National Concrete Pavement Technology Center

Project description

The impacts of curling and warping on long-term pavement performance are not well understood. While some recent studies have pointed to a strong connection between the two, others have stated that these findings may not be as significant as first thought. At the same time, we continue to seek out more cost-effective ways of designing and constructing pavements without sacrificing performance. In order to do this, the curling and warping relationship must be better understood. Phase I by Dr. Ceylan and his research team, “Impact of Curling and Warping on Concrete Pavement” (Phase I), field investigations were performed at six identified sites in Iowa highways to better understand the curling and warping behavior of portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements in Iowa and provide recommendations to mitigate PCC curling and warping. A stationary light detection and ranging (LiDAR) device was used to scan the slab surfaces. The degree of curling and warping along longitudinal, transverse, and diagonal directions were calculated for the predetermined slabs based on the point clouds acquired using LiDAR. The results and findings were correlated to pavement performance, mix design, pavement design, and construction-related variations at each site. the curling and warping literature suggested that water absorption of coarse aggregate is one of the significant mix design variables affecting warping degree/magnitude, but little reported information currently exists on water absorption of coarse aggregate used in Iowa PCC pavements to validate this literature review finding. Thus, a more comprehensive follow-up study on the impact of curling and warping on Iowa concrete pavement is recommended.