LEDFAA 1.

3 User's Manual
For Aircraft with Triple-Dual-Tandem Landing Gear

Federal Aviation Administration

Airport Pavement Design

March 2003

A computer program for layered elastic based airport pavement design.

Developed by the Federal Aviation Administration

Office of Airport Safety and Standards, AAS-1

Federal Aviation Administration
Washington, D.C.

Contents
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................. 1
INSTALLATION .............................................................................................. 3
OVERVIEW..................................................................................................... 4
STARTUP WINDOW ...................................................................................... 5
Introduction.......................................................................................... 5
Command Buttons................................................................................. 6

STRUCTURE WINDOW ................................................................................. 9

Introduction.......................................................................................... 9
Command Buttons................................................................................. 9

AIRCRAFT WINDOW ................................................................................... 13

Introduction........................................................................................ 13
Command Buttons............................................................................... 15

NOTES WINDOW ......................................................................................... 17

Introduction........................................................................................ 17
Command Buttons............................................................................... 17

AIRCRAFT DATA WINDOW......................................................................... 19

CUMULATIVE DAMAGE FACTOR .............................................................. 20
LAYER TYPES ............................................................................................. 22
Introduction and LED References........................................................ 22
Subgrade Layers .................................................................................. 23
Asphalt Layers..................................................................................... 23
Concrete Layers .................................................................................. 24
Aggregate Layers ................................................................................. 26
Stabilized Layers ................................................................................. 27
Undefined Layer .................................................................................. 28

PAVEMENT THICKNESS DESIGN.............................................................. 30

General Design Procedure.................................................................... 30
New Flexible and Bituminous Overlay on Flexible................................ 31
New Rigid Pavement............................................................................ 32
Concrete Overlay on Flexible Pavement .............................................. 33
Concrete Overlay on PCC Pavement .................................................... 33
Asphalt Overlay on PCC Pavement ...................................................... 33

LEDFAA User's Manual

Contents i

RUNNING THE PROGRAM .......................................................................... 35

Solution Times .................................................................................... 35
Options................................................................................................ 35
Copying to the Clipboard ..................................................................... 36

DATA FILES ................................................................................................. 37

Communication Files........................................................................... 37
Storage Files........................................................................................ 38

DESIGN EXAMPLES .................................................................................... 41

Introduction ........................................................................................ 41
New Flexible Design Example............................................................... 41
New Rigid Design Example................................................................... 44
Concrete Overlay on Rigid Design Example ......................................... 46
Asphalt Overlay on Rigid Design Example............................................ 48
Overlays on Composite Pavements ...................................................... 48
Effects of Sublayering in Aggregate Layers........................................... 48

ii Contents

LEDFAA User's Manual

INTRODUCTION
Introduction to LEDFAA
LEDFAA is a computer program for airport pavement thickness design. It
implements layered elastic theory based design procedures developed under
the sponsorship of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for new and
overlay design of flexible and rigid pavements. The layered elastic
procedures, as implemented in the program, are the FAA airport pavement
thickness design standards referenced in Chapter 7 of Advisory Circular AC
150/5320-6D, Change 3. The core of the program is Leaf, a layered elastic
computational program implemented, in this case, as a Microsoft Windows
ActiveX dynamic link library written in Visual Basic 6.0. The remainder of
the program is written in Visual Basic and operates under Microsoft
Windows. Leaf is loaded and executed by LEDFAA when needed and is not
visible to the user.
Design information is entered by means of two graphical screens, one for the
structure and one for the traffic. Default values and ranges for the various
input parameters have been set so that the designs produced by LEDFAA are
compatible with designs produced by the design procedures in Chapter 3 of
AC 150/5320-6D for aircraft up to and including the current generation (B727, DC-8, B-747, DC-10, etc.). Designs for new generation aircraft having
triple-dual-tandem (TDT) landing gear, such as the B-777, are not covered by
the design procedures in Chapter 3 of AC 150/5320-6D. Chapter 7 of AC
150/5320-6D, Change 3, in conjunction with LEDFAA, provides the
necessary information for thickness design when TDT aircraft are included in
the aircraft mix.
Apart from the procedures being implemented as a computer program
instead of as nomographs, the main change in pavement design from the
users perspective is that the design aircraft concept has been replaced by
design for fatigue failure expressed in terms of a cumulative damage factor
(CDF) using Miners rule. Also, the major material property of the pavement
layers is now uniformly expressed as an elastic modulus instead of the
previous CBR (California Bearing Ratio) for flexible pavements or k value for
rigid pavements. Formulas for transforming CBR and k values to modulus
values are provided where appropriate in the documentation. Automatic
conversion is provided in the program.
It should also be borne in mind that, although layered elastic based
procedures are normally considered to be mechanistic, and more rational
than the previous procedures, a considerable amount of engineering
judgment is still required. Designs produced by LEDFAA should comply with
the detailed requirements and recommendations of AC 150/5320-6D. The
program does not automatically satisfy all of these requirements and the
recommendations in the AC should be followed in the selection of input
parameters. It is the designers responsibility to use the program and the
advisory circular in conjunction with each other.
A complete description of the design procedures and program structure is
not possible within the confines of a users manual, and these descriptions

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INTRODUCTION 1

can be found in other publications. The main intent of the users manual is
to provide sufficient information for operating the program, selecting input
data values, and interpreting the output data. Installation of the program is
described first, followed by descriptions of the various parts of the program
and its operation. Information is then given on the structure data input
requirements and how they relate to the design procedures. Final sections
provide a short discussion on program running times, with possible
strategies for decreasing design time for a given design case, a description of
the structure of external data files so that interested users can access the
files and incorporate the data in other applications if desired, and a selection
of design examples.
The relationship between the layered elastic based thickness design
procedures and the nomograph based thickness design procedures in
Chapter 3 of AC 150/5320-6D is not discussed in the manual. However, it
should be pointed out that the traffic and failure models are fundamentally
different and comparisons between the two sets of procedures are only valid
when considering multiple aircraft traffic mixes. Single aircraft comparisons
misleadingly indicate a degree of conservatism with the LED procedures
which is not present for typical multiple aircraft mixes. The program is also
primarily intended for use in designing airport pavements according to a
standard procedure. It is not intended to be used to compare the damaging
effects of different aircraft by running single aircraft designs or CDF
computations, i.e., ACN type calculations.

2 INTRODUCTION

LEDFAA User's Manual

INSTALLATION
Installation of LEDFAA
Installation of LEDFAA can be done from either a distribution disk or from a
hard drive directory in which the distribution files have been saved. After
placing the disk in a drive or copying the files to the hard drive, click the
Windows Start button in the toolbar, followed by Settings and Control Panel.
Click Add/Remove Programs and then click the Add New Programs icon.
Click the CD or Floppy button and follow the instructions to locate the
correct disk drive. If installing from a hard drive, click Browse and find and
select the directory containing the installation files. Open the file setup.exe
and click Finish. The installation process starts automatically. The default
installation directory is C:\Program Files\Ledfaa13\. Click Change Directory
if you want to install in a different directory. Click the large button on the
left to complete the installation. The installation directory is created if it does
not already exist. A new program group is created called Ledfaa13. Start the
program by clicking the Windows Start button followed by Programs. Locate
Ledfaa13 on the Programs Menu and click the Ledfaa13 menu item.
The following files are installed by setup:
Ledfaa13 Installation Directory
Ledfaa13.exe

Visual Basic I/O and design program.

LEAFD.dll

Leaf compiled as an ActiveX dll.

Ledfaa13.chm

Help file.

Readme.txt

Information on program function.

ST6UNST.LOG

Information for uninstalling the program. Do

not delete.

Windows System Directory

Msflxgrd.ocx

Grid (table) control library.

The files are stored in two CAB files before installation. The individual files
can be accessed by double clicking on the name of the CAB file in Windows
Explorer.

LEDFAA User's Manual

INSTALLATION 3

OVERVIEW
Program Windows
The program consists of five main windows rigidly linked together as shown
in the figure. The essential windows for pavement design are STARTUP,
STRUCTURE, and AIRCRAFT. The NOTES and AIRCRAFT DATA windows
are for convenience in entering additional data describing the structure and
traffic, and for viewing data.
Operations within a window are executed by clicking the mouse cursor on a
command button. Command buttons are referred to by showing the button
name in bold type. For example, click the command button called Structure
is abbreviated by click Structure.

NOTES
Additional Section
Information and
Detailed Output Data

STARTUP
Control and
Organization

STRUCTURE
Structure Data Input
and Design

AIRCRAFT
Aircraft Load and
Traffic Data Input

AIRCRAFT DATA
View Landing Gear
Geometry, Load, and
Tire Pressure

Program Windows and Linkage

4 OVERVIEW

LEDFAA User's Manual

STARTUP WINDOW
Introduction
The startup window has two functions. First is to allow selection of either the
STRUCTURE or the NOTES window. Second is to organize the basic data
storage units, consisting of Sections embedded in Jobs. Jobs are ASCII
text files containing up to 100 sections. All job files existing in the working
directory are listed on the left of the window. A special job file called Samples
is initialized within the system and does not exist as an external file. It is
always available to create new section data. This is necessary if no other job
files are present because new structures cannot be created from scratch. The
Samples structures are also typical of current pavement design practice and
are a convenient starting point for design. The data in the Samples sections
cannot be changed and the structures cannot be designed. The sections are
provided only for starting new designs.
Note: The normal Windows menu / file dialog box system is not supported.
This was done to simplify the user interface. File backup and, where
necessary, deletion, can be done using Windows Explorer. All job files have
the extension job. Individual job files can be saved using the Save As
function described later under DATA FILES File Management. The directory
in which the job files are stored can also be changed, as described under File
Management.

Startup Window
Section data consists of pavement structure properties, aircraft names and
gross loads, and annual departures and growth for each aircraft. Details of

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STARTUP WINDOW 5

the required information are given when the data entry windows are
discussed.
Jobs are listed in the list box on the left of the window. All sections in the
selected job are listed in the right hand list box. Scroll bars will appear if
there are too many jobs or sections to fit in the boxes. The operations
associated with each of the command buttons on the STARTUP window are
briefly described under separate headings. The name of the working
directory, in which all job files listed in the left hand list box are stored, is
displayed below the right hand (sections) list box.

Command Buttons
New Job
New jobs are created by clicking New Job. A dialog box will then appear
requesting that a name be entered for the new job. The name can have up to
36 characters. Normal letters and numbers are allowed, together with space,
hyphen (-) and underscore (_). Clicking OK or pressing Enter on the
keyboard will accept the name, create the file, and close the dialog box.
Clicking Cancel will close the dialog box without creating a new file. When
first created, job files are completely empty. New sections cannot be created
from scratch. Instead, old sections are moved and renamed using Dup.
Section or Copy Section.

Delete Job
To delete a job file, first select the job to be deleted by clicking the jobs name
in the left hand list box. Then click Delete Job. A message box will be
displayed asking if you want to continue. Click Yes to delete the file and
close the message box. Click No to close the message box without deleting
the job. Deleting a job will cause all of the information in a job file to be
deleted from the disk. The delete operation can also be started by
highlighting the job file to be deleted and pressing the Delete key on the
keyboard.
Note: Whenever, as in this case, information can be destroyed by an action,
a message box with a No or Cancel option is displayed to reduce the risk of
accidentally destroying the information.

Copy Section
New pavement structures cannot be created from scratch in the
STRUCTURE window. Instead, existing structures in one job are copied to
another job (or duplicated and renamed within a single job as described
below). The section list box shows the type of structure for each listed section
so that the desired type of structure can be selected before copying without
having to check the STRUCTURE window. Six types of structure are
included:
1. New Flexible.
2. AC on Flexible (asphalt overlay on an existing flexible pavement).

6 STARTUP WINDOW

LEDFAA User's Manual

3. New Rigid.
4. AC on Rigid (asphalt overlay on an existing rigid pavement).
5. Unbonded on Rigid (unbonded concrete overlay on an existing rigid
pavement).
6. Part Bonded on Rigid (partially bonded concrete overlay on an
existing rigid pavement).
The sequence for copying a section is:
1. Select the job to be copied from by clicking the job name.
2. Click Copy Section. The caption on the button will change to End
Copy.
3. Select the section to be copied by clicking the section name in the
right hand list box.
Select the job to be copied to by clicking the job name. A dialog box will be
displayed asking you to enter the name of the new section. The name can
have up to 12 characters, consisting of alphanumeric, hyphen, or
underscore. The old name can be kept provided it does not already exist in
the job the section is being copied to.
Repeat to copy more sections or click End Copy to end copying.
Copying can be stopped at any time by clicking End Copy.
Steps 1 through 3 above can be replaced by a drag and drop operation. Click
on the section to be copied with the left mouse button and hold the mouse
button down. With the mouse button still down, drag the cursor across the
screen and drop it onto the target job name. The copy section dialog box will
then appear. Only one file can be copied in this way at a time.

Dup. Section
A section can be duplicated within any job and given a new name. First
select the job. Then select the section and click Dup. Section. Enter the new
name in the displayed dialog box.

Delete Section
To delete a section, first select the job. Then select the section and click
Delete Section. The section data is completely deleted from the job file and
cannot be recovered. The delete operation can also be started by highlighting
the section to be deleted and pressing the Delete key on the keyboard.

Help
The Help file is loaded by clicking Help in any of the windows except the
AIRCRAFT DATA window, or by pressing the F1 key on the keyboard.

Demonstration
An interactive demonstration of the major functions in the STARTUP,
STRUCTURE, and AIRCRAFT windows is started by clicking

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STARTUP WINDOW 7

Demonstration. The demonstration can be run through all three windows in

succession, or individual windows can be selected.
A time delay is inserted between each distinct operation in the
demonstration so that the functions occurring can be observed. The default
delay setting is 2 seconds. The delay setting can be changed any time a
demonstration specific message box is displayed by clicking Change Delay.
The demonstration can also be terminated from any of the demonstration
specific message boxes by clicking Cancel.

About
Displays the application About box giving a brief description of the
application and information on the configuration of the computer system.

Structure
Transfers control to the STRUCTURE window.

Notes
Transfers control to the NOTES window. This allows incidental section
information to be entered and attached to the job file and a summary of the
section data to be viewed. The NOTES window is described last.

Exit
Closes all files and exits to Windows.

8 STARTUP WINDOW

LEDFAA User's Manual

STRUCTURE WINDOW
Introduction
The STRUCTURE window allows a pavement structure to be modified and
designed to carry the load applied by the selected traffic. On the left of the
window is a list of the sections in the current job. On the right of the window
is a table showing the structure with all layers illustrated and the values of
all changeable parameter values displayed. Clicking a new section name in
the list changes the displayed structure to that of the new name.

Structure Window

Command Buttons
Modify Structure
A structure is modified from the modify mode, generally entered by clicking
Modify Structure. Modify Structure then changes to End Modify and
Design Structure changes to Add/Delete. The only operations allowed until
End Modify is clicked are modifications to the structure. Alternative ways of
entering modify mode are double clicking a section name (also changes the
displayed structure) and double clicking the picture of the structure (also
starts an associated modification sequence).
Modifications which can be made to a structure are:
1. Change the composition of a layer (change layer type).

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STRUCTURE WINDOW 9

2. Change the thickness of a layer.

3. Change the modulus value of a layer (except asphalt and PCC).
4. Change the flexural strength of a PCC layer.
5. Duplicate (add) an existing layer.
6. Delete an existing layer.
7. Change the iteration layer for flexible pavement design.
Layer types and modulus values must be selected for compatibility with the
layered elastic design procedures and with FAA pavement design standards
and recommendations. The purpose of this section is simply to outline the
operation of the program. Detailed guidelines for selection are given in a later
section. These must be read before using the program to design pavements
to FAA standards. In particular, the use of an undefined layer results in a
non-standard structure.
Structure properties are changed by clicking on the picture of the structure
over the displayed value or setting. Instructions are then given for changing
the value or setting.

Layer Types
Clicking on the picture in the layer type column displays the selection box
shown. To change the layer type, click the type you want to select followed by
OK. Certain combinations of layers are not allowed in a structure (aggregate
on the top, for example). However, the structure is not checked during
selection and layers can be changed to anything until End Modify is clicked.
A complete check of the structure is then made and a message displayed if
the structure is not valid for design. The reason for disallowing the structure
is given in the message. You cannot leave modify mode until the structure is
valid for design.
When the displayed value of a layer thickness or layer modulus is clicked, an
input box is displayed giving instructions on changing the value. In some
cases, the modulus value cannot be changed manually and a description is
given of how the program assigns the value automatically.
Note: The thickness of the bottom layer is assumed to be infinite and
cannot be assigned a value. The thickness display column in the bottom

10 STRUCTURE WINDOW

LEDFAA User's Manual

layer is therefore used to display either the CBR or the k value corresponding
to the modulus value of the bottom layer; CBR for flexible pavements and k
value for rigid pavements. The conversion factors used are given in the
section Layer Types. If the value in either of the two columns is changed, the
value in the other column changes automatically.
Design life, in years, is displayed at the top of the picture of the structure
and can be given any value within the range 1 to 50 years. However, the
standard design life is 20 years. If the design life of a section is different than
20 years the message Non-Standard Life is displayed. Clicking on the
message displays a longer message explaining why the life is non-standard.
A warning message is also printed in the Design Info text box in the NOTES
window.
Input data for overlay structures also includes the structural condition index
(SCI) of the existing pavement before overlay and, under some conditions, the
Cumulative Damage Factor Used (CDFU) of the existing pavement. (CDFU is
related to the remaining life of the existing pavement.) Recommendations for
selecting appropriate values of SCI and CDFU are given in the discussion of
concrete layers in the Layer Types section.
The small arrow in the left margin of the picture of the structure indicates
the layer which will be adjusted during design (see below under Design
Structure). The position of the arrow can only be changed when the
structure is a new flexible pavement. Clicking in the margin to the left of any
layer except for the top or bottom layers will select that layer as the
adjustment layer for design.

Add/Delete
Layers can be added or deleted using Add/Delete. After clicking the button
you must select a layer in the picture of the structure. A box is displayed
requesting the selection of Add or Delete. Selecting Add duplicates the
selected layer. The properties of the layer can then be changed as desired.
Selecting Delete completely removes the selected layer from the structure.

End Modify
Terminates the modify mode. No functions other than structure
modifications can be executed while the modify mode is active.

Design Structure
Clicking this button adjusts the thickness of one of the layers (the iteration
layer) of the structure so that the design criteria for the particular type of
structure are satisfied. The structure type is automatically determined from
the top two layers and the correct design procedure executed. The iteration
layer is indicated by the small arrow in the left margin of the picture of the
structure. Except for new flexible pavements, the iteration layer cannot be
changed. During design the iteration layer is highlighted by changing its
display color. In some cases, if a new computed layer thickness is
unreasonable (such as negative), the thickness of an adjacent layer is
changed. This is only included to prevent unreasonable layer thicknesses
and is not intended to try to optimize the design. If it occurs, the structure
should be inspected and changed if necessary, followed by a redesign.

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STRUCTURE WINDOW 11

Information on the state of the design is displayed at the bottom of the

picture of the structure.
Details of the design procedures executed by Design Structure for the
different pavement structures are given in the Pavement Thickness Design
section.

Interrupt Design
When a design is started by clicking Design Structure, Save Structure
changes to Interrupt Design. Clicking this button during design stops the
design calculations and leaves the thickness of the layer being adjusted at its
value at the time of stopping the design. The design can be restarted with the
structure as it existed at the time of interruption by clicking Design
Structure again. Or the structure can be changed and a new design started
from the changed condition. During design, the structure does not become
permanent in the job until the structure is saved (see Save Structure).

Save Structure
The structure is saved in the current section data record by clicking Save
Structure. This cannot be done in modify mode or during design. Saving the
structure after a design has run to completion marks the section in the data
record as being a completed design. Clicking Back without having saved the
structure causes a message box to be displayed which prompts for the
structure to be saved.
Modifications made to a pavement structure do not become permanent until
the data is saved using Save Structure. You can therefore try different
designs and return to the original structure by canceling the save with the
following sequence: click Back followed by clicking NO in the displayed
message box. This transfers control to the STARTUP window. Returning to
the STRUCTURE window restores the original structure and all changes will
have been lost.

Life
Computes the life of the current section in years. This function is not
required for design, but is provided for convenience in computing CDFU and
CDF. If design for the section has been run to completion, the life computed
using Life will equal the design life.
CDF and percent CDFU are computed for new pavement design based on the
current setting of design life.

Aircraft
Transfers control to the AIRCRAFT window.

Back
Returns control to the STARTUP window.

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LEDFAA User's Manual

AIRCRAFT WINDOW
Introduction
The AIRCRAFT window allows for the creation and modification of an
aircraft list for the currently selected section in the currently selected job.
Other sections or jobs cannot be selected from the AIRCRAFT window. If you
want to change to another section, return to the STRUCTURE window. If you
want to change to another job, return to the STARTUP window.
Aircraft are selected from a library and placed in a list of design aircraft.
Except for gross load, annual departures, and percent annual growth
(defined below), all necessary aircraft information for design is stored
internally as part of the library and cannot be changed. At the top left of the
window is a list of library aircraft groups. Selecting one of these groups will
display all of the aircraft in that group in the list box located below the
aircraft group box.

Aircraft Window
At the top right of the window is a table which lists the design aircraft for the
currently selected section, with associated data. Aircraft are transferred from
the library list to the design list by selecting an aircraft in the library list (by
clicking the name once) and clicking Add, or by double clicking the aircraft
name in the library list. Aircraft are removed from the design list by selecting
an aircraft in the design list (by clicking the name once) and clicking
Remove, or by double clicking the aircraft name in the design list.

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AIRCRAFT WINDOW 13

Values in the first three data columns of the design aircraft list table (gross
load, annual departures, and percent annual growth) can be changed by
clicking on the value to be changed. An input box is displayed which gives
instructions and the allowed ranges for data entry. Scrolling the table
columns to the left shows columns for: total lifetime departures, tire
pressure, percent gross load on the design gear, dual-wheel spacing,
tandem-wheel spacing, tire contact width, and tire contact length. None of
these can be changed.
For all aircraft in the library, the fraction of the gross load carried by the
main gear has been set at 95 percent to make the LEDFAA design
procedures compatible with those of AC 150/5320-6D. The tire contact
lengths and widths are those used in the calculation of pass-to-coverage
ratio for the aircraft. An elliptical contact patch is assumed, with its area
equal to the tire load divided by the tire pressure. (In contrast, circular tire
contact patches are used in Leaf because the layered elastic model is
axisymmetric.)
Aircraft with dual-wheel belly gear (DC-10-30, MD-11, and A-340) are treated
as two aircraft for design; a two-gear dual-tandem aircraft and a single-gear
dual-wheel aircraft. For example, adding a DC-10-30 to the design list places
the two aircraft for design in the list automatically, and removing one of the
two aircraft from the design list removes the other automatically. The data
for the two aircraft is also tied - changing the data for one changes the data
for the other automatically.
A maximum of 20 aircraft can be included in the design list.
The library list contains aircraft representative of the most common
commercial and military aircraft. Substitutions can be made for aircraft not
in the list, either by a similar aircraft or from the Generic group list. Data
for the Generic group is from AC 150/5320-6D.
Annual departures is defined as the aircraft departure rate in departures per
year. The displayed value is the annual departures for the selected aircraft at
the start of the pavements design life. Percent annual growth is defined as
the percent change in annual departures per year over the design life of the
pavement. Negative values represent a decrease in annual departures. The
total number of departures for the selected aircraft over the design life of the
pavement is given by the equation:

b L
N = 1 +
a L

200
where:
N

= total departures

= pavement design life

= initial annual departures

= percent annual growth

Large negative percent annual growth can result in negative aircraft

departures before the end of the design life has been reached. The program
automatically detects this condition if it occurs, and assumes zero
departures for the aircraft from the time at which the departure rate
becomes zero to the end of the design life.

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LEDFAA User's Manual

Non-Standard Aircraft Lists

If the design aircraft list contains only one aircraft, the message NonStandard Aircraft List is displayed. Clicking on the message displays a
longer message explaining why the list is non-standard. The long message is
also displayed in the Design Info text box in the NOTES window. Nonstandard in this case refers to the use of LEDFAA to make single aircraft
comparisons, as discussed in the INTRODUCTION.

Command Buttons
Add
An aircraft is transferred from the library list to the design list by selecting
an aircraft name in the library list and clicking Add. The same operation can
also be performed by double clicking an aircraft name in the library list.

Remove
An aircraft is removed from the design list by selecting the aircraft name and
clicking Remove, or by double clicking the aircraft name in the design list.

Clear List
Deletes all aircraft from the design list.

Save List
Saves the data for all of the aircraft in the design list into the data record for
the currently selected section in the currently selected job. All changes made
to a design list must be saved, or discarded, before returning to the
STRUCTURE window. The Save operation permanently changes the aircraft
data stored in the section data record.

Save to Float
An independent, floating, list of aircraft is provided to allow an existing list
to be transferred easily to a different section. Clicking Save to Float
transfers the current design list and aircraft data to the floating list,
replacing the existing floating list. The new floating list will remain available
until the next Save to Float operation or the program is terminated. The
floating list is displayed in the list box at the bottom right of the window and
is always empty when the program starts.

Add Float
Adds the aircraft in the floating list to the current design list up to the
maximum of 20 aircraft.

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AIRCRAFT WINDOW 15

View Gear
Transfers control to the AIRCRAFT DATA window (discussed under separate
heading).

Back
Returns control to the STRUCTURE window. If changes have been made to
the design list and the list has not been saved, a message box is displayed
requesting that the changes be saved or discarded, or that the Back
operation be canceled. Control cannot return to the STRUCTURE window
until the changes have been saved or discarded.

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LEDFAA User's Manual

NOTES WINDOW
Introduction
The NOTES window is provided for viewing a summary of the design
information for the currently selected section and for entering and saving
notes on the currently selected section, such as size, location, maintenance
history, etc.
On the left of the window is a list of the sections in the currently selected job.
On the right of the window is a text box which contains either the design
information or the notes for the currently selected section. The design
information is fixed and is taken from the section data record. The notes are
entered by the user and can contain up to 30,000 characters for each section
(5 to 20 pages). Text is entered and edited as it would be in the Windows
Notepad text editor.

Notes Window

Command Buttons
Design Info
Displays in the NOTES window text box the design information for the
currently selected section.

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NOTES WINDOW 17

Notes
Displays in the NOTES window text box the notes for the currently selected
section.

Copy
Copies the design information and the notes from the NOTES window to the
Windows clipboard. The text can then be pasted into another application,
such as a text editor or word processor.

Print
Prints the design information and the notes from the NOTES window to the
currently selected default Windows printer.

Save
Saves the notes for the currently selected section in the nts file for the
currently selected job. (Each job file has a corresponding nts file. When
initialized, the notes for a section contain only the section name unless the
section was created using Copy Section in the STARTUP window, in which
case the old notes are copied into the new section.)

18 NOTES WINDOW

LEDFAA User's Manual

AIRCRAFT DATA WINDOW

Viewing the Gear Layout
The AIRCRAFT DATA window primarily shows the main gear layout for the
aircraft currently selected in the design list. The gear layout and the tire
contact patches are drawn to scale. An image of the picture can be copied to
the clipboard by clicking the right mouse button on the picture. An image of
the window is printed by clicking Print. Gross load can also be changed by
clicking the Gross Load data display box.
The horizontal locations of the points at which the pavement responses are
computed (the evaluation points) are shown in the picture as small black
dots. Precise locations of the evaluation points are listed in the output data
files (see later under Data Files).

Aircraft Landing Gear Data

LEDFAA User's Manual

AIRCRAFT DATA WINDOW 19

CUMULATIVE DAMAGE FACTOR

CDF
Cumulative damage factor (CDF) is the amount of the structural fatigue life
of a pavement which has been used up. It is expressed as the ratio of applied
load repetitions to allowable load repetitions to failure, or, for one aircraft
and constant annual departures:

number of applied load repetitions

number of allowable repetitions to failure
( annual departures) ( life in years)
=
( pass / coverage ratio) (coverages to failure)
applied coverages
=
coverages to failure

CDF =

When CDF = 1,

the pavement will have used up all of its fatigue life.

When CDF < 1,

the pavement will have some life remaining, and the

value of CDF will give the fraction of the life used.

When CDF > 1,

all of the fatigue life will have been used up and the
pavement will have failed.

Note: In these definitions, failure means failure in a particular structural

failure mode according to the assumptions and definitions on which the
design procedures are based. A value of CDF greater than one does not
necessarily mean that the pavement will no longer support traffic, but that it
will have failed according to the definition of failure used in the design
procedure, and within the constraints of uncertainties in material property
assumptions, etc. Nevertheless, the thickness design is based on the
assumption that failure occurs when CDF = 1.
Multiple aircraft types are accounted for by using Miner's Rule instead of the
"design aircraft" concept as in the current procedures, or:
CDF = CDF1 + CDF2 + ... CDFN
Where CDFI is the CDF for each aircraft type in the mix and N is the number
of aircraft types in the mix.
Note: The same aircraft model with two different gross loads represents two
different aircraft types. This is because a different pavement load will be
applied by each gross load.
Each failure mode included in the design procedure will have a separate
CDF. For example, in flexible pavement design, the thickness is adjusted to
make the CDF for subgrade failure equal to 1. An additional computation is
then made to find the CDF for asphalt surface cracking. If the asphalt CDF is

20 CUMULATIVE DAMAGE FACTOR

LEDFAA User's Manual

less than 1, the asphalt is predicted not to fail in cracking before the
subgrade fails. But if the asphalt CDF is greater than 1, the asphalt is
predicted to fail before the subgrade, and adjustments should be made to
base and subbase layers so that asphalt CDF is less than 1 in the final
design.
In the program implementation, CDF is calculated for each 10 inch wide strip
along the pavement over a total width of 820 inches. Pass-to-coverage ratio is
computed for each strip based on a normally distributed aircraft wander
pattern with standard deviation of 30.5 inches (equivalent to aircraft
operation on a taxiway) and used in the above equation for Miners rule. The
CDF for design is taken to be the maximum over all 82 strips. Even with the
same gear geometry, therefore, aircraft with different main gear track widths
will have different pass-to-coverage ratios in each of the 10 inch strips and
may show little cumulative effect on the maximum CDF. Removing the
aircraft with the lowest stress or strain may then have little effect on the
design thickness, depending on how close the gear tracks are to each other.

LEDFAA User's Manual

CUMULATIVE DAMAGE FACTOR 21

LAYER TYPES
Introduction and LED References
Sixteen layer types are included for building pavement structures. Some of
the types can be placed at any position in a structure, while others can only
be placed in specified positions. The reason for specifying placement, and
specifying types, is that the design procedure executed by the program is
automatically determined by the layer types of the top two surface layers,
and the presence of aggregate layers. Control of default parameter values is
also easier when placement is controlled. Some flexibility is allowed by the
inclusion of an undefined layer type. The only restrictions on this type are
that Poissons ratio is fixed at 0.35 and modulus must be in the range 1,000
to 4,000,000 psi. (Default values and ranges for all layer types are displayed
in the Modify Structure data entry dialog boxes.) However, undefined layer
types do not meet FAA standards for airport pavement design.
All layer types except undefined are related in some way to layer types
identified or specified in AC 150/5320-6D. The following includes
information for making the relationship between the LEDFAA and
AC 150/5320-6D layer types and for selecting appropriate layer properties as
input data for LEDFAA.
The requirements and guidelines of AC 150/5320-6D should be followed
whenever there is a discrepancy between LEDFAA and the advisory circular.
For example, minimum thicknesses should always be set according to the
requirements of the advisory circular for the particular pavement type under
design and not the default minimum thicknesses built into LEDFAA.
References for specific details of the LEDFAA design procedures are:
1. Barker, W.R., and W.N. Brabston, Development of a Structural
Design Procedure for Flexible Pavements, Report No. FAA-RD-74199, September 1975.
2. Parker, F., Jr., W.R. Barker, R.C. Gunkel, and E.C. Odom,
Development of a Structural Design Procedure for Rigid Airport
Pavements, Report No. FAA-RD-77-81, April 1977.
3. Rollings, R.S., Design of Overlays for Rigid Airport Pavements,
Report No. DOT/FAA/PM-87/19, April 1988.
4. Barker, W.R., and C.R. Gonzalez, Pavement Design by Elastic Layer
Theory, Proceedings, ASCE Conference on Aircraft/Pavement
Interaction, Kansas City, 1991.
Copies of the FAA reports may be obtained from the National Technical
Information Service, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161.

22 LAYER TYPES

LEDFAA User's Manual

Subgrade Layers
Subgrade modulus values for flexible pavement design can be determined in
a number of ways. The procedure which will be applicable in most cases is to
use available CBR values and substitute in the relationship:
E = 1,500CBR psi
This method will provide designs compatible with the current design
procedure based on subgrade CBR. Resilient modulus and non-destructive
test (NDT) data may also be used where the reliability of the measurements
is felt to be high.
Similarly, for rigid pavement design, where values of foundation modulus (k
value) for the subgrade are available, the following relationship can be used:

log 10 ( E SG ) = 1415
.
+ 1.284 log 10 ( k )
or, E SG = 26 k 1.284
where:
ESG

= Resilient modulus of the subgrade, psi

= Foundation modulus of the subgrade, pci

Otherwise, resilient modulus values from laboratory tests or NDT tests can
be used.
The equations for converting CBR and k to modulus are based on empirical
data and were used in the development of the failure models for the layered
elastic design procedures. The failure models represent the relationship
between computed pavement response (strain or stress) and coverages to
failure measured in full-scale tests. But resilient modulus of the subgrade
was not typically measured during the full-scale tests (most were run before
1974) and the conversions were required to estimate resilient modulus for
use in the layered elastic computations of strain and stress. CBR was used
for flexible pavements and k value for rigid pavements. The conversion
equations are therefore an integral part of the design procedures when
measured values of CBR or k are used for design. A consequence of the
separate developments is that the conversion for CBR to modulus should not
be used when designing a rigid pavement based on measurements of CBR.
The recommended method is to convert the CBR value to k using any
preferred method, and then use the equation given above for converting from
the intermediate k value to modulus. This will almost certainly not give the
same modulus as the direct CBR relationship, but, considering the empirical
nature of the relationships, the lack of correspondence is to be expected.
Details of the development of the conversion equations is given in references
1 and 2.

Asphalt Layers
Two types of asphalt layers are included: asphalt surface and asphalt
overlay. Both have the same properties, with modulus fixed at 200,000 psi
and Poissons ratio fixed at 0.35. The asphalt overlay type can be placed over
asphalt surface or PCC surface types. The asphalt surface type can only be
placed on the top of a structure, or under an asphalt overlay.

LEDFAA User's Manual

LAYER TYPES 23

Concrete Layers
Four types of concrete layers are included: PCC surface, PCC unbonded
overlay on a rigid pavement, PCC partially bonded overlay on a PCC
pavement, and PCC overlay on a flexible pavement. The PCC surface type
can be placed on the top of the structure for new designs or next to the top
for overlays. The overlay types can only be placed on the top of the structure.
PCC overlay on flexible pavement can be placed on an asphalt or undefined
layer.
The modulus of all PCC types is fixed at 4,000,000 psi except for PCC surface
when it is part of an overlay structure (see below). Poissons ratio is fixed at
0.15 in all cases. Flexural strength can be varied in the range 650 to 800 psi.
(PCC modulus is considered to be independent of flexural strength.)
Overlaid rigid pavement designs require the SCI of the existing pavement as
an input. For unbonded overlays, it is assumed that the existing pavement
may have suffered serious deterioration before the overlay and SCI can be
given values in the range 100 (none to negligible structural cracking) to 40.
For partially bonded overlays, it is assumed that the existing pavement is in
sound to barely failed condition before the overlay and SCI can be given
values in the range 100 (none to negligible cracking) to 77 (slightly worse
than the LEDFAA definition of end-of-design-life of SCI = 80).

Cumulative Damage Factor Used (CDFU)

When SCI = 100 for overlay design of an existing rigid pavement, an
additional input is required to define the amount of life that has been used
by the existing pavement up to the time of the overlay. The input is in terms
of CDF used to first crack (CDFU) and is equivalent to equation 42, p 98, in
reference 3. For aggregate base layers, and assuming that traffic on the
pavement has been constant over time, a good estimate of CDFU can be
obtained from:

CDFU =
=

LU
when LU < 0.75 LD
0.75 L D
1

when LU 0.75 L D

where:
LU

= number of years of operation of the existing pavement until overlay

LD

= design life of the existing pavement in years

This equation was derived from the empirical relationship between coverages
and SCI given in reference 3. But layered elastic stress computations show
much lower sensitivity to base material quality than the procedure used in
AC 150/5320-6D and a modification was made to the layered elastic failure
model to make the two design procedures more compatible. The modification
essentially increases the percent design life remaining after SCI starts to
drop from 100 if the base and subbase layers are of higher quality than an 8
inch aggregate subbase (aggregate base thicker than 8 inches or stabilized
base thicker than 4 inches). The simple relationship given above is not valid
for such structures and percent CDFU is computed and displayed when Life
is clicked in the STRUCTURE window.

24 LAYER TYPES

LEDFAA User's Manual

The procedure for computing percent CDFU for a rigid pavement with SCI =
100 is as follows:
1. Setup the structure based on the original design assumptions.
2. Estimate the traffic which has been applied to the pavement and
enter into the aircraft design list.
3. Set design life to the amount of time the pavement will have been in
operation up to the time of overlay.
4. Run Life.
Percent CDFU will be displayed when the computation is completed. Values
of percent CDFU greater than 100 indicate that the procedure predicts that
the SCI of the pavement should be less than 100. A value of 100 should then
be entered for percent CDFU as input data for the overlay design. However,
since the computation of percent CDFU will be based on estimated structure
properties and traffic, the value is likely to be unreliable. An alternative
procedure is to run Design Structure for the original structure with design
life set to the actual design life. Then repeat the steps given above and use
the new value of percent CDFU.
If it is suspected that the pavement has been subjected to more, or heavier,
traffic than assumed in the Life computation, percent CDFU should be
increased from the computed value. Setting percent CDFU to 100 will give
the most conservative design.
For both partially bonded and fully unbonded concrete overlays, the modulus
of the base pavement is varied as a function of SCI of the base pavement
when SCI is less than 100 according to the relationships given in reference 3.
The computation is automatic and transparent to the user.

Structure Condition Index (SCI)

The ranges of the SCI inputs correspond to specific ranges of the factors cb
and cr used in overlay design by the AC 150/5320-6D method.
For a concrete overlay on rigid pavement the following, taken from reference
3, can be used to relate the c factor in the current FAA procedure with SCI
required for input in LEDFAA:

c + 0.076
SCI = 100 r
= 93.2 cr + 7.1
1.073
Asphalt overlays on rigid pavements also require the input of a value for SCI
of the existing pavement. The range is 100 to 50. The following, taken from
reference 3, can be used to relate the c factor in the current FAA procedure
with SCI required for input in LEDFAA:

SCI = 100 cb 25;

0.75 cb 1

The range for c is specified in AC 150/5320-6. Note that the relationship is

not valid when SCI is between 75 and 100.

LEDFAA User's Manual

LAYER TYPES 25

Aggregate Layers
Crushed Aggregate
Crushed Aggregate in LEDFAA corresponds to Item P-209, Crushed
Aggregate Base Course.
The modulus of crushed aggregate layers is computed automatically and
cannot be changed manually.

Uncrushed Aggregate
Uncrushed Aggregate in LEDFAA corresponds to Item P-154, Subbase
Course.
The modulus of uncrushed aggregate layers is computed automatically and
cannot be changed manually.

Modulus Values of Aggregate Layers

The modulus values of aggregate layers are calculated automatically. The
WES Modulus procedure included with LEDNEW is followed, with
sublayering performed automatically (maximum sublayer thicknesses are 8
inches for uncrushed aggregate and 10 inches for crushed aggregate). The
modulus values of the sublayers decrease with increasing depth of a
sublayer within the aggregate layer, and are also dependent on the modulus
of the layer below the aggregate layer.
Aggregate layers can be placed anywhere in the pavement structure except at
the top or bottom. The following additional restrictions also apply:
1. Only one crushed layer and one uncrushed layer may be present in a
structure. This is for compatibility with the Modulus procedure.
(Sublayering by the Modulus procedure accounts for thick layers, and
multiple layers of a single aggregate type are not necessary.) The
maximum number of aggregate layers which may be present in a
structure is therefore two, one of each type.
2. If crushed and uncrushed layers are adjacent, the crushed layer
must be above the uncrushed layer (to be compatible with the
modulus procedure).
For efficiency in iterating to a valid thickness design, a two-stage process is
used during design with thick aggregate layers. When CDF is outside the
range 0.5 to 2.0, the aggregate layers are not sublayered for Leaf, but are
treated as a single layer with modulus equal to the average modulus of what
would be the sublayers. When CDF is within the range 0.5 to 2.0, full
sublayering is used according to the Modulus procedure. One consequence of
this is that the CDF can increase when sublayering first occurs, apparently
indicating an error in the procedure.
The modulus value displayed in the structure table for an aggregate layer is
the average value of the sublayer modulus values. The only exception is for
newly created layers, in which case the defaults of 75,000 and 40,000 are
displayed for crushed and uncrushed respectively. These defaults are never
used in calculations.

26 LAYER TYPES

LEDFAA User's Manual

Sublayering by the Modulus procedure also causes a discontinuity in

computed CDF when the number of sublayers changes as the total thickness
of an aggregate layer crosses over the threshold during design. For example,
if the thickness of an uncrushed aggregate layer increases from 15.99 inches
to 16.01 inches the number of sublayers increases from 2 to 3, and the CDF
may jump from a value above 1 to a value below 1. This can result in a
condition in which a given combination of structure and traffic does not have
a CDF of 1, whatever the thickness of the iteration layer may be, and the
thickness of the iteration layer changes back and forth across the threshold
continuously. To stop the continuous iteration, the number of sublayers in a
structure is fixed when CDF is within the range 0.7 to 1.4. The condition can
be detected by running Design Structure again after a design has been
completed. If the second design gives a different thickness than the first,
then the condition exists. A further consequence is that pavement life
computed using Life will not agree with the design life, and sudden changes
in AC layer CDF may occur for flexible pavements.

Stabilized Layers
Two types of stabilized layers are included, classified as stabilized (flexible)
and stabilized (rigid). The classifications are derived from the fact that the
modulus values correspond to current procedure (AC 150/5320-6D)
equivalencies when comparing designs made by current and LED
procedures. Variable modulus types are provided as well as fixed modulus
types corresponding to standard material items. Property values are:
Type

Modulus, psi

Stabilized (flexible)
Variable Minimum
Variable Maximum
P-401 Asphalt

0.35
150,000
400,000
400,000

Stabilized (rigid)
Variable Minimum
Variable Maximum
P-301 Soil Cement Base
P-304 Cement Treated Base
P-306 Econocrete Subbase

Poissons
Ratio

0.20
250,000
700,000
250,000
500,000
700,000

Because the modulus values were determined on the basis of producing

thickness designs comparable with the current design procedures, typical
laboratory test data for stabilized materials should not be used in preparing
input data for LEDFAA designs. Instead, the material recommendations and
equivalencies given in AC 150/5320-6D should be followed and related to the
modulus values as follows.
For flexible pavement design, the minimum modulus value of 150,000 psi
corresponds to a base course equivalency factor of 1.2, and the maximum
value of 400,000 psi corresponds to a base course equivalency factor of 1.6
(paragraph 36. b. in AC 150/5320-6D). The choice of base course modulus
value can have a significant effect on total thickness of a flexible pavement.

LEDFAA User's Manual

LAYER TYPES 27

For rigid pavement design, the maximum modulus value of 700,000 psi
corresponds to Item P-306, Econocrete Subbase, or similar. Lower quality
materials should be given lower modulus values if the variable type is being
used.
When a variable modulus layer is first created, the modulus is automatically
set to the minimum value.

Undefined Layer
This layer type is included to allow the use of layers not covered by the most
common structural materials and to investigate the effects of using new, or
otherwise nonstandard, materials. Properties of the layer type are:
minimum modulus

= 1,000 psi

maximum modulus

= 4,000,000 psi

Poissons ratio

= 0.35 (fixed)

minimum thickness

= 2 inches

There are no restrictions on placement of the undefined layer. If an

undefined layer is the topmost layer of a pavement structure, either the new
flexible or an asphalt overlay pavement design procedure is automatically
selected, depending on the composition of the second layer. For flexible
pavements, and using the Life option, this allows for computing estimated
asphalt CDF values with asphalt modulus different than the fixed value of
200,000 psi. It is very important to recognize that flexible pavement
thickness designs made with the top layer modulus value greater than
200,000 psi will result in nonconservative designs compared with the current
FAA design procedure.
The modulus value for asphalt layers as a function of temperature can be
estimated using the relationship (Witczak, M.W., Report II, Asphalt Mixture
Material Characterization, University of Maryland, May 1989):

Log10 ( E ) = 153658
.
0.006447 T 0.00007404 T

where E = asphalt modulus with units of 105 psi

and
T = asphalt temperature in degrees Fahrenheit.
Rearranging gives:
2

E = 10

( 6.53658 0.006447 T 0.00007404 T )

psi

The design procedures executed when an undefined layer is present in one of

the top two layers of a pavement structure are summarized below.
Top Layer

Second Layer

Design Procedure

Undefined

Asphalt Surface

Asphalt Overlay on Flexible

Undefined

PCC Surface

Asphalt Overlay on Rigid

Undefined

Any Overlay

Not valid for design

Undefined

Any except the above

New Flexible

28 LAYER TYPES

LEDFAA User's Manual

Top Layer

Second Layer

Design Procedure

Asphalt Surface

Undefined

New Flexible

PCC Surface

Undefined

New Rigid

Asphalt Overlay

Undefined

Asphalt Overlay on Flexible

PCC Overlay

Undefined

PCC on Flexible (New Rigid)

If a structure contains one or more undefined layers, the message NonStandard Structure is displayed. Clicking on the message displays a longer
message explaining why the structure is non-standard. The long message is
also displayed in the Design Info text box in the NOTES window.

LEDFAA User's Manual

LAYER TYPES 29

PAVEMENT THICKNESS DESIGN

General Design Procedure
Thickness designs can be made for seven different types of pavement
structure:
1. New flexible.
2. Bituminous overlay on existing flexible.
3. New rigid.
4. Concrete overlay on existing flexible.
5. Unbonded concrete overlay on existing rigid.
6. Partially bonded concrete overlay on existing rigid.
7. Bituminous overlay on existing rigid.
New flexible, bituminous overlay on flexible, and new rigid pavements are
designed with the following general procedure:
1. Create a structure, a design aircraft list, and set the design life.
2. Click Design Structure in the STRUCTURE window. This causes the
thickness of a prescribed layer to be automatically adjusted by the
program until the design criteria are satisfied.
3. Inspect the structure when the design program has stopped running
and, if necessary, manually adjust the thickness of other layers in the
structure and click Design Structure again. Repeat until the
thickness design is satisfactory.
4. Click Save Structure. This permanently saves all the information for
the new structure in the job file and marks the section as being a
completed design.
The automatic adjustment of the thickness of the prescribed layer in step 2
is done as follows:
1. Calculate the maximum stress or strain at a layer interface in the
structure for each aircraft in the design list.
2. Calculate the allowable number of aircraft departures to failure for
each aircraft based on a defined relationship between allowable
departures and stress or strain.
3. Find the ratio of actual departures to allowable departures for each
aircraft. This is the CDF for each aircraft.
4. Add the aircraft CDFs together to find the CDF for the structure.
5. Adjust the thickness of the prescribed layer until structure CDF = 1.
(Increasing thickness decreases CDF.)
Design for overlays on rigid pavements is generally similar in terms of
structure definition, aircraft list selection, and program execution, but the
design procedures require more steps because deterioration of the existing

30 PAVEMENT THICKNESS DESIGN

LEDFAA User's Manual

pavement is included. More details are given below for design of each of the
different types of pavement structure.

New Flexible and Bituminous Overlay on Flexible

Subgrade vertical strain and horizontal strain at the bottom of the top layer
are the design criteria for both pavement types. With the fixed default
asphalt modulus value of 200,000 psi, horizontal strain only becomes the
dominant criterion when the structure is very deep and is heavily loaded.
Under these conditions the horizontal strain also has a tendency to increase
as the pavement depth increases, the opposite of the trend for subgrade
strain. Overlap of the CDFs can therefore occur and a proper design never
realized. For these reasons, and to save run time, the subgrade strain is
used to iterate to a subgrade CDF of one. Only one evaluation depth needs to
be sent to Leaf and the run time is approximately halved for deep, many
layered, structures (compared to computing subgrade and asphalt strain
each time). When the subgrade criterion has been satisfied, a final
calculation is made to find the asphalt CDF (again using only one evaluation
depth). If the structure is saved after design without making any
modifications, the section data is marked as being a completed design and
the asphalt CDF stored in the job file section data record. The value of the
asphalt CDF can be viewed in the Design Info text box in the NOTES
window. One consequence of delaying asphalt CDF calculation until after
satisfying the subgrade criterion is that the design continues to run after the
displayed (subgrade) CDF has reached its terminal value. A message is
displayed stating that asphalt CDF is being computed. The value of asphalt
CDF is displayed when the computation is complete.
For new flexible design, the thickness of the layer next to the subgrade is
adjusted to make the subgrade CDF approximately equal to one. The current
error control is that the design will terminate when CDF is in the range 0.995
to 1.005. If the layer next to the subgrade becomes thinner than its specified
minimum thickness, the thickness of the layer above is halved, or set at its
minimum thickness, and the procedure continued. If the CDF is less than
one with both of the adjusted layers at their minimum thicknesses, the CDF
is displayed and the design terminated. This procedure is not intended to
optimize a design. It is intended only to protect from inappropriate input
data.
For overlay design, the thickness of the top layer is adjusted to make the
subgrade strain CDF equal to one. The procedure is also terminated, with a
message, if the top layer becomes thinner than its minimum thickness.
The failure model used to find the number of coverages to failure for a given
vertical strain at the top of the subgrade is:

0.004

C =
v

8.1

when C 12,100
14.21

0.002428

C =
v

LEDFAA User's Manual

when C > 12,100

PAVEMENT THICKNESS DESIGN 31

where:
C

= number of coverages to failure

= vertical strain at the top of the subgrade

The failure model used to find the number of coverages to failure for a given
horizontal strain at the bottom of the surface asphalt layer is:

log10 (C ) = 2.68 5 log10 ( h ) 2.665 log10 ( E A )

where:
C
EA

= number of coverages to failure

= horizontal strain at the bottom of the surface asphalt layer

= asphalt modulus, psi

New Rigid Pavement

Rigid design is the same as for flexible over flexible overlay design except that
CDF is calculated using the horizontal stress at the bottom of the PCC layer.
To make the layered elastic design procedure compatible with the AC
150/5320-6D procedure (which uses 0.75 of the Westergaard edge stress for
design), an adjustment is made to the calculated layered elastic interior
stress to provide an equivalent edge stress. Without this adjustment, the
interior layered elastic stress for a dual-wheel landing gear relative to a dualtandem is too low when compared to the Westergaard edge stress for dualwheel relative to dual-tandem. But, for the six-wheel B-777 gear, and
similar, the interior stress can be higher than 75 percent of the equivalent
edge stress. The complete procedure is therefore to compute the interior
stress, compute 75 percent of the equivalent edge stress, and then select the
higher of the two as the working stress for design.
An adjustment is also made to the layered elastic failure model so that the
sensitivity of design thickness to base/subbase material quality is
compatible with that of the AC 150/5320-6D procedure.
The basic equation used to find the number of coverages to failure (C) for
given concrete strength (R) and working stress for design () is, as given in
reference 3:

R
SCI =

0.2967 (0.3881 + 0.000039 SCI ) log C

0.002269

Two extra coefficients (FS and FSC) have been added to this equation to apply
the compensation:

R
SCI =
where:

0.2967 FS (0.3881 + FSC 0.000039 SCI ) log C

0.002269

FSC =

32 PAVEMENT THICKNESS DESIGN

0.392 0.3881 FS
0.0039 FS

LEDFAA User's Manual

For any given value of R/, the computed value of FSC maintains the number
of coverages for SCI = 100 constant as FS varies. When the concrete slab is
placed on an 8 inch crushed aggregate layer or a 4 inch stabilized layer (at
500,000 psi), FS and FSC both have a value of 1 and the basic failure model is
unchanged. But if the thickness or quality of the base/subbase structure is
higher than either of these two conditions, FS decreases and the number of
coverages to failure increases. The procedure is similar to that used in the
design procedure for concrete overlay on rigid pavement as described in
reference 3.
Failure is defined as the number of coverages for SCI = 80 at any given value
of R/ (reference 2).

Concrete Overlay on Flexible Pavement

When the PCC overlay on flexible layer is placed over an asphalt surface or
undefined layer, the new rigid pavement design procedure is automatically
executed. This is analogous to the use of the new PCC design curves in AC
150/5320-6D as described in paragraph 71 of the AC.

Concrete Overlay on PCC Pavement

Two types of concrete overlay on PCC pavement are considered in the
program: fully unbonded and partially bonded. Different interface coefficients
between the overlay and the existing pavement are used to simulate the
behavior of the different types of structure. For the fully unbonded case, an
interface coefficient of 100,000 is used as required by the data input to the
layered elastic program Leaf and originally defined in LEDNEW. An interface
coefficient of 700 is used for the partially bonded concrete overlay, based on
numerical comparisons between the current design procedures and the
layered elastic based design procedures. For both cases, the maximum
tensile stress at the bottom of the overlay is used as the critical response in
the calculation of CDF.
The design starts with a trial overlay thickness selected by the user. CDF is
calculated for the concrete overlay layer using the same model as that used
in new rigid pavement design. But the elastic modulus of the existing
pavement is assumed to decrease during the period of time when the SCI of
the existing pavement is less than 100. The tensile stress of the overlay layer
therefore varies during the life of the overlaid pavement and the CDF of the
structure must be computed by numerical integration. This results in
solution times which are typically much longer than those for the other
pavement types. After the CDF has been calculated, the thickness of the
overlay is adjusted to bring the next calculated CDF closer to a value of 1 for
the correct design life. The design is terminated when the calculated value of
CDF is in the range 0.995 and 1.005 and the difference between the
calculated and desired design life is less than 0.1 year.

Asphalt Overlay on PCC Pavement

The design of asphalt overlay on PCC pavement is basically the same as that
of the concrete overlay on PCC pavement. However, the integrated life of the

LEDFAA User's Manual

PAVEMENT THICKNESS DESIGN 33

overlaid pavement has two parts: (1) the number of years needed to reduce
the SCI of the existing pavement from the initial value at the time of overlay
to the minimum value at the end of the life of the overlay structure, and (2)
the number of years needed to cause reflection cracks to propagate through
the asphalt overlay (the propagation rate is assumed to be one year per inch
of overlay thickness).

34 PAVEMENT THICKNESS DESIGN

LEDFAA User's Manual

RUNNING THE PROGRAM

Solution Times
The execution time required to design a structure is almost completely
dependent on the floating point performance of the computer when
performing the layered elastic strain and stress calculations. Execution time
is roughly proportional to the total number of design wheels for all of the
aircraft in the design list, and is proportional to a small power of the number
of layers in the structure. (The inner loop in Leaf consumes almost all of the
solution time.) The next most important factor is disk access time, but this
mainly affects the response of Windows when performing other tasks while a
design is in progress and not the total solution time.
The most effective strategy for reducing solution times is to use an
abbreviated aircraft list, consisting of the most damaging aircraft, to produce
a first approximation to the pavement design. The full aircraft design list can
then be used to finalize the design.
Thick aggregate layers increase the solution time more than would be
expected because of the sublayering used to represent variation of modulus
with depth. Thin concrete overlays on rigid pavements have the longest
solution times of all the structure types.

Options
A batch option has been included in the program so that a number of time
consuming designs can be executed unattended. The option is activated by
double clicking anywhere on the gray background of the structure window. A
check box appears which, when clicked, changes the caption of the Life
button to Batch. The first section to be designed is selected in the list box
and Batch clicked. Each section in the list starting at the one selected to the
last will then, in turn, be designed and the results stored in the job file. The
already designed and saving structure messages are suppressed.
However, if any other message, such as minimum thickness for a layer, is
displayed, the batch job will halt until the message is cleared. The results
can be viewed in the NOTES window after the batch job has finished.
An additional option called No AC CDF is included to disable the
computation of asphalt surface CDF at the end of a flexible pavement design.
This option is most effective during initial design of pavement sections with
thick aggregate layers and many aircraft in the design list.
If a lengthy design computation is underway, a second instance of LEDFAA
can be started and section data edited. Design computation is only allowed
from the first instance of the program. Alternatively, any other application
can be run from Windows while a design is in progress.
The criterion for the design of new flexible pavements is to limit the vertical
strain at the top of the subgrade to a specified value. An option called
Alternate SG is included to allow one of the upper layers to be set as the
subgrade for design. Used in conjunction with relocation of the iteration

LEDFAA User's Manual

RUNNING THE PROGRAM 35

layer (see subsection Design Structure), this allows for the inclusion of, for
example, stiff bottom layers in the structure. The procedure is to check the
Alternate SG check box and select as the iteration layer the layer above the
alternate subgrade. As long as Alternate SG is checked, the design will
always be based on the vertical strain at the top of the layer below the
iteration layer.

Copying to the Clipboard

In addition to copying the design and notes information to the clipboard from
the NOTES window, any of the program windows can be copied to the
clipboard as a bitmap using the Windows Alt-PrintScreen function. The
bitmap can then be pasted into another application and printed or saved.
First make sure that the window to be copied is the active window by clicking
the mouse within the window area. Then hold down the Alt key and press
the PrintScreen key. If the window is not copied to the clipboard, check your
computer documentation for the equivalent function.
The picture of the structure in the STRUCTURE window can also be copied
to the clipboard by placing the mouse pointer within the area of the picture
and clicking the right mouse button. Similarly, the picture of the gear layout
in the AIRCRAFT DATA window can be copied by right clicking on the
picture.

36 RUNNING THE PROGRAM

LEDFAA User's Manual

DATA FILES
File Management
In general, file management, such as backup and deletion, should be done
with Windows Explorer. However, two extra functions have been added to
LEDFAA to simplify working within the program.
The first extra function allows job files to be saved in a selected directory
other than the working directory. In the STARTUP window, right click on the
job file to be saved. A standard Windows Save As dialog box will appear. The
job file can then be saved anywhere within the computers resources, with or
without changing the name. Only one file can be saved at a time.
The second function is to create a new working directory or to change the
current working directory. Right click in the box displaying the name of the
working directory. A standard Windows Save As dialog box will appear.
Navigate to the correct directory and press the create-a-new-folder icon to
create a new directory. Navigate to the directory you want to be the current
working directory and press Save. No action is taken other than returning
the name of the new directory to LEDFAA. The new name is displayed in the
box in the STARTUP window and the names of any job files existing in the
new working directory are displayed in the left hand list box, replacing the
ones already there.

Output Data Files

At the end of every structural design or life computation, details of the
structure, aircraft loads, and pavement responses are stored in an ASCII text
output file and placed in the current working directory. The output files
always have the same names, depending on the pavement type, and
overwrite the files generated by the previous computation. The filenames are:
1. LeafSG.out (subgrade responses for a flexible pavement)
2. LeafAC.out (asphalt surface layer responses for a flexible pavement)
3. LeafPCC.out (PCC surface layer responses for a rigid pavement)
Stresses, strains, and displacements are given for each evaluation point for
each aircraft in the traffic mix. Principal and octahedral stresses are
included. For rigid pavements, only LeafPCC.out is written. For flexible
pavements, LeafSG.out contains the responses computed at the top of the
subgrade, and LeafAC.out contains the data for responses computed at the
bottom of the asphalt surface layer.
The responses listed in LeafPCC.out are for the interior case (an infinite halfspace) and the maximum horizontal principal stresses at the bottom of the
PCC layer are transformed to equivalent edge stresses by LEDFAA before
computing CDF. The relative magnitudes of the stresses in LeafPCC.out for
different aircraft are therefore not a reliable indication of the relative stress
levels used in the design procedure.

LEDFAA User's Manual

DATA FILES 37

If data in any of the output data files needs to be stored permanently, it

should be copied to a new file immediately after a design has been
completed.

Storage Files
Permanent information for layered elastic design is stored in *.job and *.nts
files. *.job files contain all of the data required by LEDFAA for all of the
sections in one job. *.nts files contain user entered information not needed
by LEDFAA but which may be useful in identifying features of the pavement
sections, tracking design history, etc. Both are ASCII files and can be read by
other applications if necessary.

*.job File Format

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
0123456789012345678901234567890123456789012345678901234567890
Format#
SectionName
Date
Time
DateTime
ACCDF
Life
SCI
%CDFU NL NA
Thick(1) Modulus(1)
LC(1)
Thick(2) Modulus(2)
LC(2)
Thick(3) Modulus(3)
LC(3)
Thick(I) Modulus(I)
LC(I)
Thick(NL) Modulus(NL) LC(NL)
ACName(1)
GL(1) Rps(1) %Growth(1)
ACName(2)
GL(2) Rps(2) %Growth(2)
ACName(J)
GL(J) Rps(J) %Growth(J)
ACName(NA)
GL(NA) Rps(NA) %Growth(NA)
Blank Line (for expansion)
Blank Line (for expansion)
Next set of section data, starting with the name
Explanation of *.job File Field Names
Format# = File format identifier;
Type = string; current = Format3
SectionName = section name;
Type = string
Date = date of completed design;
Type = string; Format = XX/XX/XX
Time = time of completed design;
Type = string; Format = XX:XX:XX
DateTime = date and time of completed design in VB format;
Type = double precision real
Field Width = 20
Note: When a design has not been completed for the section,
Date = 11/01/71, Time = 00:00:00, DateTime = 26238

38 DATA FILES

LEDFAA User's Manual

Name

Description

Type

Field
Width

ACCDF

Asphalt Layer CDF

Real

12

Life

Design Life

Integer

SCI

Structure Condition Index

Real

%CDFU

Percent CDFU

Real

NL

Number of Layers

Integer

NA

Number of Aircraft

Integer

Thick(I)

Thickness of Layer I

Real

12

Modulus(I)

Modulus of Layer I *

Integer

12

LC(I)

Layer Code for Layer I

Integer

ACName(J)

Aircraft Name for Aircraft J

String

GL(J)

Gross Load for Aircraft J

Integer

RPS(J)

Annual Repetitions for Aircraft J

Integer

%Growth(J)

Percent Annual Growth for Aircraft J

Real

21

12

* Flexural strength when the layer is PCC.

Example of a *.job File with 2 Sections

Format3
NewFlexible
03/30/95 13:50:38
34790.5768287037
20
0.00 100.00
4
3
5.0000
200000
1
8.0000
400000
14
11.2892
47583
6
0.0000
15000
4
DC-10-10
458000
2263
B-747-200
833000
832
B-777-200 B
634500
425
NewRigid
11/01/71 00:00:00
26238
20
0.00 100.00
4
3
14.0000
700
5
6.0000
700000
17
6.0000
75000
6
0.0000
15000
4
DC-10-10
458000
2263
B-747-200
833000
832
B-777-200 B
634500
425

LEDFAA User's Manual

0.000000

0.000000
0.000000
0.000000

0.000000

0.000000
0.000000
0.000000

DATA FILES 39

Layer Codes
0

= Undefined

= P-401 Asphalt Surface

= Not Used

= Not Used

= Subgrade

= P-501 PCC Surface

= P-209 Crushed Aggregate Base Course

= Variable Stabilized Base (rigid)

= P-154 Subbase Course (uncrushed aggregate)

= Variable Stabilized Base (flexible)

10

= P-401 Asphalt Overlay

11

= P-501 PCC overlay fully unbonded

12

= P-501 PCC overlay partially bonded

13

= P-501 PCC overlay on flexible

14

= P-401 Stabilized Base (flexible)

15

= P-301 Soil Cement Base Course

16

= P-304 Cement Treated Base Course

17

= P-306 Econocrete Subbase Course

*.nts File Format

*.nts files contain user entered information about sections in a job stored as
strings. The format consists of a sequential list of each section name, the
length of the notes string for that section, followed by the notes string. A
Visual Basic routine to read the data for a specified section (ISECT) in a *.nts
file is as follows:
NFNo = FreeFile
Open FileName$ For Input As #NFNo
For I = 1 To ISect
Line Input #NFNo, S$
' Section name.
Input #NFNo, SLen
' Length of NotesString.
NotesString$ = Input$(SLen, #NFNo)
Input #NFNo, SS$
' Get CRLF.
Next I
Close NFNo
All data in the notes for section ISect is left in the string NotesString$.

40 DATA FILES

LEDFAA User's Manual

DESIGN EXAMPLES
Introduction
Four design examples are given: new flexible, new rigid, concrete overlay on
rigid, and asphalt overlay on rigid. In the first 2 examples, it is assumed that
external job files have not been created and the designs are started from the
internal Samples job. Examples are also given to illustrate overlay design on
composite pavements and the effects of sublayering in aggregate layers.
All of the design examples have the same traffic mix, representing a very
heavily loaded pavement as would be found at a major port:

Aircraft

Gross Weight, lbs

Annual Departures

B-737-400

150,000

360

B-747-400

873,000

4,200

B-757

250,000

360

B-767-200

335,000

720

B-777-200 B

634,500

720

MD-82/88

150,000

600

DC-10-30

583,000

360

MD-11

621,000

700

L-1011

496,000

320

Percent annual growth is assumed to be zero in all of the examples. Also,

layer thickness results are all given to 1 decimal place. Rounding would be
done before writing the final design specifications.

New Flexible Design Example

The pavement in the new flexible pavement design example is to service
aircraft of greater than 100,000 lbs gross weight and must therefore have
stabilized base and subbase as specified in AC 150/5320-6D. Item P-401,
Plant Mix Bituminous Pavement, is selected for the base course and Item P209, Crushed Aggregate Base Course, is selected for the subbase. A B-777
aircraft is included in the mix and the asphalt surfacing, also Item P-401,
must have a minimum thickness of 5 inches as specified in AC 150/53206D. Subgrade CBR for the example is 8. Design life is 20 years, complying
with AC 150/5320-6D. The determination and selection of suitable base and
subbase thicknesses is discussed below after describing the initial setup of
the example.
When LEDFAA is first started, the STARTUP window is displayed and, if
there are no external job files, a message is displayed stating that there are
no job files in the working directory.

LEDFAA User's Manual

DESIGN EXAMPLES 41

1. Clear the message by clicking OK and press the New Job command
button.
2. Enter a name for the new job in the displayed dialog box and click
OK.
3. Reselect the Samples job by clicking on its name in the left hand list
box.
4. Click Copy Section to start the procedure for copying from the
Samples job to the new job.
5. Select the new flexible sample section in the right hand list box by
clicking on the NewFlexible section name.
6. Copy the selected section to the new job by clicking on the new job
file name in the left hand list box and entering, in the displayed
dialog box, the section name to be used in the new job.
7. End the copy procedure by clicking End Copy.
8. Select the new job file in the left hand list box and double click on the
section name in the right hand list box (or click Structure) to transfer
to the STRUCTURE window.
The new flexible pavement structure from the Samples job will be displayed
after transfer to the STRUCTURE window. But before starting design of the
structure, information for the traffic mix listed in the introduction to the
design examples must be entered in the AIRCRAFT window. To do this:
1. Click Aircraft to transfer control to the AIRCRAFT window.
2. Click Clear List and answer Yes in the displayed message box. All
aircraft stored in the new flexible section of the Samples job will be
deleted from the table of design aircraft.
3. Select one of the aircraft groups in the top left hand list box to display
the aircraft contained in that group in the lower left hand Library list
box.
4. Select the first aircraft in the group to be added to the table of design
aircraft by clicking on its name in the library list. Transfer the
aircraft to the table by clicking Add. (Double clicking the name will
also transfer the aircraft.)
5. Default values of gross weight, annual departures, and percent
annual growth will be displayed in the table. Any of these values can
be changed within a specified range by clicking on the number in the
table. An input box is displayed which also gives the default value
and the range within which a new value can be entered. Enter the
new value and click OK.
6. Select the rest of the aircraft to be added to the design aircraft table
from the group one at a time and change the default data values as
required. If a mistake is made and the wrong aircraft added to the
table, the aircraft can be removed by selecting its name and clicking
Remove (or by double clicking its name).
7. Repeat the process for each group until all aircraft in the traffic mix
have been added to the table. Note that the L-1011 in this example is
contained in the Other Commercial group.
8. Click Save List and answer OK to the displayed message.

42 DESIGN EXAMPLES

LEDFAA User's Manual

9. Click Back to return to the STRUCTURE window.

Suitable base and subbase thicknesses can now be determined by running
design cases. However, there is no explicitly defined procedure for doing this
and judgment is required on the part of the design engineer to make a
selection within two limiting cases. The first case is to select the minimum
base course thickness of 8 inches as specified in Chapter 7 of AC 150/53206D for triple-dual-tandem service and run a design:
1. The new flexible structure in the Samples job has the correct base
and subbase materials for this example, the base thickness is set at 8
inches, and the surface thickness is set at 5 inches. All that has to be
done before running the design is to change the subgrade modulus by
clicking Modify Structure and clicking the CBR = box. Enter a
value of 8 in the displayed input box and click OK.
2. Click End Modify.
3. Make sure that the arrow on the left of the structure points to the
subbase and click Design Structure.
4. Wait until the program has changed the subbase thickness to give a
CDF of 1 for vertical strain in the subgrade and computed the asphalt
surface CDF. In this case, the design subbase thickness is 19.4
inches and asphalt CDF is negligible.
The second limiting case is to assume that the base course must protect a
subbase having a CBR of 20. To do this:
1. Remove the subbase from the structure by clicking Modify Structure
followed by Add/Delete Layer (the caption on the Design Structure
button changes to Add/Delete Layer in modify mode). Click
anywhere within the subbase and select delete in the displayed box.
(Alternatively, return to the STARTUP window, duplicate the section
with another name, use the new section for temporary working, and
return to the first section for final design.)
2. Change the subgrade CBR to 20.
3. Click End Modify, followed by Design Structure. The thickness of
the base will be changed until the CDF for vertical strain in the 20
CBR subgrade has a value of 1. In this case, the revised base
thickness is 9.3 inches.
A base thickness of 8 inches is therefore not quite sufficient for the design.
But increasing the base thickness decreases the total pavement thickness for
a subgrade CBR of 1, and adjustments to the base course thickness can be
made at the judgment of the engineer provided that the minimum
requirements are satisfied.
For this example, a base thickness of 10 inches was finally selected. Giving,
after a final design run, a subbase thickness of 15.8 inches and a total
pavement thickness of 30.8 inches. From the NOTES window, Design Info
button, the design information for the final design is:
The structure is New Flexible. Asphalt CDF = 0.0036.
Design Life = 20 years.

LEDFAA User's Manual

DESIGN EXAMPLES 43

Pavement Structure Information by Layer, Top First

No.

Type

Thickness

Modulus

Poisson's

Strength

inches

psi

Ratio

R, psi

P-401 AC Surface

5.00

200,000

0.35

P-401 St (flex)

10.00

400,000

0.35

P-209 Cr Ag

15.79

48,312

0.35

Subgrade

0.00

12,000

0.35

Total thickness to the top of the subgrade = 30.79 inches

Aircraft Information

No.

Name

Gross Wt.

Annual

lbs

Departures

% Annual
Growth

B-737-400

150,000

360

0.00

B-747-400

873,000

4,200

0.00

B-757

250,000

360

0.00

B-767-200

335,000

720

0.00

B-777-200 B

634,500

720

0.00

MD-82/88

150,000

600

0.00

DC-10-30

583,000

360

0.00

DC-10-30 Belly

583,000

360

0.00

MD-11

621,000

700

0.00

10

MD-11 Belly

621,000

700

0.00

11

L-1011

496,000

320

0.00

Note that the wing gear and the belly gear for the DC-10-30 and MD-11 are
treated as separate aircraft in the design procedure. Also, the thickness of
the subgrade is given as 0.00 inches, whereas the assumption in the layered
elastic representation of the structure is that the subgrade is infinitely thick.

New Rigid Design Example

The new rigid design example uses the same traffic mix as the new flexible
design example, and the pavement for the new rigid design example must
therefore have a stabilized subbase course to satisfy the requirements of AC
150/5320-6D. A 2-layer subbase has been selected with Item P-304, Cement
Treated Base, at the top and Item P-209, Crushed Aggregate Base Course
below. Subgrade k value is 120 pci and the surface is Item P-501, Portland
Cement Concrete Pavement, with a design flexural strength of 725 psi.
Design life is 20 years.
The design can be started by copying the NewRigid section in the Samples
job to the same job file as used in the new flexible example. Since the aircraft
mix is the same as in the flexible example, some time can be saved by using
the floating aircraft list:

44 DESIGN EXAMPLES

LEDFAA User's Manual

1. Select the NewFlexible design example while in the STRUCTURE

window and transfer to the AIRCRAFT window by clicking Aircraft.
2. Click Save to Float to copy all of the aircraft in the design aircraft
list to the Float Aircraft list.
3. Click Back to return to the STRUCTURE window and select the
NewRigid section.
4. Go to the AIRCRAFT window and clear the design aircraft list with
the Clear List command button.
5. Click Add Float to copy the aircraft in the float list to the design
aircraft list.
6. Save the newly created aircraft list and return to the STRUCTURE
window with the Back button.
All of the information for the Samples job structure is correct for this
example except for the upper subbase layer, the subgrade modulus value,
the PCC flexural strength, and, depending on the design engineers judgment,
the subbase layer thicknesses (the Samples job values are 6 inches for each
layer). Start the design by changing the subbase material:
1. Click Modify Structure.
2. Click the box containing the name of the material for the upper
subbase layer (P-306 Econocrete in this case). The Layer Type
Selection box will be displayed. Click on P-304 Cement Treated Base
under the heading Stabilized (rigid) and click OK. The box will close
and the layer in the pavement change to P-304.
The subgrade k value and the PCC flexural strength are both changed by
clicking in their respective boxes and entering the new values in the input
boxes.
Clicking End Modify, followed by Design Structure causes the thickness of
the top layer to be changed until the CDF for tensile stress at the bottom of
the surface layer has a value of 1. In this case the surface thickness is 16.0
inches for a CDF of 1.
Various design options for subbase thicknesses can be tried, with the Design
Structure function executed after each change. The design in this case was
finalized with a Cement Treated Base layer thickness of 8 inches, a lower
subbase thickness of 6 inches, and a surface thickness of 15.8 inches. The
final design information from the NOTES window, Design Info button, is
given below for the structure only (the aircraft information is the same as in
the new flexible example).
The structure is New Rigid.
Design Life = 20 years.

LEDFAA User's Manual

DESIGN EXAMPLES 45

Pavement Structure Information by Layer, Top First

No.

Type

Thickness

Modulus

Poisson's

Strength

inches

psi

Ratio

R, psi

PCC Surface

15.78

4,000,000

0.15

725

P-304 CTB

8.00

500,000

0.20

P-209 Cr Ag

6.00

30,518

0.35

Subgrade

0.00

12,152

0.40

Total thickness to the top of the subgrade = 29.78 inches

Concrete Overlay on Rigid Design Example

Design of an overlay on a rigid pavement normally starts with an existing
pavement structure having a known SCI. In the design example, an
unbonded overlay is to be applied over an existing rigid pavement which has
an SCI of 70. The same traffic mix as used in the new pavement design
examples is to be applied for 20 years after overlaying. The properties of the
existing structure are:
No.

Type

Thickness

Modulus

Poisson's

Strength

inches

psi

Ratio

R, psi

14.00

4,000,000

0.15

725

PCC Surface

P-304 CTB

8.00

500,000

0.20

P-209 Cr Ag

6.00

30,518

0.35

Subgrade

0.00

12,152

0.40

After setting up the structure to match the information above and setting the
traffic information, as described in the new pavement design examples, an
overlay layer is added in the STRUCTURE window as follows:
1. Click Modify Structure.
2. Click Add/Delete Layer.
3. Click anywhere within the PCC surface layer in the picture of the
structure. A duplicate of the surface layer will be added to the
structure adjacent to the original surface layer.
4. Click on the layer material box in the new surface layer, while still in
modify mode, and select Overlay fully unbonded from the Layer Type
Selection box under the heading PCC: All P-501. After clicking OK to
close the Layer Type Selection box, the new surface layer will change
to an overlay and two additional data entry boxes will appear to the
right of the design life box, SCI and %CDFU (percent cumulative
damage factor used).
5. Click on the SCI box and change the value to 70. %CDFU will default
to a value of 100. %CDFU cannot be changed in this example because
SCI is less than 100.

46 DESIGN EXAMPLES

LEDFAA User's Manual

6. If Life is not already set to 20, click in the Des. Life box and enter a
value of 20. This will give the pavement a life of 20 years after
overlaying.
7. Click End Modify to leave the modify mode.
Run the design by clicking Design Structure. Initially, the thickness of the
overlay layer will change in increments of 4 inches. After 2 successive
thicknesses have bracketed the correct design thickness, the thickness of the
overlay layer will iterate to the correct thickness. This process will take
considerably longer than in the new pavement designs.
From the NOTES window, Design Info, the final structure is:
The structure is Unbonded PCC Overlay on Rigid.
Design Life = 20 years.

Pavement Structure Information by Layer, Top First

No.

Type

Thickness

Modulus

Poisson's

Strength

inches

psi

Ratio

R, psi

PCC Overlay Unbond

10.13

4,000,000

0.15

700

PCC Surface

14.00

4,000,000

0.15

725

P-304 CTB

8.00

500,000

0.20

P-209 Cr Ag

6.00

30,518

0.35

Subgrade

0.00

12,152

0.40

Total thickness to the top of the subgrade = 38.13 inches

In the output from the NOTES window, the modulus of the PCC surface layer
of the existing structure is given as 4,000,000 psi. But this is not the value
used during design when the SCI of the layer is less than 100. The value
used is calculated from the relationship (given in reference 3):

E Exist = E100 (0.02 + 0.0064 SCI Exist + (0.00584 SCI Exist ) 2 )

where:
SCIExist = SCI of the existing PCC layer as it deteriorates during the life of the
overlaid structure
EExist

= modulus of the existing PCC layer at SCIExist

E100

= modulus of the existing PCC layer when its SCI is 100 (4,000,000
psi in this case)

The modulus of the CTB layer is also set at its default value of 500,000 psi,
which is appropriate for design of new structures. But if, from field surveys,
the layer is known to be seriously deteriorated, it can be replaced in the
representation of the structure by a lower quality layer type or by the
variable stabilized layer type with its modulus value set to less than 500,000
psi.

LEDFAA User's Manual

DESIGN EXAMPLES 47

Asphalt Overlay on Rigid Design Example

Asphalt overlays on existing rigid pavements are designed in exactly the
same way as concrete overlays except that the Asphalt Overlay layer type is
selected from the Layer Type Selection box. The modulus of the existing PCC
surface layer is adjusted during the design and does not have the value
reported in the design information from the NOTES window. Subbase
material substitutions are also appropriate where there is evidence of serious
deterioration from field surveys.
For the same existing pavement and aircraft traffic as used in the concrete
overlay design example, the final structure from the NOTES window, Design
Info, is:
The structure is AC Overlay on Rigid.
Design Life = 20 years.

Pavement Structure Information by Layer, Top First

No.

Type

P-401 AC Overlay

PCC Surface

P-304 CTB

4
5

Thickness

Modulus

Poisson's

Strength

inches

psi

Ratio

R, psi

8.62

200,000

0.35

14.00

4,000,000

0.15

725

8.00

500,000

0.20

P-209 Cr Ag

6.00

30,518

0.35

Subgrade

0.00

12,152

0.40

Total thickness to the top of the subgrade = 36.62 inches

Overlays on Composite Pavements

Design of overlays on existing rigid pavements which already have an asphalt
overlay cannot be done directly using LEDFAA because a PCC surface layer
cannot be placed further down than the second layer in a structure. One
method of representing such a structure is to replace the PCC layer in the
existing pavement with an undefined layer or a variable stabilized layer. The
modulus of the substitute layer can be selected based on the design
engineers judgment of the SCI of the existing PCC layer and application of
the equation for PCC layer modulus given in the concrete overlay design
example.

Effects of Sublayering in Aggregate Layers

As discussed in the section on aggregate layers, sublayering of aggregate
layers is included in the design procedures. The maximum sublayer
thicknesses are 8 inches for uncrushed aggregate and 10 inches for crushed
aggregate (except when the number of layers is fixed to avoid continuous
iteration). The following example illustrates the effects of the sublayering
caused by changes in effective stiffness of an aggregate layer when the

48 DESIGN EXAMPLES

LEDFAA User's Manual

number of sublayers changes. The example structure has a 6 inch thick

asphalt surface layer over aggregate base and subbase layers and a 9 CBR
subgrade (modulus of 13,500 psi). Aircraft in the mix are B-747-400, MD80/82, and B-777-200 A.
The structure is New Flexible. Asphalt CDF = 0.3913.
Design Life = 20 years.

Pavement Structure Information by Layer, Top First

No.

Type

Thickness

Modulus

Poisson's

Strength

inches

psi

Ratio

R, psi

P-401 AC Surface

6.00

200,000

0.35

P-209 Cr Ag

11.00

68,803

0.35

P-154 UnCr Ag

15.91

26,875

0.35

Subgrade

0.00

13,500

0.35

Total thickness to the top of the subgrade = 32.91 inches

Aircraft Information

No.

Name

Gross Wt.

Annual

lbs

Departures

% Annual
Growth

B-747-400

873,000

2,500

0.00

MD-82/88

150,500

16,000

0.00

B-777-200 A

537,000

500

0.00

The design was run by setting the subbase as the iteration layer and starting
from an arbitrary subbase thickness. But running Life after the design was
completed gave a life of 18.6 years, a subgrade CDF of 1.07, and an asphalt
CDF of 0.46, which do not agree with the design information. Then, without
changing any of the properties of the structure or the aircraft mix, Design
was run again, resulting in the following structure:
The structure is New Flexible. Asphalt CDF = 0.3913.
Design Life = 20 years.

Pavement Structure Information by Layer, Top First

No.

LEDFAA User's Manual

Type

P-401 AC Surface

2
3

Thickness

Modulus

Poisson's

Strength

inches

psi

Ratio

R, psi

6.00

200,000

0.35

P-209 Cr Ag

11.00

66,814

0.35

P-154 UnCr Ag

16.07

26,475

0.35

DESIGN EXAMPLES 49

Subgrade

0.00

13,500

0.35

Total thickness to the top of the subgrade = 33.07 inches

From the first to the second design, the thickness of the subbase increased
from 15.91 to 16.07 inches and crossed the threshold for sublayering from 2
sublayers to 3. The modulus values of both aggregate layers also changed, as
did the asphalt CDF. The changes in the structure are summarized in the
table below, with the sublayer modulus values included (read from the
JULEADAT.OUT file).

Property

Design 1

Design 2

15.91

16.07

Modulus of base sublayer 1

79,949

78,276

Modulus of base sublayer 2

57,657

55,351

Average modulus of the base

68,803

66,814

Modulus of subbase sublayer 1

32,510

30,451

Modulus of subbase sublayer 2

27,409

22,499

Modulus of subbase sublayer 3

20,705

no sublayer

Average modulus of the subbase

26,875

26,475

Design life after Life

18.6

21.5

Subgrade CDF after Life

1.07

0.93

Asphalt CDF

0.39

0.45

Asphalt CDF after Life

0.46

0.39

Subbase thickness

All of the values given are for the structure at the end of design except where
noted that they were obtained after running Life. For the first design the
subbase has 3 sublayers instead of the 2 required by its thickness of less
than 16 inches. This is because, during the final stages of design, the
number of sublayers was fixed when the thickness of the subbase was
greater than 16 inches. Then, when Life was run, the correct number of 2
sublayers was created and the life computations made for a slightly different
structure. Also, when the second design was run, the structure started with
the correct number of 3 sublayers, the number of sublayers was fixed at 3,
and the design completed with 3 sublayers and a thickness of less than 16
inches. If the number of layers had not been fixed at some stage, the design
would have cycled back and forth across the threshold thickness of 16
inches with CDF values of 1.07 and 0.93 repeated endlessly.
Two other interesting aspects of this example are:
1. Removing the MD-82 from the aircraft list and running Life on the
second design decreases the subgrade CDF from 0.93 to 0.88 (5.4
percent), but decreases the asphalt CDF by a much larger relative
amount, from 0.45 to 0.21 (53 percent).
2. Changing the base material to variable stabilized at 150,000 psi on
the second design decreases the subgrade CDF to 0.23 and decreases
the asphalt CDF to 0.02 (a negligible amount).

50 DESIGN EXAMPLES

LEDFAA User's Manual