Development of a Numerical Simulation Tool for Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavements

Project Details
STATE

OK

SOURCE

TRID

START DATE

09/01/15

END DATE

11/20/18

RESEARCHERS

Cesar Carrasco, Soheil Nazarian, Nancy Aguirre

SPONSORS

US DOT, Southern Plains Transportation Center

KEYWORDS

Continuously reinforced concrete pavements (CRC pavements), Finite element method, Foundations, Geometric configurations and shapes, Mechanistic-empirical pavement design, Pavement joints, Reinforcing steel, Simulation, Temperature gradients, Traffic loads

Project description

The accurate modeling of the main features of continuously-reinforced concrete pavements (CRCP) is of primary importance in a mechanistic-empirical pavement design procedure. The use of the finite element (FE) method as a comprehensive tool for modeling the responses of rigid pavements, CRCP in particular, has been limited because of the complexity of calculations in modeling material nonlinear behaviors, which are difficult to describe mathematically and computationally. Significant amount of research has been conducted to improve the design of CRCPs under traffic, environmental, and thermal loads. To develop a reliable model that better represents the behavior of CRCP, a clear understanding of the design features that impact CRCP responses is essential. Researchers from the University of Texas at El Paso developed NYSLAB to analyze the response of comprehensively jointed concrete pavements (JCPs) under different geometric configurations, foundation models, temperature gradient profiles and traffic loads.
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