Optimizing Reinforcing Steel in 12-inch and 13-inch Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement (CRCP)

The distresses observed lately in thick CRCP sections in Texas are quite different from typical distress types that have long been recognized in CRCP – namely punchouts and spalling. The new distress type is characterized by segmentation of slabs at transverse cracks, generally under the wheel paths. Forensic investigations conducted to identify the cause(s) of those distresses indicate delamination of the slab at the depth of longitudinal steel. It appears that thicker slabs with longitudinal steel placed at mid-depth of the slab result in longer transverse crack spacing, which increases warping stresses. The increased warping stresses in concrete induce horizontal cracking at the steel depth, and wheel loading applications in this area cause segmentation of the upper half of concrete slabs, resulting in serious distresses. This project will investigate the mechanism of this distress type, and develop optimum steel designs. The investigation will consist of evaluating structural responses of CRCP through theoretical analyses as well as field experiments where various steel designs (different steel depths for one-mat and configurations for two-mat) are employed. The results of data analyses from both mechanistic analyses and field experiments will be used to develop optimum steel designs in CRCP.

• Record URL:
  https://library.ctr.utexas.edu/Presto/project=7026

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $526031
• Contract Numbers:

  0-7026

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Texas Department of Transportation

  125 E. 11th Street
  Austin, TX  United States  78701-2483
• Managing Organizations:

  Texas Department of Transportation

  125 E. 11th Street
  Austin, TX  United States  78701-2483
• Project Managers:

  Steele, Joanne

• Performing Organizations:

  Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Transportation (TechMRT)

  Texas Tech University
  Box 41023
  Lubbock, TX  United States  79409-1023
• Principal Investigators:

  Won, Moon

• Start Date: 20190814
• Expected Completion Date: 20220831
• Actual Completion Date: 0

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Continuously reinforced concrete pavements; Delamination; Pavement cracking; Pavement distress; Reinforcing steel; Transverse reinforcement
• Subject Areas: Design; Highways; Maintenance and Preservation; Materials; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01715960
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Texas Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: 0-7026
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Sep 10 2019 4:43PM