|
Abstract:
|
Continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP ) is a portland cement concrete (PCC ) pavement structure with a continuous longitudinal steel layout . CRCP is forming a major portion of PCC roadway systems in the state of Texas due to its low life cycle cost , ease of maintenance , and durable nature . While the overall performance of CRCP is proven to be excellent , some performance problems are still found as a form of distresses such as punchout and spalling . The current pavement design guide states that these distresses are closely related with the early -age behavior characteristics of CRCP , and various measures are underway to develop to improve the long -term performance of CRCP in terms of initial material design and use , structural design , and quality control .
Understanding the current issues that pavement engineers and researchers face , the primary objective of this dissertation research focuses on sound understanding of the early -age structural behavior characteristics of CRCP and its effect on the long -term performance to provide reliable design and analysis criteria for CRCP . To achieve this main objective , characterizing the early -age structural response in CRCP was a core task of this study . For this purpose , a zero -stress temperature (ZST ) , one of the design and construction variables considered to have most significant effects on CRCP behavior and performance , was evaluated . As a beginning point of the entire framework , a series of field experiments were conducted in four new PCC pavement construction projects in the state of Texas to evaluate the actual structural response in early -age CRCP since a laboratory experiment would have a critical limitation in simulating the restraint conditions that exist in actual CRCP . To expand this core task to various parametric categories , a computer -aided parametric simulation was performed using valid numerical models . Based on data sets obtained from the parametric investigation , a statistical model to quantify the early -age structural response of CRCP was proposed to implement in codes of practice and pavement design guides .
A secondary task was to identify a correlation between the early -age structural response and the long -term performance of CRCP structures . Since the experimental and analytical investigations tended to provide quite localized information for the time -dependent behavior of CRCP , the overall performance of CRCP could not be properly identified solely based on those results . To overcome this limitation , extensive field condition surveys were performed in seven different old CRCP sections with known material and early -age temperature history to find the implications of early -age behavior characteristics on the long -term performance of CRCP from a macroscopic point of view .
It is expected that this research effort will provide pavement engineers and researchers with useful information to understand the actual time -dependent behavior of CRCP and a solid foundation to improve the sustainability of CRCP structures . |