Calibrated mechanistic design procedure for jointed plain concrete pavements

A comprehensive design procedure for the structural design of jointed plain concrete pavements is developed. The research approach followed in the development of the design procedure is distress prevention oriented. The design process involves the determination of pavement characteristics that minimize the development of specific distresses. The distresses considered are slab transverse cracking, joint faulting and joint spalling.Algorithms were developed to calculate the slab edge stress for a variety of boundary conditions, axle loads, and thermal curling based on closed form solutions and dimensional analysis. A new fatigue model from field slab tests was developed. The data from the accelerated traffic tests performed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers and from the AASHO Road Test were used in the development of the fatigue curve. The accumulated fatigue damage is computed using the Palmgren-Miner hypothesis at the critical point in the slab for the development of transverse cracking. This point is located at midslab between transverse joints at the slab edge. A correlation between the accumulated fatigue damage and field slab cracking was performed and a mean design curve derived. The structural thickness and length design of the concrete slab is based on a fatigue damage analysis.A joint design procedure was also developed. Mechanistic-empirical models were developed for doweled and undoweled transverse joint faulting, and joint spalling. A relationship between distresses and serviceability index was developed to make it possible to estimate the serviceability index over the life of the pavement, as well as the distresses.The design procedure can use either axle load spectra data or ESALs. One of the main features of the procedure is that the slab thickness design is coordinated with joint, shoulder and drainage design. Example designs are included with sensitivity analyses. The design procedure has been implemented into a user friendly personal computer program named ILLI-CONC, and is ready for trial implementation. It has been partially verified and shown to give adequate pavement structures.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio