Lecture 7 Flexible Pavement

By Suwardo Bahasa Inggris Teknik Program Diploma Teknik Sipil FT UGM

Objective (RPKPS)
Memberikan tugas pemahaman bacaan tentang Flexible Pavement Memimpin dan membimbing diskusi tentang makna bacaan Flexible Pavement Memberikan pertanyaan terkait bacaan Flexible Pavement

English for Civil Engineering

Structural Components of A Flexible Pavement

This figure shows the components of a flexible pavement: the subgrade or prepared road-bed, the subbase, the base, and the wearing surface. The performance of the pavement depends on the satisfactory performance of each component, which requires proper evaluation of the properties of each component separately. Schematic of a Flexible Pavement
Asphalt concrete surface Granular base

Subbase Subgrade

Subgrade (Prepared Road Bed) Subbase Course Base Course Surface Course

Source: Nicholas J. Garber and Lester A. Hoel (2002), Traffic and Highway Engineering
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Subgrade (Prepared Road Bed)

The subgrade is usually the natural material located along the hosizontal alignment of the pavement and serves as the foundation of the pavement structure. The subgrade may also consists of a layer of selected borrow materials, well compacted to prescribed specifications. It may be necessary to treat the subgrade material to achieve certain strength properties required for the type of pavement being constructed.

English for Civil Engineering

Subbase Course
Located immediately above the subgrade, the subbase component consists of material of a superior quality to that which generally is used for subgrade construction. The requirements for subbase materials are usually given in terms of the gradation, plastic characteristics, and strength. When the quality of the subgrade material meets the requirements of the subbase material, the subbase component may be omitted. In cases where suitable subbase material is not readily available, the available material can be treated with other materials to achieve the necessary properties. This process of treating soils to improve their engineering properties is known as stabilization.
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Base Course
The base course lies immediately above the subbase. It is placed immediately above the subgrade if a subbase course is not used. This course usually consists of granular materials such as crushed stone, crushed or uncrushed slag, crushed or uncrushed gravel, and sand. The specifications for base course materials usually include stricter requirements than those for subbase materials, particularly with respect to their plasticity, gradation, and strength. Materials that do not have the required properties can be used as base materials if they are properly stabilized with Portland cement, asphalt, or lime. In some cases, high-quality base course materials may also be treated with asphalt or Portland cement to improve the stiffness characteristics of heavy-duty pavements.
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Surface Course
The surface course is the upper course of the road pavement and is constructed immediately above the base course. The surface in flexible pavements usually consists of a mixture of mineral aggregates and asphaltic materials. It should be capable of withstanding high tire pressures, resisting the abrasive forces due to traffic, providing a skid-resistant driving surface, and preventing the penetration of surface water into the underlying layers. The thickness of the wearing surface can vary from 3 in. to more than 6 in., depending on the expected traffic on the pavement. The quality of the surface course of a flexible pavement depends on the mix design of the asphalt concrete used.

English for Civil Engineering

Flexible Pavement Design

General principles of flexible pavement design: in the design of flexible pavements, the pavement structure is usually considered as a multilayered elastic system, with the material in each layer characterized by certain physical properties that may include the modulus of elasticity, the resilient modulus, and the Poisson ratio. It is usually assumed that the subgrade layer is infinite in both the horizontal and vertical directions, whereas the other layers are finite in the vertical direction and infinite in the horizontal direction. The application of wheel load causes a stress distribution is shown in figure next page.
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Typical Stress and Temperature Distributions in a Flexible Pavement Under a Wheel Load
Wheel load, W

p p
a Bituminous bound surface Unbound granular layers

Compression

Tension Compression Temperature (Increasing)

c t

Neutral axis

(a) Pavement layers

p = wheel pressure applied on pavement surface a = radius of circular area over which wheel load is spread c = compressive horizontal stress t = tensile horizontal stress

(b) Distribution of (c) Distribution of (d) Temperature vertical stress horizontal stress distribution under centerline of under centerline of wheel load wheel load

English for Civil Engineering

Soil Compaction & Optimum Moisture Content

Dry density, d (lb/ft3) When soil is to be used as embankment or subbase material in highway construction, it is essential that the material be placed in uniform layers and compacted to a high density. Proper compaction of the soil will reduce to a minimum subsequent settlement and volume change, thereby enhancing the strength of the embankment or subbase. Compaction is achieved in the field by using hand-operated tampers, sheepsfoot rollers, rubber-tired rollers, or other types of rollers. Zero-air voids

Maximum density

Moisture content, (w%)

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Optimum moisture content

Soil Compaction & Optimum Moisture Content

The strength of the compacted soil is directly related to the maximum dry density achieved through compaction. The relationship between dry density and moisture content for practically all soils takes the form shown in the Figure. It can be seen from this relationship that for a given compactive effort, the dry density attained is low at low moisture contents. The dry density increases with increase in moisture content to a maximum value, when an optimum moisture is reached. Further increase in moisture content results in a decrease in the dry density attained. The zero-air void curve shown in the Figure is the theoretical moisture-density curve for a saturated soil and zero-air voids, where the degree of saturation is 100 percent. The determination of the optimum moisture content of any soil to be used as embankment or subgrade material is necessary before any field work is commenced.
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Terms in road pavement

Surface course Subbase course Subgrade/soil prepared Stabilization Multiple layers Flexible pavement Rigid pavement Crushed stone Uncrushed gravel Soil stabilization:
Cement stabilization Bituminous stabilization Lime stabilization

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