Highway Engineering
and Surveying , 2016
 Pyrgidis, Christos N Railway transportation system , 2016
 Department Of Public Works And Highways
 Online https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transportation_in_the_Philippines
 Module 9- Pavement Materials and Design - ISU MODULE Subject: CE 312 - Highway and
Railroad - Studocu