PavementDesignWhatsMyStructuralNumber?

Publishdate:June2,2014|Author:PavementInteractive Cite

Indesigningandbuildingpavements,wesometimescasuallyassumethatmakingapavementthickeralsomakesitstronger,buteventotheextent
thisistrue,howthickisthickenough?Oneofthekeyquestionsinthestructuraldesignofanasphaltpavementishowthickeachlayerofthe
structureshouldbe.Duringdesign,thesethicknessesarerelatedtotheStructuralNumber(SN),whichisanabstractvaluethatexpressesthe
structuralstrengthoftheoverallpavement.InthiseditionoftheRoadReadynewsletter,welllookattheconceptofaStructuralNumberandtherole
itplaysindesignequations.

FunctionofaStructuralNumber
Formalpavementdesignreliesonengineeringcalculationsbasedonestablisheddesignequations,suchastheempiricalequationsfoundinthe
1993AASHTOGuideforDesignofPavementStructures.AcriticalelementoftheflexiblepavementequationistheStructuralNumber,which
representstheoverallstructuralrequirementneededtosustainthetrafficloadsanticipatedinthedesign.TherequiredStructuralNumberdepends
onacombinationofexistingsoilsupport,totaltrafficloads,pavementserviceability,andenvironmentalconditions.

AASHTOdesignequationforflexiblepavements.TheStructuralNumberisindicatedasSN.

Althoughdesignequationscanbeusedindifferentwaysdependingontheinputsavailable,oneoftheirmostcommonapplicationsiseffectivelyto
solvefortheStructuralNumber.OncethevalueoftheStructuralNumberisdefined,thiscanthenbeusedtodetermineappropriatethicknessesfor
eachofthepavementlayers.

RelationshiptoPavementLayers
TheStructuralNumberisavaluethatappliestotheoverallpavementstructure,buttocompletethedesignwestillneedtogetfromthisvaluetothe
individuallayerthicknesses.Thisishandledusinganequationofthetypeshownbelow:

SN=a1D1+a2D2M2+a3D3M3+
Formulaindicatingtherelationshipofthestructuralnumbertopavementlayer
characteristics.
Thisformulacanbeadaptedtoanynumberofpavementlayers,sinceeachexpression(suchasa2D2M2)intheformulacorrespondstoasingle
layer,sothatthevariablesintheexpressioncorrespondtothecharacteristicsofthatlayer.Thesubscriptnumberusedintheexpressionsimply
indicateswhichlayerismeant,withthenumberingbeginningatthetopofthepavementstructure.Thevariablesrepresentthefollowing:

a=alayercoefficientthatrepresentstherelativestrengthofthematerial

D=layerthicknessininches

M=adrainagecoefficient

Thelayeranddrainagecoefficientsarevaluesthatshouldreflectcharacteristicsofthematerialusedtoconstructthatpavementlayer.The
thicknessesoftheindividuallayersareeffectivelywhatyouareusingthedesignequation,andtheStructuralNumber,tofigureout.

LayerCoefficient
Sincethelayercoefficientrepresentsthestrengthofthematerial,thisistheprimaryvariablethatfactorsinthetypeofmaterialyouplantousefor
eachlayer.Fordesignpurposes,layercoefficientsaretypicallydeterminedempiricallybasedontheperformanceofthematerial.Agenciesoften
setspecificlayercoefficientvaluesforcommonlyusedmaterialsasastandarddesignpolicy.Sometypicallayercoefficientvaluesare:

Hotmixasphalt0.44

Roadmix(lowstability)0.20

Aggregatebase0.13

Engineeredfill0.10

Sincethelayercoefficientcanbeaffectedbymaterialpropertiesaswellasthepositionofthelayerinwhichthematerialwillbeused,insome
casesdifferentvaluesmightbeappropriateforlocalconditions.

DrainageCoefficient
Adrainagecoefficientisavalueassignedtoapavementlayerthatrepresentsitsrelativelossofstrengthduetodrainagecharacteristicsand
exposuretomoisturesaturation.Layersthatdrainslowlyorareoftensaturatedwouldhavealowerdrainagecoefficient,whilelayersthatdrain
quicklyandalmostneverbecomesaturatedwouldhaveahigherdrainagecoefficient.Formostpavementdesigns,itisprobablysimplestandbest
tosetthedrainagecoefficientequalto1,whichindicatesnormaldrainagecharacteristics.

Apermeablebaselayerplacedwithageotextilebarriertoimprovedrainage.

AnotherpointtokeepinmindisthatbecausetheStructuralNumberisbeingusedtosolveforlayerthickness,changingadrainagecoefficientwill
onlyhaveanimpactonthethicknessofthepavementlayers.Itwillnotmakeanylayermoredenseorotherwiseaddressafundamentaldrainage
problemthatwouldsignificantlyimpacttheservicelifeofthepavement.Ifthereisanactualdrainageproblemwithoneofthelayers,itisbetterto
tacklethatdirectlybydesigningadrainagesystem,orbyincreasinglayerdensitytominimizewaterinfiltration.

Thickness
Onceyouhavepluggedinappropriatelayeranddrainagecoefficients,youcanthenworkoutsuitablethicknessesforeachofthepavementlayers.
TheAASHTOmethodcanalsobeappliedtoevaluatingexistingpavementsaswellasthedesignofnewpavementstructures.Forexample,when
consideringapavementinneedofrehabilitation,theexistinglayerthicknessescouldbepluggedintodetermineaStructuralNumberforthe
pavementinplacecomparingthiswiththeStructuralNumberrequiredfortheupdateddesignwouldgiveanindicationofthetypeandthicknessof
rehabilitationtreatmentneeded.

ItisworthnotingthatevenwhenyouhavedeterminedtheStructuralNumber,thisdoesnotautomaticallydictateasinglecorrectanswerfor
pavementlayerthickness.Assumingthereismorethanonestructurallayer,therewillnormallybedifferentcombinationsoflayerthicknessthat
couldachievetherequiredStructuralNumber.However,basedontherelativecostsofmaterialsfordifferentlayers,alongwithpractical
constructionconsiderations(suchasnotmakinganyonelayerexcessivelythickorthin),itislikelythatdefiningtheStructuralNumberwillsteeryou
toaparticularcombinationoflayerthicknesses.

TheNumberforQualityPavementDesign
TheconceptofaStructuralNumbermayseemalittlemysteriousatfirst.Forexample,asanabstractvalue,itdoesntexpressstrengthintermsof
aparticularunitofmeasurementwecouldeasilyrecognize.InthisissueoftheRoadReadynewsletter,wewantedtohelpyouunderstandalittlebit
ofthetheorybehindtheStructuralNumbertohaveanappreciationofwhatitindicates.Inasense,theStructuralNumberistakingsomecritical
designinformationsuchasmaterialproperties,trafficloads,andpavementperformancecriteriathatexistsinverydifferentformsandboiling
themdownintoasinglenumber.Doingthisiswhatmakesempiricalasphaltpavementdesignpossible,sotheStructuralNumberisakeytothe
entireprocessofdesigningaqualitypavement.

5ResponsestoPavementDesignWhatsMyStructuralNumber?

RaadKattansays:
June3,2014at10:57am
Dearsir,
Thansforthisnicereviewofthethicknessdesign.StillapointtobetackeldthstisMr,thesubgraderisiliantmodulus,afactorneedsa
complicatedtedttoobtain.Whoaccurateistheuseof1500xCBRvalue.
Bestregards
Raad
REPLY

T.Yogeswaransays:
September2,2015at12:06pm
IfCBR10then2500*CBR^0.64
REPLY

sreelathatsays:
June4,2014at3:42am
Thisarticleisveryinterestinganduseful.Ihaveonedoubtthatwhatarethedifferenttestsconductedtodeterminetherutting
performanceofpavements?Anotheroneisdifferencebetweenwheelruttesterandwheeltrackereventhoughbothareusedforrut
depthmeasurement.
 REPLY

T.Yogeswaransays:
September2,2015at12:09pm
IfCBRgreaterthan10then2500*CBR^0.64
IfCBRlessthan10then1500*CBR.
IthinkminumCBRis5withoutGeoGridandtextiles.
REPLY

JuanPatinosays:
September28,2015at4:34pm
Thisarticleisveryinteresting.IwouldliketoaddthattheresilientmoduluscorrelationwiththeCBR(1500xCBR)ofthesubgrade,
hasagreatreliabilityiftheCBRislessthan20%.Therehasbeenanupdateofthecorrelationequation,2555x(CBR^0.64).
However,theresilientmodulusshouldbeanalyse.Theresilientmodulusisavariablethatdependsonthedeviatorstressthatactsonthelayer.I
havebeenworkingwithresilientmodulusforawhile,andIrecommendtoanalysetheresilientmodulusbythetriaxialtestforabestreliabilityin
thedesign.
REPLY

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