International Journal of Civil Engineering OF and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 AND 6308 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL CIVIL ENGINEERING

G (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 2, March - April (2013), IAEME TECHNOLOGY (IJCIET)

ISSN 0976 6308 (Print) ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 2, March - April (2013), pp. 385-392 IAEME: www.iaeme.com/ijciet.asp Journal Impact Factor (2013): 5.3277 (Calculated by GISI) www.jifactor.com

IJCIET
IAEME

BENEFIT ANALYSIS OF SUBGRADE AND SURFACE IMPROVEMENTS IN FLEXIBLE PAVEMENTS

Dr. K.V.Krishna Reddy Professor & Principal, Chilkur Balaji Institute of Technology, Hyderabad-75, AP, India

ABSTRACT In the present study, an attempt is made to highlight the benefit of improvements made in the subgrade and surface layers individually and in combination when compared to the conventional flexible pavement. FPAVE program has been used to evaluate the design thickness of various combination of improvements made at the subgrade and surface layers. The results obtained represent that the strain levels reflected on the top surface and subgrade are low in case of pavement with improvements made at both the subgrade and surface layers with same pavement thickness and the design thickness required decrease resulting in a cost benefit of 50% Key Words: FPAVE, Subgrade stabilization, Surface course improvements, Cost benefit analysis, Flexible pavements 1. INTRODUCTION Flexible pavements have the advantage of easy and simple construction, adaptability for stage construction and are best suitable for sustainable development. However, they have the disadvantages of having shorter life, and require constant maintenance. Among the various types of distress in flexible pavements, block / edge / longitudinal / transverse cracking, pothole formation, water bleeding, pumping and swelling are load, moisture and drainage dependent. Fatigue / alligator / edge cracking, shoving, pothole formation, corrugations are load induced apart from the climatic effect. Rutting, bleeding, polished aggregates, lane to shoulder drop off, corrugation and depression depend essentially on the materials, load and moisture. Most of the pavement failures initiate in the subgrade and some are attributed to the deficiencies in the surface course. The other layers of the conventional flexible pavements being aggregate and granular material in the base and subbase course, both of which have
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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 2, March - April (2013), IAEME

good material properties and sufficient strength to transfer the loads coming from the top layers and need no replacement or additives except for strict quality control during construction, thus leaving the subgrade and surface course for modification to obtain the desired performance. This study involves modification of the surface course material with waste tire rubber and clayey subgrade with pond ash and lime. Evaluate pavement thickness required using FPAVE program for various combinations of the improvements to understand the benefit of improvements. 2. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 Laboratory analysis Laboratory experimentation is done to determine the optimum additives content for stabilizing the clayey subgrade with pond ash and lime and optimum crumb rubber content to modify the surface course.

2.2 Pavement Analysis and Design Analysis and design of pavements for full-scale loading has been considered to determine the pavement thickness. FPAVE, a software program for analysis and design of flexible pavements is used to evaluate the same. FPAVE program analyses for the stresses and strain values at various depths of the pavement section based on the input elastic modulus and Poisson ratio values. For the purpose of design, the program has the input option for the conventional (80/100-b8, 60/70-b6 and 30/40-b3) penetration grade bituminous mixes. In the present study the input elastic modulus values have been calculated based on the guidelines given in IRC37 2001 and b8 is considered for evaluation. The thickness of the pavements has been evaluated for 10 million standard axel repetitions. The average pavement temperature has been considered to be 400C. 3. DATA ANALYSIS 3.1 Subgrade stabilization Initially it was determined to check for the improvement in the properties of the clay soil by addition of pond ash alone. Pond ash was added at the rate of 15, 20, 25 30 and 35% by weight of soil. IS heavy compaction test has been conducted on three samples of black cotton soil and that of each modified mix to determine the optimum moisture content (OMC) and maximum dry density (MDD). CBR test was conducted on three samples of each mix at OMC, after curing for 7 days by covering with wet sand followed by 96 hours of soaking under a surcharge weight of 7.5 kg. The CBR test was carried out up to penetration value of 7.5mm, and corrections for initial concavity are made based on the same. CBR of the cured and soaked samples increased with addition of pond ash content up to 25% to a CBR of 10 and then decreased on further addition. This may be due to the replacement of clay fines by silty natured pond ash particles. It also indicated that the calcium oxide present in the pond ash was not sufficient to initiate any reaction in the pond ash soil mix. The Atterberg limits and swelling characteristics were determined for the 25% pond ash soil mix and the results depicted that the volume stability needs to be attended. It was proposed to use lime to cater for the volume stability and additional strength needs. Hydrated Lime at 3, 4 and 5% was added to the 25% pond ash soil mix. Lime was added in terms of
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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 2, March - April (2013), IAEME

percentage by weight of clay. The optimum lime content for volume stability was determined to be 5%. The optimal mix from strength and stability considerations was determined to constitute 25% of the pond ash and 5% hydrated lime by weight of clay. Table 1 indicates the Atterberg limits, free swell index, swell potential, CBR and 7-day unconfined compressive strength (UCC) of the optimal mix. The optimal mix resulted in a CBR of 16.34 and a 7day unconfined compressive strength of 310kN/m2. Table 1 Mix, Atterberg limits, swelling and strength characteristics of pond ash / lime stabilized Clay soil Type of Mix S. No 1 Property Clay Atterberg limits Liquid Limit (%) Plastic Limit (%) Plasticity Index Shrinkage Limit (%) Free swell index (%) Swell potential (%) Soaked CBR (%) UCC kN/m2 Clay + 25%PA 60.83 29.28 31.55 19.23 52.50 11.13 10 Clay + 25%PA + 5%lime 56.50 44.30 12.20 39.80 30 1.20 16.60 310 (7D)

79.30 31.46 47.84 12.20 110 27.07 2.65 61

2 3 4 5

3.2. Bitumen modification The conventional bitumen is modified using locally available waste tire rubber powder (>0.6mm &<1.18mm). 80/100-penetration grade bitumen is considered for experimentation. Wet process of mixing waste tire rubber was adopted, where in the waste tire is added to the conventional bituminous binder before incorporating the same into the final mix. Waste tire rubber is added after heating the bitumen to a temperature of 1630C. It was added in various percentages varying from 8 to 14. Laboratory tests, namely, penetration, softening point, ductility and loss on heating test are conducted to determine the properties of the waste tire rubber modified bitumen before and after loss on heating test. Aggregates with grade II specifications as per MORTH code have been collected from local quarry. Marshall mix design methodology has been considered for mix design of the bituminous concrete. Marshall stability value has been considered as the value for judging the optimum bitumen / additive content for the mix and the other properties like air voids and flow value are checked for to be within limits. It was found that an optimum bitumen and waste tire rubber content of 4.3 and 11.8% respectively for conventional and modified bituminous concrete yielded the best results. The properties of the conventional and modified bituminous concrete are tabulated in Table 2

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 2, March - April (2013), IAEME

Table 2 Properties of conventional and waste tire modified bituminous concrete mix Waste tire S.No Mix / Property Conventional modified mix 1 Optimum Bitumen / Waste tire 4.3% 11.8% content 2 MSV (Kg) 1300 2405 3 Air voids (%) 3.875 3.425 4 Flow value (mm) 2.375 3.750 5 Bulk density (g/cc) 2.520 2.470 3.2 Pavement Analysis and Design Different trails have been considered, varying the thickness of the bituminous layer (h1) and the other component layers (h2) through trials 1 to 4 for each combination of improvements. The combinations being conventional subgrade with conventional surface, stabilized subgrade with conventional surface, conventional subgrade with modified surface and stabilized subgrade with modified surface, the layer thickness of the pavements is arrived at for the various combinations. The tensile strain under the bituminous layer and the compressive strain on the top of the subgrade are arrived for the optimum design layer thickness. The input parameters along with the corresponding output are tabulated in Table 3 to 6 Table 3 Summary of input and output parameters for conventional pavement structure Input E3 (Mpa) E1 (Mpa) E2 (Mpa) CBR (%) H1 (mm) H2 (mm) Trail no Output (mm) Design thickness (mm) Gr. Subbase Gr.Base Strain values based on output

DBM

LBM

BC

h1

h2

epZ

epT

1 2.65 26.5 797 50 650 357 285 650 40 110 160 250 400 5.52E-04 4.27E-04 2 2.65 26.5 797 200 750 391 280 750 40 100 160 250 450 4.78E-04 4.21E-04 3 2.65 26.5 797 230 800 409 275 800 40 100 155 250 550 4.48E-04 4.22E-04 4 2.65 26.5 797 175 900 441 265 900 40 100 145 250 650 3.95E-04 4.28E-04 h1: Thickness of bituminous layer h2: Thickness of granular base and subbase E1: E of Bituminous material E2: E of granular base and subbase E3: Elastic modulus(E) of Subgrade BC: Bituminous concrete DBM: Dense Bituminous Macadam LBM: Lean Bituminous Macadam Gr. Granular epZ: Vertical strain on the top of the subgrade epT: Tangential strain at the bottom of the bituminous layer

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 2, March - April (2013), IAEME

Table 4 Summary of input and output parameters for pavement with Pond ash and Lime modified subgrade with Conventional surface Input Output (mm) E2 (Mpa) H1 (mm) H2 (mm) Design thickness (mm) Gr. Subbase Strain values based on output design thickness

E3 (Mpa)

E1 (Mpa)

CBR (%)

Gr.Base

DBM

S no

BC

h1

h2

epZ

epT

1 16 104 797 50 300 271 195 300 50 165 250 150 5.94E-03 3.81E-04 2 16 104 797 100 400 308 110 400 50 3 16 104 797 60 450 325 4 16 104 797 50 450 325 65 65 450 40 450 40 80 40 40 250 150 5.96E-04 4.24E-04 250 200 5.94E-04 3.25E-04 250 200 5.94E-04 3.25E-04

Table5 Summary of input and output parameters for pavement with conventional subgrade and modified surface Input Output (mm) E2 (Mpa) H1 (mm) H2 (mm) Design thickness (mm) Gr. Subbase Strain values based on output design thickness

E3 (Mpa)

E1 (Mpa)

CBR (%)

Gr.Base

DBM

S no

BC

h1

h2

epZ

epT

1 2.65 26.5 1200 50 850 110 247 850 40 100 400 550 4.44E-04 3.72E-04 2 2.56 26.5 1200 80 750 104 254 750 40 100 350 550 5.03E-04 3.71E-04 3 2.65 26.5 1200 40 900 113 30 900 40 100 250 550 7.52E-04 4.43E-04

4 2.65 26.5 1200 60 800 107 250 800 40 100 360 550 4.73E-04 3.72E-04

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 2, March - April (2013), IAEME

Table6 Summary of input and output parameters for pavement with stabilized subgrade and modified surface Input E3 (Mpa) Output (mm) E2 (Mpa) H1 (mm) H2 (mm) Design thickness (mm) Gr. Subbase Gr.Base Strain values based on output design thickness

E1 (Mpa)

CBR (%)

DBM

S no

BC

h1

h2

epZ

epT

1 16 104 1200 40 360 294 2 16 104 1200 50 350 290 3 16 104 1200 60 340 286 4 16 104 1200 65 340 286 4. RESULTS

41 50 61 60

360 40 350 60 340 60 340 40

0 0 0 20

250 200 8.77E-04 1.98E-04 250 200 8.73E-04 2.89E-04 250 200 8.69E-04 3.52E-04 250 200 8.50E-04 3.72E-04

4.1 Strain analysis The vertical strain on the top of the subgrade is evaluated for a constant thickness of the pavement irrespective of the improvements made at subgrade and surface course. The pavement thickness provided for the conventional test track section is considered for all combinations to evaluate at the benefit in life based on the vertical strain at the top of the subgrade and shear strain at the bottom of the bituminous layer. Table 7 depicts the strain values at the top of the subgrade and the number of standard load repetitions the pavement can take. It is found that the strain is least in case of test track section improved at both subgrade and surface level compared to the other sections resulting in high life benefit. Table 7 Summary of Strains and load repetitions for a standard thickness despite improvements made
Secti on Strain on top of subgrade (epZ) Tangential Strain at the bottom of the bituminous surface (epT) 5.80E-04 1.19E-04 6.10E-04 1.29E-04 No. of Load repetitions based on fatigue criteria 3E6 144E6 1.7E6 745E6 No. of Load repetitions based on rutting criteria 25E6 12359E6 27E6 156260E6

Type of pavement

1 2 3 4

Conventional Subgrade stabilised Surface modified Subgrade and surface improved

5.48E-04 1.40E-04 5.39E-04 0.80E-04

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 2, March - April (2013), IAEME

4.2 Cost Analysis The cost of the pavement for two lanes has been worked out based on the rates obtained from Roads and Buildings Department. The layer thickness of the pavements for various combinations considered along with the cost is tabulated in Table 8. The results indicate that, for the same design life of the pavements, there is substantial reduction in the pavement thickness requirement and the cost of pavement construction due to modifications. Table 8 Pavement layer thickness and Cost of two lane Pavement for Km length S. No Pavement type BC / DB Granular Gr. Cost LBM CRM M Base Subbase (Lakhs) 40 40 65 40 100 100 40 20 155 135 0 0 250 250 250 250 550 500 200 200 117.0 162.0 65.0 58.0

1 Conventional 2 Surface modified 3 Subgrade Stabilised 4 5. Subgrade and Surface Improved ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

At the outset the author would thank the Head, CED and TE division, and other professors at NIT Warangal for their valuable guidance and encouragement during experimentation. 6. CONCLUSION 1) Clayey soils in particular can be effectively stabilized adding 25% Pond ash + 5% lime by weight of soil to have a CBR of 15. 2) The strain levels of the subgrade stabilized soils indicate that the number of load repetition the pavement can take with the same thickness as that of conventional pavements is 48 times. 3) Analysis and design using FPAVE indicated that stabilization of subgrade alone results in a pavement structure that can be formed with a cost of 55% of that required for construction of conventional pavement 4) Use of bitumen modified with 12% of tire rubber in formation of bituminous concrete alone without stabilizing subgrade has not resulted in much improvement both in terms of cost and number of load repetitions when compared to conventional pavement structure. 5) Life benefit in pavements is pronounced when the poor subgrades are improved along with the surface course. Life benefit by modifying both subgrade and surface courses is 200 times in terms of the number of load repetitions for the same pavement thickness as that of conventional pavement.

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International Journal of Civil Engineering and Technology (IJCIET), ISSN 0976 6308 (Print), ISSN 0976 6316(Online) Volume 4, Issue 2, March - April (2013), IAEME

6) Improving both subgrade and surface course results in a pavement structure that can be formed with a mere 50% amount of that required to form conventional pavement section. 7) The key to effective performance of flexible pavements is to understand the causes of failures and the action needed for correction. Sound judgment should be used to determine which part of the existing pavement structure is weak and if the subgrade is affected, total reconstruction of the pavement or full depth reclamation should be considered for best performance rather than improving the surface alone. REFERENCES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17.
Albritton, G.E., and Gatlin, G.R. (1996), Construction and Testing of crumb Rubber Modified Hot Mix Asphalt Pavement, Rep. No. FHWA/MS-DOT-RD-96-115, Washington D.C. Bhasin N.K., Dhawan, P.K., and Mehta, H.S. (1978), Lime requirement in soil stabilisation, Road Research Papers, Rep. no.149, CRRI, India. Chaturvedi, A.C. (1977), Expansive Soil in India with special reference to U.P., Proc. of First National Symposium on Expansive Soils, HBTI- Kanpur, India, pp 2-1 to 2-5. Chopra, S.K., Reshi, S.S., and Garg, S.K. (1964), Use of Fly Ash as a Pozzolana, Proc. Symposium on Pozzolan, their survey, Manufacture and Utilizat5ion, CRRI, India, p.18. Chu, S. C., and Kao, H. S. (1993), A Study of Engineering Properties of a Clay Modified by Flyash and Slag, Flyash for Soil Improvement Geotechnical Special Publication, Vol. 36, pp 89-99. Chu, T.Y. (1955), Soil Stabilisation with Lime Fly Ash mixture, Preliminary studies with Silty and Clayey Soils, HRB, No.108, p.102. Collins, R. J., and Ciesielski, S. K. (1992), Highway Construction use of wastes and Byproducts Utilization of Waste Materials in Civil Engineering Construction, Published by ASCE, New York, pp.140-152 Daly, W.H., and Negulescu (1997), Characterization of Asphalt Cements Modified with crumb Rubber from Discarded Tires TRR-1583, TRB, pp 37-44. Durga Prasad, K. (2002), A study of lime and flyash on the performance of bituminous concrete mix, Mtech thesis, NITW. Eades, J.L., and Grim, R.E. (1960), Reaction of Hydrated Lime with Pure Clay Minerals in Soil Stabilisation, HRB, No.262, pp.51-63. FPAVE, Software program for Analysis and Design of Flexible Pavements, Transportation Engineering Section, Civil Engineering Department, IIT, Kharagpur. IRC 37 - 2001: Guidelines for Design of Flexible Pavements. IRC : SP : 53 - 2002: Guidelines on Use of Polymer and Rubber Modified Bitumen in Road Construction. IS 2720 (part 16) - 1979, Methods of Test for Soils; Laboratory Determination of CBR, Bureau of Indian Standards, New Delhi. Wason, O.P., and Bhattnagar, O.P. (1980), Economizing Rural road Construction cost, Indian roads congress journal. Yoder, EJ and Witczac, M.W (1975), Principles of Pavement Design, 2nd Edition, John Wiley & Sons. Ravin M. Tailor, Prof. M. D. Desai and Prof. N. C. Shah, Performance observations for Geotextile Reinforced Flexible Pavement on Swelling Subgrade: A Case of Surat, India, International Journal of Civil Engineering & Technology (IJCIET), Volume 3, Issue 2, 2012, pp. 347 - 352, ISSN Print: 0976 6308, ISSN Online: 0976 6316.
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