Failure of flexible pavements

1. SUBGRADE FAILURE:

Excessive deformation in subgrade soil of a flexible failure is called subgrade failure

This is one of the main causes of failure of flexible pavements. This type of failure causes
undulations (ups and downs) and corrugations in the pavement surface.

Causes Of Subgrade Failure:

1. Inadequate stability.

2. Inadequate road drainage.

3. Excessive stress application.

2. BASE COURSE FAILURE:

Excessive deformation in the base or foundation course of a flexible pavement is known as base
course failure.

This type of failure causes potholes, waves, and corrugations in the pavement surface.

Causes Of Base Course Failure:

1. Insufficient strength.

2. Loss of binding action.

3. Crushing of base course material.

4. Lack of lateral confinement of the granular base course.

5. Insufficient wearing course.

6. Inadequate quality control.

7. Inadequate road drainage.

3. SURFACE FAILURE:

Excessive deformation in the wearing course of a flexible pavement is called surface failure or
wearing course failure.

This type of failure causes ruts, potholes, cracks etc in the pavement structure.

Causes Of Surface Failure:

1. lack of proper mix design

2. Use of the inferior type of binder.

3. Inadequate quality control.

4. Volatization and oxidation of binder.

RESULTS OF FLEXIBLE FAILURE:

1. RUTS:

The longitudinal depressions or cuts in flexible pavement is known as ruts. These are usually
formed ion earth or W.B.M roads of one lane width due to repetitive traffic wheel loads on the
same location, particularly under wheeled traffic.

2. POT HOLES:

The isolated depressions, more or less circular in shape formed in flexible pavements are called
pot holes or patches. These are usually formed in all types of flexible pavements due to
disintegration of road metal or lack of binding surface course with the underlying base.

3. FROST HEAVING:

A localized heaving up of pavement portion is known as frost heaving.

The water which may find access to pavement structure freezes in cold climates. The expansion
accompanying this frost action causes upheaval which in turn may crack the pavement surface.

4. SHEAR FAILURE CRACKING:

The formation of a fracture or cracking due to upheaval of pavement portion followed by a

depression called shear failure cracking. This type of failure occurs due to localized weakness in
the pavement.

5. LONGITUDINAL CRACKING:

The formation of cracks in the longitudinal direction of a road pavement is called longitudinal
cracking.
This failure is caused due to frost action, different volume changes in subgrade, settlement of
filling material or due to sliding of side slopes.

6. MAP CRACKING:

The development of irregular cracks, usually formed on bituminous surfacing is called map
cracking.

This type of flexible road failure is due to excessive wear of the road surface or due to localized
weakness in the underlying base course.

Failure criteria of rigid pavements

Failure in rigid pavement (or cement concrete pavement) can be identified by formation of
cracks on the pavement surface. The two prime factors responsible for rigid pavement failure
are:

1. Use of poor quality material

2. Inadequate stability of the pavement structure

Poor quality of material consist of following items:

 Using soft aggregate

 Poor quality of sub-grade soil
 Poor joint filler R sealer materials

Inadequate stability of the pavement structure can be due to following reason:

 Inadequate pavement thickness

 Lack of sub-grade support
 Improper compaction of sub-grade
 Improper spacing of joints

TYPES OF FAILURE IN RIGID PAVEMENT

The following 5 form of failures are commonly found in rigid pavement

1. Scaling of cement concrete

2. Shrinkage cracks
3. Joint spalling
4. Warping cracks
 5. Pumping

1. SCALING OF CEMENT CONCRETE

Scaling of rigid pavement simply means, peeling off or flaking off of the top layer or skin of the
concrete surface. This may be due to the following reasons

 Improper mix design

 Excessive vibration during compaction of concrete
 Laitance of concrete
 Performing finishing operation while bleed water is on surface

2. SHRINKAGE CRACKS

Formation of hairline shallow cracks on concrete slab is the indication of shrinkage cracks.

Shrinkage cracks develop on concrete surface during the setting & curing operation. These
cracks may form in longitudinal as well as in transverse direction.

3. JOINT SPALLING

Joint spalling is the breakdown of the slab near edge of the joint. Normally it occurs within 0.5 m
of the joints. The common reasons for this defect are:

 Faulty alignment of incompressible material below concrete slab

 Insufficient strength of concrete slab near joints
 Freeze-thaw cycle
 Excessive stress at joint due to wheel load

4. WARPING CRACKS

In hot weather, concrete slab tends to expand. Therefore the joints should be so designed to
accommodate this expansion. When joints are not designed properly, it prevents expansion of
concrete slab and therefore results in development of excessive stress. This stress cause
formation of warping cracks of the concrete slab near the joint edge.

This type of crack can be prevented by providing proper reinforcement at the longitudinal and
transverse joints. Hinge joints are generally used to relieve the stress due to warping.
5. PUMPING

When material present below the road slab ejects out through the joints or cracks, it is called
pumping. When soil slurry comes out it is called mud pumping.

The common reasons for this defect are:

 Infiltration of water through the joints, cracks or edge of the pavement forms soil slurry.
Movement of heavy vehicles on pavement forces this soil slurry to come out causing mud
pumping.
 When there is void space between slab and the underlying base of sub-grade layer
 Poor joint sealer allowing infiltration of water
 Repeated wheel loading causing erosion of underlying material

Pumping can also lead to formation of cracks. This is because; ejection of sub-grade material
below the slab causes loss of sub-grade support. When traffic movement occurs at these
locations, it fails to resist the wheel load due to reduction of sub-grade support and develops
cracks.

This type of defect can be identified when there is presence of base or sub-grade material on the
pavement surface close to joints or cracks.
April 30, 2019

To Whom it May Concern;

This is a letter requesting to apply the outstanding credit or refund from the previous semesters on to
the current semester’s tuition fee (2nd Semester SY 2018-2019).

If there is any problem or adjustments feel free to contact us. Thank you and have a great day.

Sincerely Yours,

Kommel Villareal

Parent/Guardian

Student
 LYCEUM OF THE PHILIPPINES UNIVERSITY CAVITE

Governor’s Drive General Trias City Cavite

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING, COMPUTER STUDIES AND ARCHITECTURE

Department of Engineering

Assignment 2

FINALS

Submitted by:

Villareal, Kommel F.

Submitted to:

Engr. Drexler Sibal

Date of Submission:

April 30, 2019