Received: 15 November 2017 Revised: 26 March 2018 Accepted: 2 October 2018

DOI: 10.1002/suco.201700253

TECHNICAL PAPER

Three-dimensional FEM loading stress analysis on a new airport

concrete pavement ultra-thin whitetopping overlay structure
Maojiang Zhu | Xingzhong Weng | Jun Zhang

Department of Airfield and Building Engineering,

Air Force Engineering University, Xi'an, Shaanxi,
China
Correspondence
Maojiang Zhu, Department of Airfield and
Building Engineering, Air Force Engineering
University, Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.
Email: zhumaojiang@126.com
In order to solve capability problems occurred in airport pavement slabs, a new air-
port concrete pavement ultra-thin whitetopping (UTW) overlay structure was put
forward on the basis of UTW theory. By modeling the structure in the FEM soft-
ware ANSYS and applying loads on it, the structural critical loading position was
determined, stress variation pattern at the bottom of the overlay slab was studied
regarding the changes in overlay slabs' size and thickness as well as the bonding
conditions between the asphalt overlay and UTW overlay. Meanwhile, the impact
of the asphalt overlay on the tensile stress at bottom of the UTW overlay slab,
which is strongly influenced by thickness and elastic modulus, was also explored.
In order to minimize the tensile stress at the bottom of the overlay slab and prolong
the lifespan of the pavement structure, the size and thickness of the UTW overlay
should be strictly controlled—the size should not exceed 1.8 × 1.8 m while the
thickness should be no less than 7 cm, and asphalt with elastic modulus over
1,500 MPa was recommended to be chosen as the raw material for the asphalt
overlay.

KEYWORDS

critical loading position, elastic modulus, FEM, tensile stress, UTW overlay

1 | INTRODUCTION asphalt concrete overlay (ACO) and Portland cement con-

As the globalization continues to impact the world, the
increasing flight schedules mean more frequent landings and
take-offs on the airstrips, which has brought great challenges
for the airport pavement. On the one hand, for some old air-
ports, after years of wheel loading and natural erosion, lots
of pavements had been seriously damaged and were close to
the end of their lifespan; On the other hand, however, for
some newly built airports, the bearing capacity of the pave-
ment may fail to meet the demands of increasing loads car-
ried by aircrafts or the altered plane type in the future. The
most conventional solution to these problems is to construct
a new overlay on the top of old pavement. Currently, com-
mon overlay structure can be classified into two types:
Discussion on this paper must be submitted within two months of the print
publication. The discussion will then be published in print, along with the
authors' closure, if any, approximately nine months after the print publication.
crete overlay (PCCO). Due to its low cost, convenience in
construction and low impact on traffic, the ACO structure
has been widely applied to the rehabilitation and reconstruc-
tion of highways. However, when ACO structure is applied
to airport pavement, high-speed take-offs and frequent heavy
wheel loading of the planes will definitely result in ACO's
serious crack and rutting. Therefore, it cannot meet the need
of airport pavement. As for the PCCO, which is now widely
used in airport pavement reconstruction, it has great disad-
vantages in both cost-effectiveness and convenience in con-
struction, as its function relies on a certain structural
thickness. What is more, during the airport pavements main-
tenance process, as the interface between the old and new
concrete layers cannot achieve a certain bonding property if
they had only been roughly dealt with, bonding condition
will be accelerated from fully bonded to unbonded under

Structural Concrete. 2018;1–10. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/suco © 2018 fib. International Federation for Structural Concrete 1
2 ZHU ET AL.
repeated wheel loading, therefore, leading to the early
destruction of the entire overlay structure.
Ultra-thin whitetopping (UTW) refers to an overlay
structure with a thickness of 5–10 cm, short joint spacing,
constructed on a milled asphalt layer and achieved fully
bond with it.1 Ever since its introduction in 1990s, UTW has
been widely used in rehabilitation and anti-rut reinforcement
of asphalt road pavement. It is recorded that approximately
2,200,000 m2 UTW road has been built across the United
States by the end of 2000.2 Considering the structural simi-
larity between UTW structure and airport pavement overlay
structure, a new airport concrete pavement UTW overlay
structure was put forward on the basis of UTW theory: an
asphalt overlay with a certain thickness was first constructed
on the top of the surface-treated old concrete pavement, on
the top of which an UTW overlay was constructed after-
wards. In this structure, while the asphalt overlay itself acted
as a transition layer which improved the bonding condition
between the two concrete layers, it also bonded with the
UTW overlay and bear loads together, which resulted in the
downward displacement of the neutral axis, therefore greatly
reduced the tensile stress generated at the bottom of UTW
slab.3 Due to the adoption of asphalt, when compared with
conventional UTW structure, this new UTW overlay struc-
ture holds the natural merits of a greater bearing capacity
and a longer lifespan along with the demerits of possible
structural corrosion and reflection cracks within the
structure.
Ever since UTW had been put into practical use in high-
ways, researches into its theoretical foundation and perfor-
mance improvement began in 1990s worldwide. Mack et al.4
first explored the feasibility of constructing a thin concrete
overlay on an asphalt layer by means of theoretical calcula-
tion, followed by the assumption raised by Scott5 that by
mixing with fibers, an increase in the strength of UTW over-
lay could be achieved. The strengthen theory was later veri-
fied by Bordelon and Roesler.6 Afterwards, Mu and Zhao7,8
studied the interface between the asphalt and concrete over-
lays, and came up with a superimposed cohesive zone model
to investigate the interface debonding. Li and Vanden-
bossche9 redefined the failure mode for thin and ultra-thin
whitetopping overlay with short joint spacing. Nam et al.10
established equations to predict lifespan of full-scale con-
crete pavement overlay over flexible pavement based on
fatigue theories. Jundhare11 and Li et al.12 tapped into exist-
ing UTW constructions in their own countries, carried out
evaluations and analysis concerning their performances and
problems. Wen and Li13 and Roesler and Wang14 employed
mathematical methods, implemented thermal stress analysis
and back calculation in UTW pavement, respectively. Saeed
et al.15 built a two-dimensional (2D) FEM model of the air-
port pavement and discussed the proper thickness of UTW
overlay in SNH airport.
Domestically, Hu and Ma16 first calculated the loading
stress and thermal stress of UTW highway structure by
employing a three-dimensional (3D) FEM model of the
UTW overlay. Based on the calculating results, fatigue break
was proposed as the main failure mode of UTW roads. Fol-
lowing experiments were carried out in Changsha Technol-
ogy University, China Civil Aviation University and Tongji
University, by conducting 3D FEM modeling and small
scale lab experiments, researchers analyzed loading and ther-
mal stresses in UTW overlay, simulated pavement faulting
and came up with a design procedure of UTW roads.17–19
In a word, the present UTW researches mainly focus on
its application in highways, seldom has it been considered to
applied to airport concrete pavement rehabilitation. Besides,
different structural condition, working condition and envi-
ronment made it impossible to put research results from
highway UTW overlay into the construction of airport UTW
overlay. Therefore, to better understand the feasibility and
stress pattern of this new UTW structure, further studies are
needed. However, since multiple parameters are concerned
in this UTW structure, yet the interconnections among these
parameters remain unknown. If the field tests are carried out
without comprehension of these connections, variables may
interfere with each other, causing series of wasted time and
tests. By conducting the simulation first, however, such
wastes can be greatly reduced while the basic interconnec-
tions among parameters are gained. Therefore, it is perfectly
reasonable to carry out computer simulations before intro-
ducing any actual experiments. In view of such circum-
stances, this 3D FEM loading stress analysis was carried out
directly on the computer. Results acquired from this simula-
tion are good enough to lay the foundation for future field
tests of this UTW structure.
2 | F EM M O D E L I N G O F T H E N E W U T W
OVERLAY
2.1 | Establishment of the overlay structure model
This simulation modeled the UTW overlay structure in the
ANSYS software and calculated relevant parameters that
may influence the stress variation of the structure. According
to the actual working state of the concrete overlay, a “hori-
zontal isotropic contact model”20 was chosen to simulate the
contact condition between the asphalt and UTW layers.
Meanwhile, to be in line with present specification,21 elastic
half-space foundation theory was adopted in the modeling:
structural model was set as four side free slabs with finite
dimensions on an elastic half-space foundation and the elas-
tic layered system is chosen in structural analysis. In addi-
tion, to reflect features of the half-infinite foundation,
subgrade exceeding the ranges of overlay structures and old
concrete slabs are simulated with expanded sizes and a fixed
underside. In the meantime, to better reflect the
ZHU ET AL.
FIGURE 1 Solid model of the UTW overlay
interconnections among all layers, a single slab was chosen
as an independent research representative of this structure.
The solid model of the UTW structure is shown in
Figure 1.
During the modeling, four elements were used to simu-
late each layer and contact conditions among them: SOLID
185 element was chosen to simulate both the subgrade layer
and asphalt overlay, SOLID 65 element was used to simulate
the old concrete pavement as well as the newly constructed
UTW overlay. TARGE170 3D element and CONTA 174 ele-
ment were combined as contact pairs to simulate the isotro-
pic contact layer, the model of which is shown in Figure 2.
Theoretically there are three bonding conditions between
asphalt and concrete layers in working conditions: fully
bonded, half bonded and Partial bonded. Since the partial
bonded contact is unable to simulate through FEM
FIGURE 2 Model of isotropic contact layer
3
TABLE 1 Mechanic index of layers
Layer type Elastic modulus/GPa Poisson's ratio
UTW overlay 35 0.15
Old concrete layer 30 0.15
Asphalt overlay 0.5–2 0.25
Subgrade layer 0.045–0.4 0.3
modeling, this simulation features on the other two bonding
conditions. And the stress transition pattern in between was
concluded through a contrastive analysis between the fully
bonded and unbonded condition.
According to relevant specification,22 mechanics index
of each layer in the elastic layered system is given in
Table 1.
2.2 | Determination of loads upon the model
When simulating the stress pattern of the structural model,
the following two stresses are of major concern: one is the
loading stress generated by wheel loading and the other is
the curling stress generated by variation of the inner temper-
ature field.
Given the fact that the slab length of this UTW slab was
much shorter than that of conventional concrete slabs, which
was also shorter than 25 times of its slab thickness. Com-
pared to the direct wheel loading, the curling stress gener-
ated by thermal effects inside the slab can be neglected.
Therefore, only the wheel loading was taken into consider-
ation as the origin of stress in this simulation. To push the
bearing capacity of this UTW structure to its limit, the wheel
load was chosen from a single axel and single wheel aircraft.
The tire pressure of its main tire was 1.27 MPa and the
dynamic load from the main tire was 112.77kN. All loads
above have been equivalent to a 30 × 30 cm rectangular
uniformly distributed load according to Equation (1):
Pd
A¼ : ð1Þ
p
In the expression: A stands for area of tire mark (m2), Pd
stands for revised wheel load after taking dynamic effects
into consideration, p stands for the main tire pressure.
2.3 | Convergence check on the model
2.3.1 | Determination of the subgrade's effective
calculating range
When a FEM is adopted, it is impossible to divide elements
within an infinite zone. Therefore, in order to reflect the infi-
nite feature of the subgrade, it is necessary to determine its
effective calculating range. During the calculating process,
the subgrade was defined as a 3D entity expanded from the
pavement structure. Depth and size of the subgrade was
gradually expanded, respectively and the impact of this vari-
ation on the stress at the slab bottom was then observed until
the stress itself showed evident convergence.
4 ZHU ET AL.
TABLE 2 Parameters used in determining the critical loading position
Elastic
Layer type Size/cm modulus/GPa
UTW overlay 150 × 150 × 10 35
Old concrete 150 × 150 × 30 30
layer
Asphalt overlay 150 × 150 × 10 1.5
Subgrade layer 350 × 350 0.3
According to the calculation, the final effective calculat-
ing range of the subgrade was determined as 3.5 ×
3.5 × 4 m.
2.3.2 | Model meshing
Meshing calculations were conducted on all three axis of the
structure. Meshing plans were designed in six groups as the
meshing size grows. The tensile strength of each group was
calculated as an index to compare the meshing size. The spe-
cific meshing size of each group was shown in Table 2 and
the calculated tensile strength of each group was shown in
Figure 3.
It is clear in Figure 3 that as the meshing size grew, the
calculated tensile strength curve first experienced a major
increase, then flattened and converged at a certain value.
When the meshing size grew through the first two groups,
the changed tensile strength reached 17.7%, which suggested
that at this meshing level, the meshing size still had an
important impact on the structural calculating accuracy. As
the meshing size grows, tensile strength variations in group
4, 5, and 6 were only 0.79 and 1.3%, respectively, suggest-
ing that when the meshing size of a certain axis was intensi-
fied to a certain level, the meshing size variation hardly
changed the calculated tensile strength. And finer meshing
size above this level will only accumulate burden on the
computer while achieving little accuracy.
When meshing the structural model, both the computa-
tional accuracy and computer calculating capability should
FIGURE 3 Loading positions
be taken into consideration. A finer mesh surely gives more
Poisson's accurate result. However, it would also require better com-
ratio puter hardware and result in more computational efforts.
0.15 Therefore, to reflect the exact working condition of this
0.15 UTW structure, meshing size should be chosen in a way that
accurate results can be obtained through optimized computa-
0.25
tional costs. For those key parts of the structure, mesh
0.3
should be intensified whereas for those minor parts, mesh
should be scattered.
After the inter-group comparison, based on ideas above,
the final mesh size of x-axis, y-axis and z-axis was deter-
mined at 30, 30, and 6, respectively.
3 | L O AD IN G S TRE S S AN AL YS I S O N T HE
UT W OV E R L A Y
3.1 | Determination of the critical loading position
The critical loading position refers to the position on the
pavement where the maximum tensile stress may be gener-
ated and is most likely to suffer structural failure under
repeated wheel loading. Previous experiments23 had pinned
critical loading position of conventional airport concrete
pavement structures on the middle of longitudinal joint or
the transverse joint of slabs. For this new UTW structure,
however, due to its structural difference from conventional
ones, its critical position remained unknown until further
experiments. To determine the critical loading position of
this structure and lay the foundation for further studies, sim-
ulated wheel loads were applied to five different positions of
UTW overlays (Figure 3) while the flexural-tensile stress at
slab bottom was measured and recorded. Loads were applied
as 30 × 30 cm rectangular uniformly distributed loads,
bonding condition was assumed as fully bonded and other
parameters used in this simulation were listed in Table 2.
Testing results were shown in Figure 4.
Through the analysis of Figure 4, it is easy to conclude
as follows:
FIGURE 4 Loading result
ZHU ET AL. 5

TABLE 3 Parameters used in UTW loading stress analysis

Elastic Poisson's
Layer type Size/cm modulus/GPa ratio
UTW overlay 35 0.15
Old concrete 30 0.15
layer
Asphalt 1.5 0.25
overlay
Subgrade layer 350 × 350 × 400 0.3 0.3

FIGURE 5 The critical loading position
1. When loads shifted along the longitudinal joint and y-
axis from the slab corner (loading position 5) to the cen-
ter of the slab (loading position 1), flexural-tensile stress
at the slab bottom increased at first, reached a peak at
the middle of the longitudinal joint (Loading position 3)
and then experienced an evident decrease.
2. Of all loading positions tested, the very one at the mid-
dle of the longitudinal joint (Loading position 3) showed
the maximum flexural-tensile stress, therefore this posi-
tion is determined as the critical loading position of the
UTW overlay. (Figure 5).
3. The critical loading position of this UTW structural
model is in accordance with conventional concrete pave-
ment slabs.
4. To study the structural stress response to the worst con-
dition, all future loads in this experiment would be
applied on this critical loading position.
3.2 | Structural stress analysis under fully bonded
condition
2. When the slabs' side length was less than 1.2 m, the vari-
ation curve of tensile stress at slab bottom showed an
evident sign of inflection. When the slabs' thickness was
less than 7 cm, tensile stress at slab bottom decreased as
the size of slab expanded. However, when thickness
exceeded 7 cm, tensile stress at slab bottom grew as the
size of slab expanded. In short, as slab thickness grew,
variation curve of tensile stress at slab bottom inflected
from decrease to increase.
3. When slabs' thickness was greater than 7 cm, as the side
length of slab decreased, tensile stress at slab bottom
also decreased. Result achieved here is in accordance
with the advice of a short joint space for UTW roads
given by relevant UTW experiments.
4. For UTW slabs with different side length, tensile stress
at slab bottom showed a general tendency of decreasing
as slab thickness grew.
In general, for UTW slabs under fully bonded condition,
if their side length is larger than 1.2 m, we can ignore the
impact on tensile stress at slab bottom caused by their size;
if not, however, a proper correction coefficient on tensile
stress is required. When determining the size of slabs, for
those with thickness over 7 cm, a smaller size will help to
reduce the generated tensile stress. However, for those with
thickness less than 7 cm, consider the fact that the involve-
ment of thermal effect can no longer be neglected in this
case, the proper slab size should be determined by both slab

Due to limit in slab thickness, side lengths of UTW slabs are

usually relatively small. Having taken this into consideration,
the designed UTW slab sizes in this simulation are listed as
follows: 0.6 × 0.6 m, 0.9 × 0.9 m, 1.2 × 1.2 m, 1.5 × 1.5 m,
and 1.8 × 1.8 m. Thickness of the UTW overlay (hc) were
designed from 5 to 10 cm, with interval of 1 cm. Bonding con-
dition between the UTW overlay and asphalt overlay was set
as fully bonded. Other parameters are given in Table 3 below:
FEM simulations were carried out on different sizes and
thickness of UTW slabs, results gained are shown in
Figures 6 and 7.
After analyzing data from figures above, it is easy to
conclude that:

1. When the slabs' side length was less than 1.2 m, its FIGURE 6 Impact of UTW slabs' side length on tensile stress (fully
impact on the tensile stress at slab bottom became minor. bonded)
6 ZHU ET AL.
FIGURE 7 Impact of UTW slabs' thickness on tensile stress (fully
bonded)
bottom tensile stress and warping (curling) stress within
the slab.
3.3 | Structural stress analysis under unbonded
condition
Apart from setting the bonding condition from fully bonded
to unbonded, other simulation parameters remained the same
as were illustrated in chapter 2.2, simulation results are
shown in Figures 8 and 9.
Through analysis of Figures 8 and 9, it is easy to
know that:
1. As the thickness of slab grew, tensile stress at slab bot-
tom showed an evident sign of decreasing. When side
length of slabs exceeded 1.2 m, tensile stress varied in
the way of power functions.
FIGURE 8 Impact of UTW slabs' thickness on tensile stress (unbonded)
FIGURE 9 Impact of UTW slabs' side length on tensile stress (unbonded)
2. Variation of the tensile stress at slab bottom with slabs'
side length showed a linear pattern. A slope turning
point occurred at the side length of 1.2 m and with
less thickness, the slope turning became more obvious.
When the slab thickness was less than 7 cm, stress's
variation curve with side length was rather steep, indi-
cating that thickness had a major influence on loading
stress. As thickness increased, the variation curve flat-
tened gradually, indicating that the influence was
decreasing.
3. Tensile stress gradually increased as size of slab
expanded. Slabs with less thickness generated greater
tensile stress at their bottom and showed more evident
sign of increasing.
In conclusion, for slabs with small thickness under the
unbonded condition, slab size should be strictly controlled to
best ease the generated tensile stress.
3.4 | Contrastive analysis on loading stress between
two bonding conditions
In order to compare the differences in tensile stress variation
between the two different bonding conditions and therefore
deduct the stress variation pattern under the half-bonded
condition, a contrastive analysis concerning both conditions
was conducted, in which a stress variation percentage (SVP)
Δ (Equation (2)) was chosen as the measurement.


Δ ¼ σ unbinded −σ fully bonded =σ fully bonded : ð2Þ
The calculating results are shown in Figures 10 and 11.
Through the analysis of Figures 10 and 11, it is
clear that:
1. It is only when slab thickness exceeded 8 cm and slab
side length was no greater than 0.9 m that the loading
stress under unbonded condition was smaller than that
under fully bonded condition. Such occasions occurred
altogether 4 times in the figure, at 8 cm slab thickness
ZHU ET AL.
FIGURE 10 Variation pattern between slab thickness and SVP
and 0.6 m side length, 9 cm slab thickness and 0.6 m
side length, 10 cm slab thickness and both 0.6/0.9 m
side length with decreasing percentage of 10.5, 16.4,
19.9, and 3.4%, respectively. In other situations, loading
stress under unbonded condition was always larger than
that under fully bonded condition. The maximum varia-
tion occurred as 294% at 5 cm slab thickness and 1.8 m
side length while the minimum one occurred as 2.67% at
9 cm slab thickness and 0.9 m side length.
2. The general changing tendency of SVP is a decrease
with the growth of slab thickness and an increase with
the expanded slab size.
3. Slope in the variation curve of SVP with slab thickness
flattened when slab side length is relatively small. This
phenomenon was especially evident when thickness is
small and as thickness grew, curves showed a paralleled
pattern.
4. When slab thickness was greater than 7 cm, the variation
curve of SVP with slab side length showed an obvious
linear pattern. However, in occasions, when it was less
FIGURE 11 Variation pattern between slab side length and SVP
7
than 7 cm, several evident turning points emerged in the
figure.
In other words, when UTW slab has a relatively small
thickness, smaller slab size should be chosen to lower the
loading stress. Considering3 that in actual use, UTW struc-
ture works in half bonded condition mostly, tensile stress
occurs in such condition should not exceed that under
unbonded condition. Considering all factors discussed in this
chapter, it is strongly recommended that the slab side length
is limited between 1.8 and 1.2 m while the slab thickness is
maintained at 7–10 cm to ensure the function of the
structure.
4 | L O AD IN G S TRE S S AN AL YS I S O N
AS P HA L T OV E R L A Y
Previous research results on thin concrete whitetopping24
had proved that the thickness and elastic modulus of the
asphalt overlay had important effects on the loading stress
and function of the entire pavement structure. Therefore,
when we determine the tensile stress on UTW slabs, it is also
necessary to take these parameters into consideration.
To better reflect how the asphalt overlay influenced the
structure, this simulation set the UTW overlay as the surface
course, the asphalt overlay as the base course and the old
concrete pavement layer along with the subgrade layer as the
foundation course. Bonding condition between layers was
set as unbonded and loads were applied on the critical load-
ing position.
4.1 | Analysis of thickness's impact on loading stress
Considering that both the UTW and asphalt overlays are
assumed to be a whole in actual use, when we explore how
the asphalt overlay's thickness influences the loading stress,
the thickness of the UTW overlay should also be taken into
consideration. Therefore, in this simulation, both the thick-
ness of the UTW overlay (hc) and the asphalt layer (ha) are
designed from 5 to 10 cm, with an interval of 1 cm. Other
parameters used in the simulation are list in Table 4. Tensile
stress occurred at the UTW slab bottom was observed and
recorded, the simulation results are shown in Figure 12.
Through analysis on Figure 12 it is obvious that:
TABLE 4 Parameters used in asphalt overlay loading stress analysis
Elastic Poisson's
Layer type Size/cm modulus/GPa ratio
UTW overlay 150 × 150 35 0.15
Old concrete 30 0.15
layer
Asphalt 1 0.25
overlay
Subgrade layer 350 × 350 × 400 0.3 0.3
8 ZHU ET AL.
FIGURE 12 Variation curve of hc, ha and tensile stress
1. Under the condition of the same UTW slab thickness,
the variation rate of tensile stress gradually decreased as
the thickness of the asphalt overlay increased.
2. Tensile stress generally showed a linear variation pattern
with the asphalt overlay's thickness. As the thickness of
UTW overlay increased, the slope of ha-tensile stress
curve flattened, indicating that the thinner UTW overlay
is, the more impact would be imposed on tensile stress
by the asphalt overlay's thickness.
Although variation patterns gained above are generally
in accordance with results gained from UTW road tests, a
major difference between these two scenarios should be
noticed: the layer below the asphalt layer in a UTW road
structure is a semi-rigid base while the layer below the
asphalt overlay in this model is an old concrete layer with
far more larger elastic modulus. Therefore in this scenario
tensile stress appeared at the bottom of UTW slabs increases
instead of decreases as the thickness of asphalt overlay
grows. This pattern gives us great insight in designing the
FIGURE 13 Variation curve of Ea, hc and tensile stress (ha = 6 cm)
FIGURE 14 Variation curve of Ea, hc and tensile stress (ha = 7 cm)
asphalt overlay for the UTW overlay construction: a thinner
asphalt overlay is desired as long as its strength and function
meet the daily usage requirements.
4.2 | Analysis of elastic modulus's impact on
loading stress
In order to gain the exact influence which asphalt overlay's
elastic modulus imposed on tensile stress, elastic modulus of
the asphalt overlay (Ea) were set as 500/1,000/1,200/
1,500/2,000 MPa in this simulation. Other parameters
remained the same as in chapter 3.1. Results gained from
this simulation are shown in Figures 13–17.
Through detailed analysis, conclusions are gained as
follows:
1. As the elastic modulus increased, tensile stress generated
at the UTW slab bottom declined in a nonlinear pattern.
FIGURE 15 Variation curve of Ea, hc and tensile stress (ha = 8 cm)
ZHU ET AL.
FIGURE 16 Variation curve of Ea, hc and tensile stress (ha = 9 cm)
And with the increase of elastic modulus, variation
curve tended to flatten out.
2. UTW slabs with smaller thickness experienced a greater
tensile stress and a steeper variation curve, indicating
that elastic modulus here had more impact on tensile
stress generated at the slab bottom.
Through conclusions drawn from this chapter, to better
control tensile stress generated from the slab bottom and pro-
long the life span of the entire UTW structure, following
measures are recommended to be adopted in the design and
construction process: On the one hand, as long as the asphalt
overlay meets the requirements of daily usage, smaller thick-
ness should be achieved in the original design; On the other
hand, when the elastic modulus altered from 1,500 to
2,000 Mpa, the decline rates of tensile stress are all less than
20%, considering the fact that the declining rate of tensile
stress decreases as the elastic modulus grows along with the
cost-effectiveness of asphalt material, asphalt materials with
FIGURE 17 Variation curve of Ea, hc and tensile stress (ha = 10 cm)
9
elastic modulus over 1,500 MPa are recommended to be
chosen in the construction.
5 | C O NC L U S IO N S
1. The critical loading position of this UTW overlay struc-
ture lies in the middle of the longitudinal joint of UTW
slabs, where the maximum flexural-tensile is generated.
2. For UTW slabs under the fully bonded condition, as slab
thickness grew, variation curve of tensile stress at slab
bottom inflected from decrease to increase. If their side
length is larger than 1.2 m, we can ignore the impact on
tensile stress at slab bottom caused by their size; if not,
however, a proper correction coefficient on tensile stress
is required because their size here does have a signifi-
cant influence on it. When we determine the size of
slabs, for those with thickness over 7 cm, a smaller size
will help to reduce the generated tensile stress. However,
for those with thickness less than 7 cm, the proper slab
size should be determined by both slab bottom tensile
stress and warping (curling) stress within the slab.
3. For slabs with small thickness under the unbonded con-
dition, when side length of slabs exceeded 1.2 m, tensile
stress varied in the way of power functions. Tensile
stress gradually increased as size of slab expanded and
slabs with less thickness generated greater tensile stress
at their bottom and showed more evident sign of increas-
ing. Therefore, slab size should be strictly controlled to
best ease the generated tensile stress.
4. To ensure the function of the structure, it is strongly
recommended that the UTW slab side length is limited
between 1.8 and 1.2 m while its thickness is maintained
at 7–10 cm.
5. Tensile stress generally showed a linear variation pattern
with the asphalt overlay's thickness. It increases while
its variation rate decreases as the thickness of asphalt
overlay grows. As the elastic modulus increased, tensile
stress generated at the UTW slab bottom declined in a
nonlinear pattern.
6. To better control tensile stress generated from the slab
bottom and prolong the life span of the entire UTW
structure, on the one hand, as long as the asphalt overlay
meets the requirements of daily usage, smaller thickness
should be achieved in the original design; On the other
hand, asphalt materials with elastic modulus over
1,500 MPa are recommended to be chosen in the
construction.
OR CID
Maojiang Zhu https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6191-2108
Jun Zhang https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0035-7272
10 ZHU ET AL.

REFERENC ES 21. CAAC, Specifications for airport cement concrete pavement design
(MHT5004-2010) Beijing, China: China Civil Aviation; 2010
1. Mack JW, Cole LW, Mohsen JP. Analytical considerations for thin concrete
22. CMOC, Specifications for design of highway cement concrete pavement
overlays on asphalt. Trans Res Rec. 1993;1388, Washington, DC: National
(JTG D50-017). Beijing, China: China Communication Press; 2017
Research Council:167–173.
23. Cui P, Li Y, Sun L. Loading stresses analysis of ultra-thin whitetopping
2. Li Y, Zhang L, Shao L. Development and application of ultra-thin whitetop-
(UTW). Chin J Undergr Space Eng. 2006;2:518–522.
ping on old asphalt pavement. J Highway Trans Res Dev. 2004;21(5):8–11.
24. Pereira D d S, Balbo JT, Khazanovich L. Theoretical and field evaluation of
3. Li Y, Cui P, Shao L. Design method for ultra-thin whitetopping (UTW)
interaction between ultra-thin whitetopping and existing asphalt pavement.
structures. Chin Civil Eng J. 2006;39(9):123–127.
Int J Pavement Eng. 2006;7(4):251–260.
4. Mack J, Hawbaker L, Cole L. Ultrathin whitetopping: State-of-the-practice
for thin concrete overlays of asphalt. Transportation Research Record:
Journal of the Transportation Research Board. 1998;1610:39–43. AUTHORS' BIOGRAPHIES
5. Speakman J, Scott III H. Ultra-thin, fiber-reinforced concrete overlays for
urban intersections. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the
Transportation Research Board. 1996;1532:15–20.
Maojiang Zhu
6. Bordelon A, Roesler J. Design with fiber reinforcement for thin concrete Department of Airfield and Building
overlays bonded to asphalt. J Trans Eng. 2011;138(4):430–435. Engineering
7. F M, Vandenbossche J. A superimposed cohesive zone model for investigat-
ing the fracture properties of concrete–asphalt Interface Debonding. Fatigue
Air Force Engineering University
Fract Eng Mater Struct. 2007;40:496–511. Xi’an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
8. Zhao F, Wang S. Properties of Interface structure between ultra-thin white zhumaojiang@126.com
topping and old concrete pavement. Adv Mat Res. 2011;163-167:
3560–3568.
9. Li Z, Vandenbossche JM. Redefining the failure mode for thin and ultra-thin Xingzhong Weng
whitetopping with a 1.8-x1.8-m (6-x6-ft) joint spacing. Annual Meeting of
Transportation Research Board, 2013;2368(1):133–144.
Department of Airfield and Building
10. Nam B-H, Suh C, Won MC. Fatigue-life prediction of full-scale concrete Engineering
pavement overlay over flexible pavement: Super-accelerated pavement Air Force Engineering University
testing application. ACI Mater J. 2013;110(1):13–22.
11. Jundhare DR. Analysis and performance evaluation of whitetopping overlay
Xi’an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
on existing flexible pavement. Pune: Department of Civil Engineering, wxz2626@sina.com
Sinhgad College of Engineering, 2012.
12. Li X, Wen H. Performance evaluation of whitetopping and ultrathin
Whitetopping pavements. Trans Res Rec J. 2011;2205:247–253. Jun Zhang
13. Wen H, Li X. Backcalculation of ultra-thin Whitetopping pavement Department of Airfield and Building
based on saint-Venant's principle. J Perform Constr Facil. 2013;27(4):
477–484.
Engineering
14. Roesler JR, Wang D. Thermal stress analysis in ultra-thin whitetopping Air Force Engineering University
pavement. 8th International conference on the bearing capacity of roads, Xi’an, Shaanxi 710038, China.
railway and airfields. Champaign, IL: Taylor & Francis Group (CRC Press),
2009:1079–1090.
kgdzjtg@163.com
15. Saeed A, Hammons MI, Hall Jr JW. “Design, construction, and performance
monitoring of ultra-thin whitetopping at a general aviation airport.” Advanc-
ing Airfield Pavements. 2001:229–252. Published by ASCE library.
16. Hu C, Ma B. Analysis of loading stress of UTW. J Trans Eng Inform. 2003;
1(1):107–112.
17. Cui P, Li Y, Zhang L, Shao L. Stress analysis of ultra-thin
whitetopping(UTW)in pavement faulting. J Changsha Commun Univ. 2005;
21(3):37–42.
18. Cui P, Li Y, Zhang L, Shao L. Simulation and analysis of ultra-thin white-
How to cite this article: Zhu M, Weng X, Zhang J.
topping panel faulting. J Chongq Jiaotong Univ. 2006;25(2):42–51. Three-dimensional FEM loading stress analysis on a
19. Cui P, Zhang L, Li Y, Sun L. Ultra-thin Whitetopping pavement structural new airport concrete pavement ultra-thin whitetopping
design method based on 3D finite element. J Tongji Univ (Nat Sci). 2006;
overlay structure. Structural Concrete. 2018;1–10.
34(12):1637–1642.
20. Hu C, Huang B. Design methods and construction techniques for composite https://doi.org/10.1002/suco.201700253
road pavement. Beijing, China: China Communications Press, 1999.