BFC 31802 HIGHWAY ENGINEERING (SECTION 5) RIGID PAVEMENT DESIGN (PCA METHOD) EXAMPLE The design involves a four-lane

interstate pavement with doweled joints and no concrete shoulders. A 100 mm untreated subbase will be placed on a clay subgrade with a k value of 27 MPa/m. Other information include concrete modulus of rupture = 4.5 MPa, design period = 20 years, current AADT = 12,900, annual traffic growth rate = 4% and AADTT = 19% of AADT.

Solution

Step 1: Suggest a Trial Thickness for the PCC slab Trial thickness = 240 mm Step 2: Calculate Number of Trucks and determine the LSF Growth factor, G = (1 + r)0.5Y = (1 + 0.04)0.5x20 = 1.5 Assume directional distribution, D is 50:50, therefore D = 0.5 AADT (per direction) is therefore is projected to be 12,900 x 1.5 x 0.5 = 9,675. Lane distribution, L can be estimated from Figure 1, with projected AADT (per direction) = 9,675. Therefore, L = 0.81. AADT (per direction, on design lane) is therefore 9,675 x 0.81 = 7,837. Number of trucks on design lane during design period, T = AADTT x Y x 365 = (0.19)(7,837) x 20 x 365 = 10,869,919 trucks = 10,870 trucks per 1,000 For interstate highways, take load safety factor, LSF as 1.2.

Step 3: Calculate the Expected Repetitions for single and tandem axles Use adjusted axle load data from Column 3 of Table 3. SINGLE AXLES Axles per 1,000 trucks (adjusted) A 0.58 1.35 2.77 5.92 9.83 21.67 28.24 38.83

Axle load (kN) 133 125 115 107 98 89 80 72 TANDEM AXLES Axle load (kN) 231 213 195 178 160 142 125 107

Expected repetitions TA 6,305 14,675 30,110 64,351 106,853 235,553 306,969 422,083

Axles per 1,000 trucks (adjusted) A 1.96 3.94 11.48 34.27 81.42 85.54 152.23 90.52

Expected repetitions TA 21,306 42,828 124,788 372,515 885,036 929,820 1,654,741 983,953

Step 4: Determine the Equivalent Stress for single and tandem axles Need to find k value of subbase-subgrade. Interpolate from Table 1a (Untreated Base), with k of subgrade = 27 MPa/m and subbase thickness = 100 mm: Therefore, k of subbase-sugrade = 35 MPa/m Interpolate from Table 4a (No Concrete Shoulder), with slab thickness 240 mm and k = 35 MPa/m: Equivalent Stress for: Single axle = 1.44 Tandem axles = 1.35

Step 5: Calculate the Stress Ratio Factor for single and tandem axles Stress Ratio Factor = Equivalent Stress / Modulus of Rupture Stress Ratio Factor for: Single axle = 1.44 / 4.5 = 0.32 Tandem axles = 1.35 / 4.5 = 0.30

Step 6: Determine the Erosion Factor for single and tandem axles Interpolate from Table 5a (Doweled Joints, No Concrete Shoulder), with slab thickness = 240 mm and k = 35 MPa/m: Erosion Factor for: Single axle = 2.61 Tandem axles = 2.80

Step 7: Run Fatigue Analysis by determining Allowable Repetitions and calculating Fatigue Percent Use Figure 2 to determine Allowable Repetitions. Fatigue Percent = 100*(Expected Repetitions/Allowable Repetitions) Sample calculation: For single axle load 160 kN with stress ratio factor 0.32, allowable repetitions (obtained from Figure 5) = 21,000 Fatigue Percent = 100*(6,305/21,000) = 30.0 %

Step 8: Run Erosion Analysis by determining Allowable Repetitions and calculating Damage Percent Use Figure 3a (Without Concrete Shoulder) to determine Allowable Repetitions. Fatigue Percent = 100*(Expected Repetitions/Allowable Repetitions) Sample calculation: For tandem axle load 277 kN with erosion factor 2.80, allowable repetitions (obtained from Figure 6a) = 890,000 Fatigue Percent = 100*(21,306/890,000) = 2.4 %

Step 9: Comment on the adequacy of the thickness based on Total Fatigue Percent and Total Damage Percent. Since the total fatigue percent (85.0%) and total damage percent (42.2%) each does not exceed 100%, therefore the 240 mm slab thickness is adequate for the slab to withstand traffic loading throughout its design period.

Rigid Pavement Design Worksheet Project : Trial Thickness : Subbase-subgrade, k: Modulus of rupture, MR : Load safety factor, LSF : . mm MPa/m MPa Doweled joints : Yes Concrete shoulder : Yes Design period : years / No . / No .

Axle load (kN) 1

Multiplied by LSF 2

Expected repetitions 3

Fatigue analysis Allowable repetitions 4 Fatigue percent 5

Erosion analysis Allowable repetitions 6 Damage percent 7 .

8. Equivalent stress : 9. Stress ratio factor : Single Axles

. .

10. Erosion factor :

11. Equivalent stress : 12. Stress ratio factor : Tandem Axles

13. Erosion factor :

Total =

Total =