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IJSCER 2021 Vol.10(1): 35-42
doi: 10.18178/ijscer.10.1.35-42

The Influence of the AASHTO Rigid Pavement Design Equation Variables on the Load-Carrying Capacity of the Pavement Structure: A Parametric Study

Mohammad A. Khasawneh 1 and Tamara H. Bani Ata 2
1. Department of Civil Engineering, Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd University, Al Azeziya, Eastern Province, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
2. Department of Civil Engineering, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid Jordan

Manuscript received December 2, 2020; revised December 30, 2020; accepted January 7, 2021;issue published February 19, 2021.

Abstract—The effect of design variables on the modification of traffic capacity utilized for rigid highway pavement designed by AASHTO procedure was investigated and studied. The variation in the total equivalent single axel load (ESAL) that a pavement can carry due to a change in the overall standard deviation, reliability level, serviceability index, slab thickness variation, rupture modulus, drainage coefficient, load transfer and elastic concrete and the subgrade reaction modulus ratio (Ec/K) has been inspected and examined. AASHTO rigid pavement design equation was divided into different simple models that introduce and explain the relation between the change in each design variable and their effect on the total ESAL to be held by roadway pavement. The sensitivity analysis was conducted for rigid pavement to understand pavement performance with the effect of design parameters as design inputs using Microsoft Excel. Based on the sensitivity analysis, rigid pavement input parameters were ranked from most sensitive to insensitive to help pavement design engineers to identify the level of importance for each input parameter. The results of the analysis showed that pavement thickness and reliability have the highest effect on pavement capacity while load transfer coefficient, overall standard deviation, coefficient of drainage, (Ec/K), present serviceability index and modulus of rupture have less effect.

Index Terms—rigid pavement, sensitivity analysis, pavement performance, Equivalent Single Axel Load (ESAL), Portland Cement Concrete (PCC)

Cite: Mohammad A. Khasawneh and Tamara H. Bani Ata, "The Influence of the AASHTO Rigid Pavement Design Equation Variables on the Load-Carrying Capacity of the Pavement Structure: A Parametric Study," International Journal of Structural and Civil Engineering Research, Vol. 10, No. 1, pp. 35-42, February 2021. doi: 10.18178/ijscer.10.1.35-42

​Copyright © 2021 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided that the article is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.