Abstract:
A computer expert system has been developed for structural design of rigid pavements entitled Galal-Muram Rigid Pavement (Galal-M-RP). The developed software program is a design package as well as educational and training tool. The user is assisted to select design inputs by a systematic rule-based expert. These rules are intended to determine AASHTO recommended values. These values are shown on the screen along with a brief explanation during the design process. Screens and various group boxes assist the user in selecting the design inputs. A sensitivity analysis option allows the user to confirm the required precision of the design inputs. The results obtained from this software were evaluated and compared to the manual design case study of Omdurman ring road, as well as with other design examples. They include examples by Huang; AASHO 1993 Guide and Kici, A. and Tigdemir, M. in 2017 applying user friendly software, in addition to lecture notes by Drakos in 2009 at University of Florida. Comparisons were found excellent with differences in pavement thickness ranging between 0.1 and 0.9 cm. Concrete pavement design software Galal-M-RP supersedes conventional design methods regarding errors and difficulties in addition to saving significant time.
