Selected Material Properties

To achieve an optimum pavement design an assessment of the concrete material

properties used in MEPDG design must be researched in terms of variability
and uncertainty (the uncertainties must be modeled), but such work will require
massive number of experiments and time. For that a more economical technique
was followed. Instead of studying every aspect of concrete characteristic, a
better way is to study characteristic that impact the design the most. That will be
done by evaluating the distress equations searching for the factors effecting its
results.
In MEPDG, five main distresses will be analyzed:
1) Transverse Slab Cracking – JPCP
2) Mean Transverse Joint Faulting – JPCP
3) CRCP Punchouts
4) Smoothness for JPCP and CRCP

For the analysis and propagation of uncertainties, Transverse Slab Cracking will
be chosen. The following are the steps followed and equations used to calculate
each Transverse Slab Cracking. From “Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design
Guide - Manual of Practice - July 2008”. Highlighted red text are related to
concrete characteristics.
I. Transverse Slab Cracking (Bottom-Up and Top-Down)—JPCP
Any slab may crack either from Top-Down or Bottom-Up, but not both. For that
predicting the type of crack is not meaningful and instead combined cracking is report
excluding the possibility of both cracking occurring at the same time.
1- Predicted Amount of Cracking
1
CRK = (Eq . c .1)
1+ ( DI F )−1.98
Where:
CRK = Predicted Amount of Bottom-Up or Top-Down cracking, % of slab with
transverse cracks including al severities in a given traffic lane.
DI F = Fatigue damage, calculated by Miners’s Hypothesis

2- Now to Calculate DI F:
ni , j ,k , l ,m , n ,o
DI F =∑ ( Eq . C .2)
N i , j , k ,l ,m ,n ,o
Where:
DIF = Total fatigue damage
ni , j , k ,l ,m ,n ,o = Applied number of load applications at condition i, j, k, l, m, n, o
N i , j ,k , l ,m , n ,o = Allowable number of load applications at condition i, j, k, l, m, n, o
i = Age (accounts for change in PCC modulus of rupture and elasticity,
slab/base contact friction, deterioration of shoulder LTE),
j = Month (accounts for change in base elastic modulus and effective dynamic
modulus of subgrade reaction),
k = Axle type (single, tandem, and tridem for bottom-up cracking; short,
medium, and long wheelbase for top-down cracking),
l = Load level (incremental load for each axle type)
m = Equivalent temperature difference between top and bottom PCC surfaces.
n = Traffic offset path
 = Hourly truck traffic fraction.

3- To Calculate N allowable:
The allowable number of load applications is the number of load cycles at which fatigue
failure is expected (corresponding to 50 percent slab cracking) and is a function of the
applied stress and PCC strength.
C
2
MRi
log ( N i , j , k ,l ,m , n ,o ) =C 1( ) ( Eq. C .3)
σ i , j , k ,l , m ,n , o
Where:
N i,j,k, … = Allowable number of load applications at condition i, j, k, l, m, n,
MRi = PCC modulus of rupture at age i, psi,
σ i,j,k,... = Applied stress at condition i, j, k, l, m, n,
C1 = Calibration constant, 2.0
C2 = Calibration constant, 1.22.

The fatigue damage (DI) calculation is a process of summing damage from each damage
increment.

Conclusion:
In the process of deducing transverse slab cracking, several concrete characteristics
was used:
1) N “Allowable number of load” depends on the PCC modulus of rupture, so this
characteristic must be considered.
2) m “equivalent temperature difference between top and bottom PCC surfaces” is
used, now the difference between temperature will depend on the concrete
temperature conductivity, so this factor must be also considered.
Transverse slab distress depends on modulus of rupture. So, to increase reliability
variability of modulus of rupture, elasticity and F’c will be modeled. F’c was chosen
since modulus of rupture will be deduced from the F’c. Modulus of elasticity was
considered because pavement deflection depend on it, modulus of elasticity will also
be deduced from F’c.