IRC:58-2015 Guidelines for Design of

Plain Jointed Rigid Pavements for Highways

Example of Design of Slab Thickness for Pavement
(with and without doweled transverse joints. Beta value will be 0.66 for doweled joint and 0.90 for without dowels case)
T y p e of pa ve m e n t considered P a vem ent Structural Details
4 -lane
Carri ageway Modulus of subgrade reaction of subgrade, MPa/m 50.3
divided
Thickness of Granular Subbase, mm 150

Shoulders :- Ti ed concrete shoulders ? (yes/no) yes Thickness of D r y Le an Concrete subbase, m m 150

Effective modulus of subgrade reaction of foundation,

Transverse joint spacing (m) 4.5 MPa/m
285

Lane width (m) 3.5 U n i t w e i gh t o f C o n c r et e , k N / m 3 24

Trans vers e J oin ts h ave d o w e l bars ? (yes/no) yes 28-day Flexural strength of c eme n t concrete, M P a 4.5
M a x . d a y - t i me T e m p e r a t u r e D if fe re nt ial i n slab, 0 C (for
D es i g n Traff i c Es ti m a ti on bottom-up cracking)
16.8

N i gh t - t i me T e mp e r a t u r e D if fer en ti al i n slab, 0 C (for top-

Design Period (years) 30 13.4
down cracking) = day-time diff/2 + 5
Total Two-way Commercial Traffic (cvpd) in the year of
6000 Trial Thickness of Concrete Slab, m 0.28
completion of construction
Av. Annual rate of growth of commercial traffic Load Transfer Efficiency Factor for TDC analysis, Beta =
0.075 0.66
(exressed as decimal) 066 for dowel oints 090 for oints without dowels
Cumulative No of Commercial vehicles during design 226444692 Elastic Modulus of Concrete, Ec (MPa) 30000
period (two-way), A
Average No of axles per commercial vehicle, B 2.35 Poisson's Ratio of Concrete, Mu 0.15
Cumulative No of Commercial Axles during design
532145025 Radius of relative stiffness, m 0.66621
period (two-way), C = A*B
Proportion of traffic in predominant direction (For 2-lane
2-way highways use a value of 1.0), D
0.50 D e s i g n A x l e L o a d R ep e t i ti o n s f o r F a t i g u e A n a l y s i s

Lateral Placement factor (0.25 for 2-lane 2-way. For

multilane highways the value is 0.25 X C), E
0.125 F o r B o t t o m - u p C ra c ki n g Ana l y s i s

Factor for selection of traffic for BUC analysis (for six-

0.2 Front single (steering) Axles = H * K1 5986632
hour period during day), F
Factor for selection of traffic for TDC analysis (for six- 1995544
0.3 Rear single Axles = H * K2
hour period during day), G
Design axle repetitions for BUC analysis (for 6 hour day
13303626 Tandem Axles = H * K3 3325906
time traffic), H = B*E*F
Proportion of vehicles with spacing between front and
the first rear axle less than the spacing of transverse 0.55 Tridem Axles = H * K4 1995544
joints, I
Design axle repetitions for TDC analysis (for 6-hour
night time traffic), J = B*E*G*I
10975491 F or T o p - D ow n Cra c ki ng Analysi s
Proportion of Front single (steering) Axles, K1 0.450 Front single (steering) Axles = J * K1 4938971
Proportion of Rear single Axles,K2 0.150 Rear single Axles = J * K2 1646324
Proportion of tandem Axles, K3 0.250 Tandem Axles = J * K3 2743873
Proportion of Tridem Axles, K4 = (1-K1-K2-K3) 0.150 Tridem Axles = J * K4 1646324
 Fat
Axle Load Spectrum Data B o tto m-up Cra c ki ng Fatigue Analysis for Day -time (6 ho ur)
tra ffic a n d P o s i t i v e T e m p e r a t u r e D i f f e r e n t i a l

Rea r Single Axle Rear Ta n d e m Axle Rea r T ri d e m Axle Rea r Single Axles Rea r Ta n d e m Axles

Lo ad Mid-Point o f Mid-Point o f Lo ad Mid-Point o f E xp e c t e d Flex S t r ess Allo wable Fat ig u e E xp e c t e d Flex S t r ess Allo wable Fat ig u e
F r e qu e nc y Load Gro up F r e q u e nc y F r e qu e nc y
Gro up Load Group Load Group Gro up Load Group Re pet it io ns Stress Rat io Re p et it io ns Da ma g e Re pet it io ns Stress Rat io Re p et it io ns D a mag e
(%) (kN) (%) (%)
(kN) (kN) (kN) (kN) (kN) (ni) MPa (SR) (Ni) (ni/Ni) (ni) MPa (SR) (Ni) (ni/Ni)

185-195 190 18.15 380 - 400 390 14.5 530-560 545 5.23 362191 2.503 0.506 588331 0.616 482256 2.1177 0.428 infinit e 0.000

175-185 180 17.43 360 - 380 370 10.5 500-530 515 4.85 347823 2.422 0.489 1344185 0.259 349220 2.0448 0.413 infinit e 0.000
165-175 170 18.27 340 - 360 350 3.63 470-500 485 3.44 364586 2.341 0.473 4072762 0.090 120730 1.972 0.398 infinit e 0.000

155-165 160 12.98 320 - 340 330 2.5 440-470 455 7.12 259022 2.260 0.457 22079767 0.012 83148 1.8992 0.384 infinit e 0.000

145-155 150 2.98 300 - 320 310 2.69 410-440 425 10.11 59467 2.179 0.440 infinit e 0.000 89467 1.8264 0.369 infinit e 0.000

135-145 140 1.62 280 - 300 290 1.26 380-410 395 12.01 32328 2.099 0.424 infinit e 0.000 41906 1.7536 0.354 infinit e 0.000

125-135 130 2.62 260 - 280 270 3.9 350-380 365 15.57 52283 2.018 0.408 infinit e 0.000 129710 1.6808 0.340 infinit e 0.000

115-125 120 2.65 240 - 260 250 5.19 320-350 335 13.28 52882 1.937 0.391 infinit e 0.000 172615 1.608 0.325 infinit e 0.000

105-115 110 2.65 220 - 240 230 6.3 290-320 305 4.55 52882 1.856 0.375 infinit e 0.000 209532 1.5352 0.310 infinit e 0.000

95-105 100 3.25 200 - 220 210 6.4 260-290 275 3.16 64855 1.775 0.359 infinit e 0.000 212858 1.4623 0.295 infinit e 0.000

85-95 90 3.25 180 - 200 190 8.9 230-260 245 3.1 64855 1.695 0.342 infinit e 0.000 296006 1.3895 0.281 infinit e 0.000

< 85 80 14.15 < 180 170 34.23 < 230 215 17.58 282369 1.614 0.326 infinit e 0.000 1138458 1.3167 0.266 infinit e 0.000

100 100 100 1995544 Fat D a m fr o m S ing. Ax le s = 0.976 3325906 Fat D a m fr o m T a nd Axles = 0.000

Total Bottom-up Fatigue Damage due to single and

tandem axle loads =
0.976 + 0.000 = 0 .9 76
Front Single Axles and Rear Tridem axles not considered for bottom-up analysis
Sum of CFD for BUC & TDC= 1.730

Desig n f or B o n d e d P a v e m e n t O pt i on

Subgrade C B R (%)= 8 Trial Slab thickness (m) over DLC, h1 0.235 Poisson's Ratio of D L 
G ranu lar Su b ab s e Thi ckness ( m m ) = 250 Provide D LC thickness (m), h2 0 .15 Depth to Neutral axi
Effective k-value from Tables 2 and 3 (MPa/m) = 7 2 .0 Elastic Modulus of Pavement Concrete (MPa), E1 3 0 00 0 Flex Stiffness of d es
For k of 72.0 MPa/ m an d for Elastic Modulus of DLC (MPa), E2 13600 Flex Stiffness o f Part
Doweled Joint and Tied Concrete Shoulders, Slab Thickness ( m ) = 0 .3 Poisson's Ratio of Paving Concrete,  1 0 .15 Flex Stiffness of DLC
 igue Damage Analysis

T o p - D o w n C r a c k i n g F a t i g u e A n a l y s i s f o r N i g h t - t i me ( 6 h o u r ) tra ffic a n d N e g a t i v e T e m p e r a t u r e
Differential

Rear Tandem Axles Rear Tridem Axles

Rear Single Axles (Stess computed for 50% of (Stress
axle load) comuted for 33% of axle load)
Flex Allowable
Expected Flex Stress Allowable Fatigue Expected Flex Stress Allowable Fatigue Expected Stress Ratio Fatigue
Repetitions Stress Ratio Repetitions Damage Repetitions Stress Ratio Repetitions Damage Repetitions Stress Repetitions Damage
(SR)
(ni) MPa (SR) (Ni) (ni/Ni) (ni) MPa (SR) (Ni) (ni/Ni) (ni) MPa (Ni) (ni/Ni)

298808 2.399 0.485 1768731 0.169 397862 2.42686 0.490 1267085 0.314 86103 2.3529 0.475 3370878 0.026

286954 2.344 0.473 3899961 0.074 288107 2.37136 0.479 2564487 0.112 79847 2.2974 0.464 9089367 0.009
300783 2.288 0.462 11091781 0.027 99603 2.31586 0.468 6308978 0.016 56634 2.2419 0.453 38025932 0.001

213693 2.233 0.451 52048021 0.004 68597 2.26037 0.457 21946523 0.003 117218 2.1864 0.442 infinite 0.000

49060 2.177 0.440 infinite 0.000 73810 2.20487 0.445 infinite 0.000 166443 2.1309 0.430 infinite 0.000

26670 2.122 0.429 infinite 0.000 34573 2.14938 0.434 infinite 0.000 197723 2.0754 0.419 infinite 0.000

43134 2.066 0.417 infinite 0.000 107011 2.09388 0.423 infinite 0.000 256333 2.0199 0.408 infinite 0.000

43628 2.011 0.406 infinite 0.000 142407 2.03838 0.412 infinite 0.000 218632 1.9644 0.397 infinite 0.000

43628 1.955 0.395 infinite 0.000 172864 1.98289 0.401 infinite 0.000 74908 1.9089 0.386 infinite 0.000

53506 1.900 0.384 infinite 0.000 175608 1.92739 0.389 infinite 0.000 52024 1.8534 0.374 infinite 0.000

53506 1.844 0.373 infinite 0.000 244205 1.87189 0.378 infinite 0.000 51036 1.7979 0.363 infinite 0.000

232955 1.789 0.361 infinite 0.000 939228 1.8164 0.367 infinite 0.000 289424 1.7424 0.352 infinite 0.000

1646324 Fat Dam from Sing. Axles = 0.274 2743873 Fat Dam from Tand Axles = 0.445 1646324 Fat Dam from Tridem Axles = 0.036

Total T o p - D o w n Fati gue D a m a g e = 0.274 + 0.445 + 0.036 = 0.755

DESIGN IS UNSAFE SINCE SUM OF CFD FOR BUC AND TDC>1

LC, 0 .2 Total Flexural Stiffness Provided = 4 6 .6 5 + 2 3 .2 8 = 69.93

is, m (See Fig.6) 0 .16 wh i ch is m ore than the Flexural Stiffness of the Desi gn Slab = 69.05
ign Slab 6 9 .0 5 Hence, Provide a Slab of thickness (m) 0 .23 5 over D LC of thickness (m) 0.15
tial Slab Provided 4 6 .6 5 Slab thickness (h 1 ) over D L C layer m a y b e obt ain ed b y iteratively ch an gi n g h 1 and mat ch i n g th e
2 3 .2 8 d esi gn stiffness wi th the c omb i n ed stiffness provided