AASHTO Flexible Design Procedure

Dr. Christos Drakos University of Florida

Topic 7 AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design 1. Development

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF STATE HIGHWAY http://www.aashto.org/
AND

TRANSPORTATION OFFICIALS

1.1 AASHO Road Test Late 50s road test in Illinois Objective was to determine the relationship between the number of load repetitions with the performance of various pavements Provided data for the design criteria 1.2 Performance Measurements Establishment of performance criteria is critical
Functional

AASHTO Vs AI

Structural

Topic 7 AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design 1.2 Performance Measurements (cont) AASHO Road Test performance based on user assessment:
Difficult to quantify (subjective) Highly variable Present Serviceability Rating (PSR) 0-1 V. Poor 1-2 Poor A panel of experts drove around in standard 2-3 Fair vehicles and gave a rating for the pavement 3-4 Good 4-5 V. Good Visible distress (cracking & rutting) Surface friction Roughness (slope variance)

Measurable characteristics (performance indicators):

Measure of how much slope varies from horizontal along the direction of traffic

Topic 7 AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design 1.3 AASHTO Performance Relations Establish correlation between user assessment (ride experience) and performance indicators (measurable characteristics)
USER ASSESSMENT 0-1 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 V. Poor Poor Fair Good V. Good PERFORMANCE INDICATORS

Measure of Roughness Measure of Rutting Measure of Cracking

Present Serviceability Index (PSI) PSI = A0 + A1F1 + A2F2 + A3F3 A0 A3 = Regression Coefficients F1 = Measure of roughness F2 = Measure of rutting F3 = Measure of cracking

How does the true (user) performance correlate to the measured performance? calculated the regression coefficients for the PSI equation

Topic 7 AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design 1.3 AASHTO Design Equations 1.3.1 Performance Requirements & Design Life
PSI scale: 1 (V. Poor) PSI0 5 (V. Good)

PSI
PSIt

PSI = (PSI0 - PSIt) Terminal PSI (known) no longer functional Time (age) Design Life Pvt is

AASHTO performance requirement = PSI

PSI is such that PSIt is NOT reached before end of design life

Topic 7 AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design 1.3.2 Performance Relation

PERFORMANCE (PSI) ESAL Structural Efficiency of PVT MReff

Structural Number (SN)

What are the three factors affecting performance (PSI)?

PSI = fnc (MReff, SN, ESAL)

known known known

MReff: Accounts for the environment SN: Index relating effectiveness of PVT structure

Solve for SN

Topic 7 AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design 1.3.3 Definition of Structural Number

AC BASE SUB-BASE

D1 D2 D3

a1 a2 a3

SN1 = D1 a1 SN2 = D 2 a2

SN

Structural Coefficient (a): a = fnc (E, position in PVT) SN = SN1 + SN2 + SN3

SN3 = D3 a3

Basic Procedure: Determine the traffic (ESAL) Calculate the effective subgrade modulus (MReff) Select the performance level (PSI) Solve for the required SN needed to protect the subgrade

Topic 7 AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design 1.3.4 Design Notes

i. Different combination of materials & thicknesses may result in the same SN ii. Your job as a designer is to select the most economical combination, using available materials and considering the following:
Geometry requirements (Cut/Fill) Drainage requirements Frost requirements

iii.AASHTO assumes that pavement structural layers will not be overstressed:

Must check that individual layers meet structural requirements

Topic 7 AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design 2. Design Inputs 2.1 General Design Variables

Design Life Material Properties Traffic Reliability Degree of certainty that the pavement will last the design period Uncertainty in:
Traffic prediction Performance prediction Materials & construction

Topic 7 AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design 2.2 AASHTO Reliability Factor (FR) Adjust traffic for reliability: FR = fnc (R, S0)
Reliability level Overall Standard Deviation: chosen Traffic Variation Performance prediction variation Materials (subgrade)

W18 = w18 FR
Where: W18 = Design ESAL w18 = Predicted ESAL

Steps: 1. Define functional class (Interstate/Local) 2. Select reliability level (R) Table 11.14 3. Select a standard deviation (S0)
Flexible: No traffic variation: With traffic variation: Rigid: No traffic variation: With traffic variation: S0=0.35 S0=0.45 S0=0.25 S0=0.35

Topic 7 AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design 2.3 Performance Criteria Design for serviceability change: PSI = PSI0 PSIt PSI0 = Initial serviceability index PSIt = Terminal serviceability index
Major highways: >2.5 Lower volume: 2.0 Flexible: 4.2 Rigid: 4.5

2.4 Material Properties 2.4.1 Effective Subgrade Resilient Modulus Obtain MR values over entire year Separate year into time intervals Compute the relative damage value (uf) for each modulus

uf = 1.18 10 8 MR

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Topic 7 AASHTO Flexible Pavement Design 2.4.1 Effective Subgrade Resilient Modulus (cont) Compute average uf for entire year Determine effective MR using average uf

uf = 1.18 10 8 MR

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