Overview
Concrete Pavement Types How Concrete Pavements Fail Concrete Pavement Design Concrete Materials for Pavements Construction, Traffic, Delay, Money
Full-Scale Testing (months) Laboratory Testing (weeks) Computer Analysis (days) Reliability of answers Time & Cost
Temperature
asphalt concrete stiffness/strength high at low temperatures, low at high temperatures temperature changes cause expansion/contraction stresses in all asphalted and cemented materials
Traffic Variables
Its the trucks
Loads Tire pressures Speeds Dynamics (interaction with roughness) Which are most important?
Trucks are Heavier, Faster, More Numerous Different Suspension, Different Tires
Base must provide uniform, continuous support to slabs, often stabilized with cement or asphalt Granular sub-base to provide support to base and slabs, without pumping, expansion/contraction Compacted subgrade, must not expand or contract to provide uniform support to layers above
Slab Dimensions
Concrete slabs have engineered length and width Longer slabs are more prone cracking due to shrinkage, curling and warping Shorter slabs require more joints, which cost more to build and maintain, and can result in rougher ride Typical slab width is 3.7 m (12 ft) = one lane Slab length is a design variable Caltrans joint spacing has varied over the years
Concrete typically shrinks when curing Uniform shrinkage causes some tensile stresses Non-uniform shrinkage causes warping, higher tensile stresses
Curling
Curling of slab: caused by temperature difference between top and bottom of slab Night - cooler on top Tension Base Day - hotter on top Tension Base Concrete Slab Self-weight Concrete Slab Self-weight
Desert 4 mm
-6.5 to -1.5 C Average Minimum Air Temperatures, October-March -1.5 to -3.5 C 3.5 to 8.5 C 8.5 to 13.5 C
Thicker slabs have larger temperature gradients; bending resistance, weight cancel Shrinkage, warping, curling worst where large day-night temperature changes
desert central valley
Load Transfer
Load Transfer: load on one slab partially carried by adjacent slabs reduces tensile stresses in slab reduces deflections at joints Load transfer comes from: aggregate interlock tie bars (rough steel bars) dowels (smooth steel rods)
Dowel
Aggregate interlock
Tie Bar
Aggregate interlock
0.80 0.70 0.60 0.50 0.40 0.30 0.20 0.10 0.00 0.0E+00 1.0E+05 2.0E+05 3.0E+05 4.0E+05 5.0E+05 6.0E+05 7.0E+05
8.0E+05
Load Repetitions
9.0E+05
Base Erosion
Mechanisms:
Water enters joints and cracks, erodes base material Vertical deflections of truck loads create hydraulic pumping action
Faulting
Base material moves from B to A Slabs become tilted, creates step-off Faulting development controlled by: load transfer efficiency erodability of base
Pumping, Voids
Base
A B
Water and large vertical deflection pump base, subbase and subgrade material out, leave void
Voids result in less support to slab, higher tensile stresses under load, and corner cracking
Concrete Cracking
Traffic and environmental loads cause tensile stresses Higher stresses result in fewer repetitions before cracking (fatigue) Types of cracking: transverse longitudinal corner
Pumping
1.E+02
1.E+04
1.E+06
1.E+08
Repetitions to Failure
Transverse Cracking
Critical load conditions:
heavy single axle at mid-slab at edge day-time curl (additive with load) no load transfer at edge
Transverse Cracks
Corner Cracking
Critical load conditions:
heavy tandem axle at corner night-time curl (additive with load) warping no load transfer at edge and transverse joint erosion of base under corner
Corner Cracks
Longitudinal Cracking
Critical load conditions:
heavy single axle at mid-slab about 0.5 m from edge night-time curl warping
Longitudinal Crack
Critical (worst) load location for transverse and corner cracking wheels along slab edge best location is down middle of slabs For outside truck lane can use wide lane (4.3 m instead of 3.7 m) put stripe at 3.7 m to get trucks off edge potential alternative to tied shoulder Always try to keep trucks off edge and corners
Long-Term Durability
Concrete strength gain Sulfate attack Alkali-aggregate reaction Spalling, mechanical abrasion resistance
Sulfate Attack
Sulfates in soil and water can create a sulfate (acidic) environment for concrete slabs Sulfates reduce pH of cement, degrades some kinds of concrete crystal structures Controlled by concrete chemistry, water/cement ratio, access to water First identified in California, Type I/II cement usually required
Hydraulic cement B
Alkali-Aggregate Reaction
High pH of cement causes reaction with aggregates, particularly those with certain siliceous minerals Continued reaction (requires water) creates gel which expands When expansion strain greater than failure strain, concrete cracks Can completely crack, destroy concrete First identified in California in 1920s
Soils Expansion
Certain clay soils will expand when have access to source of water Can cause distortion in pavement Uniform support to slabs is key to good concrete pavements do not use unless completely mitigate risk of soils expansion
Maturity Testing
ASTM C 1074 Internal temperature of concrete relates directly to concrete strength Develop correlation curve in lab Precision to baseline cylinders: 5%
Maturity Testing
Compressive Strength (MPa) 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1000 0 0 100 200 300 400 500 Temperature-Time Factor, M(t) 5000 4000 3000 2000 Compressive Strength (psi)
M(t) = (Ta-To) t
M(t) = temperature-time factor t = time interval Ta = average concrete temp. To = datum temp. (-10oC)
Completed DBR
Remove PCC, Replace with 200-300 mm Concrete Slab 100 mm CTB or other base type (Recompact) ASB
Effect of Pavement Thickness and Construction Window on Project Duration 20 lane-km project
Const. Window Cont. (3 shift) Cont. (1 Shift) Weekend
203 mm
254 mm
305 mm
Duration
Weeks Weeks No. of Weekend
254 and 305 mm slab require new base (more time) For both AC and Rigid Long-Life Strategies most critical element controlling construction duration is reconstruction thickness, which determines amount of old material to be removed and new material to be hauled in