GRI-18 Geosynthetics Research and Development in Progress

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Performance of Concrete Pavements using Geocomposite Drainage Layer

R. H. L. Chen1, J. Leng2 and A. Zhao3

1
Professor of Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia
University, Morgantown, WV 26506; Email: hchen@wvu.edu
2
Design Engineer, Tenax Corporation, 4800 East Monument Street, Baltimore, MD,
21205; Email: jjleng@tenax.com
3
Vice President of Engineering, Tenax Corporation, 4800 East Monument Street,
Baltimore, MD, 21205; Email: azhao@tenax.com

Abstract

Rigid concrete pavements are subject to cracking, due to traffic load, fluctuation of
temperature, and particularly moisture. An alternative for improved pavement
drainage is to incorporate a geocomposite drainage layer underneath the concrete
pavement. The geocomposite has advantage over natural drainage materials in
maintaining its flow capacity and compressive stiffness under the construction and
service loads. This paper presents the ongoing study of concrete pavements over
triplanar drainage geocomposites in West Virginia University. The frictional study of
concrete blocks cast over the geocomposite demonstrated that geocomposite and
concrete come to a very strong bond where the governing friction behavior is that
between the geocomposite and subgrade. It was observed that initial drying shrinkage
within the concrete specimens has a greater rate than that of concrete specimens over
geocomposite, and average concrete cast on geocomposite has 9% less drying
shrinkage than that of concrete cast with standard mold. The water seepage that
occurs before the concrete has set has no affect on the overall compressive strength of
the concrete. The forthcoming research will address the subgrade reaction with the
geocomposite above the subgrade, concrete beam fatigue behavior, and shear transfer
across the joint or crack.

Current Permeable Base Practice of Concrete Pavements

Concrete pavements have been widely used for highways, airports and streets,
including jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP), jointed reinforced concrete
pavement (JRCP), and continuous reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP). Concrete is

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Geosynthetics Research and Development in Progress
 GRI-18 Geosynthetics Research and Development in Progress

by far the most rigid pavement material, which spreads wheel loads over large areas
of the subgrade and yields small vertical deflections. However, concrete pavements
are subject to cracking, due to traffic loads and environmental factors (temperature
and moisture). While contraction joints or reinforcing steel are used to control
cracking, it is also important to maintain a uniform support and positive subsurface
drainage for concrete pavements to prevail throughout the service life. Critical
concrete pavement distresses, related to and accelerated by excess moisture and poor
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drainage conditions, include pumping, faulting, and corner breaks (caused by erosion
and loss of support beneath the corners or edges of concrete pavement slabs).
Permeable base has been increasingly used to drain subsurface water away from the
pavement system. Permeable base has significantly less fine particles than a typical
dense graded base, with typical permeability from 3.5 × 10-3 m/sec (1,000 ft/day) to
3.5 × 10-2 m/sec (10,000 ft/day). Permeable base may be stabilized with Portland
cement or asphalt to withstand construction traffic.

Drainage Geocomposite Under Concrete Pavements

An alternative for improving drainage beneath concrete pavements is to incorporate a

triplanar geocomposite drainage layer under concrete pavement, which is tied into
roadway edge drains as shown in Figure 1. This configuration directly removes the
infiltration water entering the pavement system through cracks and joints, before it
enters the underlying subbase/subgrade. In addition, the geocomposite layer prevents
subbase/subgrade fines from pumping at the pavement cracks and joints by providing
filtration and separation. A triplanar geocomposite placed under the concrete
pavement is hydraulically equivalent to 10 cm of open graded permeable base with
hydraulic conductivity k = 2.4 × 10-3 m/sec (6,800 ft/day). Different from natural
drainage materials, which have usually weak structural stability and are exposed to
contamination by finer soils during or after construction, triplanar geocomposites
maintain their performance under construction loads and conditions.

Figure 1. Use of geocomposite as drainage underneath concrete pavement.

Concrete pavement slabs will inevitably undergo some cracking, due to stress
induced by traffic loads, temperature fluctuations and drying shrinkage. The manner
in which the concrete slabs crack will determine the quality of performance and the
life span for the pavement. It is crucial to understand exactly how the introduction of
the drainage geocomposite layer affects the cracking pattern and performance of
concrete pavements and slabs

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Geosynthetics Research and Development in Progress
 GRI-18 Geosynthetics Research and Development in Progress

Performance of Concrete Pavements

A experimental study of concrete pavement supported by triplanar geocomposite is in

progress in West Virginia University. The study includes frictional resistance
between concrete block and the underlying layers, concrete drying shrinkage,
ompressive strength, geocomposite stiffness and modulus of subgrade reaction,
concrete beam fatigue behavior, and shear stress transfer across the joint or crack.
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Friction behavior. The frictional resistance provided by the underlying layer has a
large influence on the cracking behavior of the pavement. The friction behavior was
investigated by push tests of concrete blocks (60-cm x 60-cm x 30-cm) cast on top of
the geocomposite (as shown in Figure 2) at different concrete ages as well as different
water-to-cement (w/c) ratios. It was found that even at very early stages of concrete
maturity, the geocomposite and concrete comes to a very strong bond to the extent
that the governing friction behavior is that between the geocomposite and subgrade.
No significant difference in the performance of the frictional resistance was observed
when the w/c ratio was varied from 0.47 to 0.57. A friction coefficient of about 0.6
was determined between the geocomposite and gravel subbase. Applying a friction
coefficient of 0.6 in the subgrade-drag formula or the University of Texas formula
will yield a reduced amount of the steel reinforcement against thermal expansion and
shrinkage, compared to a typical friction coefficient of 1.5 for concrete floors on
ground.

Figure 2. Push test for concrete blocks over geocomposite.

Concrete curing and drying shrinkage. Conceptually, the presence of a drainage

geocomposite under the concrete slab will normalize the tendency of water moving
upwards and help the concrete slab to reach the commonly required water-vapor
emission rate in a short period of time by providing additional drainage area at the
bottom. Shrinkage testing (ASTM C490) and water loss analysis were conducted on
concrete specimens with and without the geocomposite. The results of concrete
specimens at two different w/c ratios (0.47 and 0.57) showed that concrete specimens
cast on the geocomposite shrank less, as more water left the concrete early, leaving
less water and causing less shrinkage. As shown in Figure 3, initial drying shrinkage
within the normal specimens has a greater rate than that of the specimens cast on

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Geosynthetics Research and Development in Progress
 GRI-18 Geosynthetics Research and Development in Progress

geocomposite. After a period of time, the drying shrinkages within both sets of
specimens possess approximately the same rate. On average, concrete cast on the
geocomposite has 9% less drying shrinkage than that of concrete cast with standard
mold. Compression tests were conducted on concrete cylinders that were cast over
the geocomposite in modified molds. Test results showed that the presence of a
geocomposite does not have an effect on the compressive strength of concrete at any
age.
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700

600
Shrinkage Microstrain (in/in)

500

400

300
Normal sample 1
200
Normal sample 2
Normal sample 3
Sample 1 on composite
100
Sample 2 on composite
Sample 3 on composite
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Concrete Age (days)

Figure 3. Shrinkage results of concrete samples.

Geocomposite stiffness and modulus of subgrade reaction. A geocomposite is a

polymeric material with a different compressive behavior than soil. Triplanar
geocomposites placed between concrete pavement and subgrade can provide
stabilization on soft subgrades and function as a cushion layer on a stiff subgrade,
which helps uniform subgrade support for the concrete pavement. The geocomposite
stiffness was investigated by compression tests of 15cm-diamter by 30cm-hight
concrete cylinders over the geocomposite. Concrete pavement design is based on the
modulus of subgrade reaction, “k”. Non-repetitive plate bearing tests (ASTM D
1196) and repetitive plate bearing tests (ASTM D 1195) are being analyzed to
determine the composite k value and the stiffness contribution of geocomposite.

Performance of concrete pavements supported by geocomposite. A 28-cm x 30-

cm x 274-cm reinforced concrete beam will be constructed over a geocomposite and
subgrade to simulate a concrete pavement. As shown in Figure 4a, concrete pavement
fatigue will be investigated through a cyclic loading test at the center of the beam
supported by the geocomposite and subgrade. After cyclic loading, a static bearing
plate test will be performed on one side of a joint to investigate the shear transfer
across of joint, as shown in Figure 4b. In addition, cyclic load will be applied on one

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Geosynthetics Research and Development in Progress
 GRI-18 Geosynthetics Research and Development in Progress

side of the joint to simulate the concrete performance when a vehicle crosses the
joint.

Cyclic load
(9000 lbs, 2 Hz) Concrete beam
Strip plate (11'' x 12'' x 108'')
Triplanar
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geocomposite

Subgrade

(a) Concrete beam fatigue testing

Static load (9000 lbs ) or
Cyclic load (9000 lbs, 2 Hz) Concrete beam
Strip plate (11'' x 12'' x 108'')
Joint
Triplanar
geocomposite

Subgrade

(b) Static and cyclic load testing on one side of joint

Figure 4. Test configuration of concrete pavement supported by geocomposite.

In conjunction with the experimental study, finite element simulations will also be
developed to simulate the performance of concrete pavement supported by triplanar
geocomposites under static and cyclic loads. Both test results and numerical analysis
results will be used to create a design guideline for geocomposites used as subsurface
drainage systems of concrete pavements.

References

AASHTO Guide for Design of Pavement Structures, American Association of State

Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C., 1993.
Christopher, B.R., Hayden, S.A., and Zhao, A., 1999. "Roadway Base and Subgrade
Geocomposite Drainage Layers," Testing and Performance of Geosynthetics in

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Geosynthetics Research and Development in Progress
 GRI-18 Geosynthetics Research and Development in Progress

Subsurface Drainage, ASTM STP 1390, J.S. Baldwin and L.D. Suits, Eds.,
American Society for Testing and Materials, West Conshohocken, PA.
Rasmussen, R.O. and Rozycki D.K. Characterization and Modeling of Axial Slab-
Support Restraint. TRB Paper Number 01-2948, Committee A2B02, 2001.
Smith, K.D. and K.T. Hall. Concrete Pavement Design Details and Construction
Practices-Technical Digest. NHI Training Course 131060. National Highway
Institute, Arlington, VA., 2001.
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Geosynthetics Research and Development in Progress