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The AASHTO method

2

The AASHTO design method was developed from the

FLEXIBLE PAVEMENT DESIGN - 2 results of the AASHTO road test.
It is probably the most widely used method worldwide.
Pavement rating system was developed and conditions on
a scale between 0(poor) and 5(excellent).
The average rating obtained for each road is called the
Present Serviceability Rating (PSR).
PSR is correlated with the objective measurement of road
P. R.D. Fernando roughness, rutting, cracking and patching.
Chartered Engineer
B.Sc.(Hons), M.Eng. C.Eng., MIE(SL)
The objective measure is called the Present Serviceability
Index (PSI).

The AASHTO method Road Roughness Determination

3 4

Present Serviceable Index (PSI)

PSI = 5.0 b1logR b2RD2 b3(C+P)0.5
Where
R roughness (inches per mile)
RD Rut Depth (inches)
C Cracking (%)
P Patching (%)
1.5

0.5

-0 .5

Roughness is the dominant factor in estimating the PSI of

-1

-1 .5

pavement.

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The AASHTO method The AASHTO method

5 6

Typical PSI vs. Time Pavement Performance

Structural Cracking, faulting, raveling, etc.
Functional Riding comfort (measured in terms of roughness of pavement.)
p0
Serviceability (PSI)

Serviceability Performance: Measured by PSI Present Serviceability Index with scale 0 to 5.

Depending upon
p0 - pt 5 Just constructed
construction quality,
5.0 4.0 Initial PSI (pi) smoothness etc.

PSI
Terminal PSI (pt)
pt
2.5 to 3.0 for major highways
2.0 for lower class highways
Time 0 Road closed
1.5 for very special cases

FUNCTIONAL PERFORMANCE CURVE

The AASHTO method
Perfect Rehabilitation 8
Unacceptable
limit Terminal PSI
Ride Quality

In the AASHTO design guide, the terminal PSI is chosen by the

designer.

Traffic/ Age Traffic

In terms of Equivalent Standard Axle (ESA)

Subgrade Strength
The strength of the SG is assessed in terms of Resilient Modulus
(MR).

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Resilient Modulus Resilient Modulus

9 10

Flexible pavement
materials are not elastic &
exhibit inelastic behavior.

d
MR
r

Where
= Deviator Stress
= Recoverable axial strain

Resilient Modulus The AASHTO method

11 12

Subgrade Resilient modulus can be determined from a Time

laboratory test. The pavement performance
It can be also be approximately correlated to other period or design period is the
subgrade properties, CBR & R Value. time that the initial pavement
is expected to perform
MR (Mpa) = 10.3 CBR
adequately before needing
MR (psi) = 1500 CBR major rehabilitation or its
terminal serviceability.
MR (Mpa) = 8.0 + 3.8 (R Value)
MR (psi) = 1155 + 555 (R Value)
The length of time (Design Period) that is selected for design
These correlations are applicable to materials having MR of 207Mpa or less.
They are not applicable to granular untreated base or subbase materials.
period could be for engineering or economical reasons.

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The AASHTO method The AASHTO method

13 14

Reliability
Reliability
The road test demonstrated quite significantly the variability that can
be expected in the performance of pavements they take into account Facility Urban Rural
variations in traffic and performance predictions. Interstate 85 99.9 80 99.9
Reliability considerations ensure that the pavement will last for the Principal Arterial 80 99 75 95
designated design period. Collector 80 95 75 95
The design method allows a choice of different level of reliability Local 50 - 80 50 80
selected on the basis of the class of road being designed and the
policy of the particular road administration.
It is also necessary to select an overall standard deviation (S0), for
reliability to account for traffic and performance variance.

The AASHTO method STRUCTURAL NUMBER (SN)

15 16

Material properties and structural number SN = a1 D1 + a2 D2m2 + a3 D3m3

The AASHTO method takes account of variation in
material properties and allows the overall pavement
thickness to be convert as strength of material.
The method employed is based on the structural number
principle. The structural number is given by
SN a1 D1 a2 D2 m2 a3 D3 m3
Where
a1 , a2 , a3 are strength coefficients for layers 1, 2, 3, etc. and
D1 , D2 , D3 are the thicknesses of layers 1, 2, 3.
The strength coefficients are related to normal strength measures
such as CBR, unconfined compressive strength, Marshall stability,
etc.

Charts are available to convert the properties of pavement

construction materials to structural numbers: a3, a2, and a1

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Materials of construction (Subbase), a3 Materials of construction (Base course), a2

17 18

Structural number of the

base course, a2
Structural number of the
subbase, a3

Use CBR, R-value, or Mr to find a2

values
Use CBR, R-value, or Mr to find a3
values

Materials of construction (AC surface), a1 Drainage Modifying Factor

19 20

The coefficients depend on the quality of drainage and percentage of time

the pavement structure is saturated. The quality of drainage is measured
by the length of time it takes for water to be removed from base or
subbase.
0.40
Recommended mi values for modifying structural layer coefficient of untreated base &
subbase material in flexible pavement.

Structural number of the AC

surface, a1

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The AASHTO method The AASHTO method

21 22

The Design Equation The Design Equation

The AASHTO design equation relates traffic carrying log10 W18 Z RSo 9.36 log10 SN 1 0.20
log10 PSI /( 4.2 1.5)
2.32 log10 M r 8.07
capacity in terms of standard axles to structural number. 0.40 1094 /( SN 1)5.19

SG strength in terms of resilient modulus, original & Where

W18 = cumulative traffic over the design period
terminal PSI to determine drop of PSI and the level of
ZR= Standard normal deviate (z = 0 for 50% reliability, z=-1.65 for 95%
reliability desired. reliability, z=-1.04 for 85% reliability)
S0 = Combined standard error on prediction of traffic & performance
(typically 0.35 0.45)
log10 PSI /( 4.2 1.5)
log10 W18 Z RSo 9.36 log10 SN 1 0.20 2.32 log10 M r 8.07 SN = Structural Number
0.40 1094 /( SN 1)5.19
PSI = different between initial & terminal serviceable index (Pt P0).
MR = Subgrade resilient modulus (in psi).

The AASHTO method The AASHTO method

23 24

The Design Equation
Nomograph to find SN Determination of the required structural Number (SN)
Estimated Future Traffic Load in MESA (W18).
Effective subgrade resilient modulus (MR).
Design serviceable loss ( PSI).
Select reliability level (R).
Overall standard deviation (S0).

Use a nomograph to find SN.

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The AASHTO method The AASHTO method

25 26

Example 1 Find the Structural Number for following details Example 2

R = 95% Determine the asphalt pavement thickness for a road that will have
S0 = 0.35 2,000,000 ESALs of loading during its design life. The designer has
selected 90% reliability with an overall stand deviation of 0.45. The
Traffic Load = 2x 106 mesa
initial serviceability index is 4.5 and the terminal serviceability
MR = 5000psi index is 2.0. The soil subgrade has a CBR value of 3.35%. Find the
PSI = 1.9 structural number (SN) of pavement layers which are top of the
subgrade.

The AASHTO method General Procedure for selection of layer thickness

27 28

Using E2 as MR and AASHTO nomograph, determine the SN1 required

Answer
to protect the base and compute the thickness of layer 1 (D1).
R = 90% Using E3 as MR and AASHTO nomograph, determine the SN2 required
S0 = 0.45 to protect the subbase and compute the thickness of layer 2 (D2).
CNSA = 2x 106 Using the subgrade resilient modulus and AASHTO nomograph,
MR = 10.3 x 3.35 = 34.5Mpa = 5000psi determine the SN3 required to protect the subgrade and compute the
thickness of layer 3 (D3).
PSI = p0 pt = 4.5-2.0 = 2.5

Using the given values and the AASHTO design monograph, the SN
is to be 4.0.

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AASHTO Design Procedure The AASHTO method

29 30

Example 3 Determination of pavement layer thicknesses

General Information
Initial Serviceability, P0 = 4.0 Material Layer Drainage
Terminal Serviceability, Pt = 2.3 Coefficient Coefficient

Design ESALs = 20 mesa Asphalt 0.4 1

Concrete
Reliability, R = 90%
Aggregate 0.12 1
Standard Deviation, S0 = 0.45 Base
Granular Subgrade CBR = 10% Subbase 0.095 1
Granular Subbase CBR = 20%

Pavement Design
31 32

Mechanistic Empirical Method
Asphalt Institute Manual (1999)
1. Empirical Methods
Empirical methods are those that have evolved from observation of
the performance of experimental pavements laid on public roads
and hence subjected to normal road traffic (known).
2. Mechanistic Method (Theoretical or Analytical Method)
This includes the structural analysis of candidate pavement and the
prediction of their performance from the computed parameters.

3. Mechanistic-Empirical
Combination of both above.

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Asphalt Institute Design Method (1999) Asphalt Institute Design Method (1999)
33 34

The Asphalt Institute design method characterizes an asphalt
pavement as a multi layered elastic system.
Using established theory, experience and test data, The Institutes
engineers developed a structural thickness design method suitable
for a variety of asphalt pavements.
Hence, this method is based on mechanistic empirical
methodology.
The method is based on two assumed stress strain conditions.
AI design method distinguishes between pavement structural
damage, such as fatigue or fatigue cracking, permanent
deformation that results from the deformation of the soil
subgrade, and plastic deformation that may occur in the asphalt
pavement layer.
The principal criterion for the fatigue of an asphalt pavement is
the horizontal strain at the bottom of the asphalt layer.
The principal criterion for pavement deformation due to subgrade
deformation is the vertical strain at the top of the subgrade.

Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1,1999) Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1,1999)
35 36

Origin Design Criteria

Publish in 1999 Horizontal Tensile Strain
Use the mechanistic Multilayer theory in conjunction with Fatigue Cracking
empirical failure criteria. 3.291 0.854
Nf 0.0796 t E
Procedure
Uses design charts Vertical Compressive Strain
AC
Uses a PC base program Permanent Deformation
Base

SG
Overview Nd 1.365 *10 9
E
4.477

Limit tensile strain on bottom of HMA layer

Limit vertical strain on top of subgrade

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Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1) Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1)
37 38

Subgrade Temperature
Resilient Modulus (MR) Final item to consider before selecting a thickness from Asphalt
Institute design chart is the Mean Annual Air Temperature (MAAT).
The dynamic modulus of hot mix asphalt mixture is highly depended
Traffic Load in ESALs
upon pavement temperature.
Total number of 80kN ESALs that will occur during design To simulate the effects of temperature as it changes throughout the
period. year, three typical distribution of the MAAT were defined.

Table 1 - Asphalt Institute design air temperature

MAAT Freeze / frost

effect
70C Yes
15.5 0C Possible
24 0C No

Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1) Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1)
39 40

Table 2 - Min. thickness of wearing course for full depth asphalt pavement Design Charts
Traffic ESALs Minimum thickness The Asphalt Institute design charts are based on the assumption
of AC wearing that for the AC portion of the pavement, the mixture be a high
course (mm)
quality dense graded hot mix asphalt.
10,000 25
10,000 1,000,000 40 Charts were derived from extensive studies of the dynamic
1,000,000 50 modulus temperature relationship for dense graded AC.
Assumptions are made that the hot mix asphalt will contain
Table 3 - Min. thickness of Asphalt Concrete over granular aggregate base some crushed aggregate with a minimum of 50 percent crushed
Traffic ESALs Minimum thickness particles for the wearing course and that the compactive effort
of AC wearing on the mixture in the field will give a maximum air void content
course (mm)
of 8 percent.
10,000 75
10,000 1,000,000 100
1,000,000 125

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Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1) Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1)
41 42

Figure 1 - Untreated Aggregate base, 150mm thickness Figure 2 - Untreated Aggregate base, 300mm thickness
The Asphalt Institute (1999) The Asphalt Institute (1999)

Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1) Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1)
43 44

Figure 3 - Full depth asphalt concrete Figure 4 - Untreated Aggregate base, 150mm thickness
The Asphalt Institute (1999) The Asphalt Institute (1999)

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Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1) Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1)
45 46

Figure 5 - Untreated Aggregate base, 300mm thickness Figure 6 - Full depth asphalt concrete
The Asphalt Institute (1999) The Asphalt Institute (1999)

Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1) Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1)
47 48

Figure 7 - Untreated Aggregate base, 150mm thickness Figure 8 - Untreated Aggregate base, 300mm thickness
The Asphalt Institute (1999) The Asphalt Institute (1999)

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Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1) Asphalt Institute Manual Series (MS -1)
49 50

Pavement Design Procedure

1. Determine the design traffic in 80kN RSALs.
2. Determine the design resilient modulus MR of Sub Grade.
3. Determine the pavement layers.
4. Determine environmental conditions by MAAT (temperature)
5. Determine the minimum AC thickness values from tables.
6. Determine which Asphalt Institute chart to use, base on MAAT
value, base material selection and granular base thickness value.
7. Using ESALs and the design MR value, pick from the chart curves
the minimum AC thickness that will meet the conditions determine.
Figure 9 - Full depth asphalt concrete
The Asphalt Institute (1999)

Example
51

Subgrade Resilient Modulus, MR = 33MPa

Traffic Load = 2,000,000 ESALs
The pavement will be in an environment with MAAT = 150C
Determine the pavement thicknesses for different pavement layer
options.

13