6. Flexible pavement design
Flexible pavements are designed to flex under loads, comprising multiple layers that distribute stress to minimize the impact on the underlying subgrade. The structural design involves empirical and mechanistic-empirical methods for determining layer thickness and material composition based on traffic loads and material characteristics.
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What we have learnt
- Flexible pavement structures must be designed to distribute loads effectively across multiple layers.
- Empirical design relies on past experience, while mechanistic-empirical design uses mathematical models to relate loads to pavement response.
- Understanding traffic and loading characteristics is crucial in determining appropriate pavement thickness and material properties.
Key Concepts
- -- Flexible Pavements
- Pavements that can flex under load, comprising multiple layers of materials to distribute stress.
- -- Empirical Design
- A design approach based on experimental data and past experience, without necessarily requiring soil strength tests.
- -- MechanisticEmpirical Design
- A method that uses mechanics principles to relate input loads to pavement response, incorporating empirical elements for defining failure criteria.
- -- Equivalent Single Wheel Load (ESWL)
- A calculated single wheel load that generates the same stress and deformation as a dual wheeled assembly.
- -- Equivalent Axle Load Factor (EALF)
- A factor that quantifies the damage caused by different axle loads relative to a standard axle load.
- -- Resilient Modulus
- A measure of the elastic modulus that quantifies the recoverable strain under repeated loading.
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