Assessment of the effect of concrete slab geometrical parameters on the distribution of stresses in the road pavement structure

Abstract

The analysis of the state of stress prevailing in a concrete overlay slab made on an existing flexible pavement structure is presented. The concrete overlay (whitetopping) was made on the using laid over a package of pavement layers of known stiffness. The effect of loads generated by the temperature gradient and vehicle wheels loads was examined. Several whitetopping variants differing in the structural geometry were analysed. The calculations were carried out using the finite element method. A change in the length of slab can lead to a reduction in pavement building costs. A greater slab length results in a smaller number of transverse joints per kilometre and consequently, in lower labour intensity and fewer dowels used. But the maximum stresses generated by thermal and service loads increase as the length of this structural component is increased. Therefore it may be necessary to increase the thickness of the slab to ensure its proper fatigue life. Using the proposed analytical method one can optimize concrete pavement rehabilitation costs. Because of the complexity of the problem an individual approach to the particular cases must be adopted in order to find an optimal solution.