Stresses and Deflections

in Rigid Pavements
Preeda Chaturabong

Pavement Design

2/2018

Basic Components of a Concrete

Pavement

Surface smoothness
or rideability Thickness Design
Longitudinal joint
Transverse joint

Surface Texture

Concrete materials

Dowel bars
Tiebars
Subgrade
Subbase or base

1
 ชนิดของความเค้น
• ความเค้นทีไม่เกียวกับ load
– Curling: Due to temperature gradients
– Warping: Due to moisture gradients
• ความเค้นทีเกียวกับ load
– Corner, edge, and interior distress due to traffic
• แรงเสี ยดทาน
– Related to interactions with base.
– Due to drying shrinkage, thermal heating and
cooling, and foundation movement

Curling and Warping - Schematics

Tension

NA

Compression

Compression

NA

Effects of Temperature
Tension
Integrated Materials and Construction
Practices for Concrete Pavement, FHWA
2006

2
 Curling and Warping - Schematics
Compression

NA

Tension
Tension

NA

Effects of Moisture
Compression
Integrated Materials and Construction
Practices for Concrete Pavement, FHWA
2006

ผลกระทบทีเกิดขึนร่ วมกัน

• Changes in temperature
and moisture occur at the
same time.
• Environment will dictate
the conditions controlling
warping/ curling

Integrated Materials and Construction Practices for Concrete Pavement, FHWA 2006

3
Curling Stresses
Can be calculated with Plate Theory on Winkler Foundation
Westergaard(1926)
Very complex
solution
Spring in
compression

Spring in
tension

Application to Curling
• Stress occurs in both x and y directions, strain is
caused by a temperature differentials.
 t T
x  y 
2
– Stress in the x direction due to bending in the x-direction:
E t T
 x ( bending _ x)    y ( bending _ y)
2 (1   2 )
– Stress in y direction due to bending in y-direction
vE  t  T
 x ( bending _ y) 
2 (1   2 )

α = coefficient of thermal expansion (C.T.E.)

4
 Application to Curling
• Apply super-position to calculate stress in x
direction from bending in x and y.
E  t T E t  T
x  (1   )  (1   )
2(1   2 ) 2(1   )(1   )

– Simplify
E t T
x 
2(1   ) (1)
• Solution is approximate
– Assumes linear temp. distribution throughout
slab.
– Actual temperature distribution is non-linear.

Correcting for Reality

• In practice, we have a slab of finite dimensions

y
Ly

Lx

• To account for this we need to use correction

factors, Cx and Cy
• If the temperature distribution is linear throughout
the slab thickness and knowing that the strain is
*T the total stress can be easily determined
(equation 1)

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5
 Curling Stresses in Finite Slabs

• More realistic case

• Lengths Lx and Ly known
• Stress equation (1) is modified by including Cx and
Cy correction factors
E t T 
x  2
(C x  vC y ) 
2 (1  v ) 
E t T
 (2)
y  ( C  vC ) 
y x
2 (1  v 2 ) 

• Correction factors are based on slab dimensions and

the radius of relative stiffness, l
• Based on Westergaard analysis a simple chart was
developed to determine correction factors
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Curling Stresses in a Finite Plate

Radius of Relative Stiffness, l

3 0.25
 Eh 2 
l 2 
12(1  v )k 
Where:
E = Modulus of concrete (4 x
106 psi)
h = Slab thickness (in)
ν = Poisson ratio of concrete
(0.15)
k = Modulus of subgrade
Radius of Relative Stiffness, l,
reaction
curling stresses depend on material
properties and support conditions.
12

6
 Practical Implications

C increases with increasing

L/l.
What does this mean?

What would you do to

minimize curling stresses?

E t T 
x y  (C x  vC y ) 
2 (1  v 2 ) 



13

ความเค้ นรวมกัน
• Design of PCC is fatigue based. Combined stresses
are stresses due to loading and environment.
• In general, curling stresses not considered in design.
– Construction Practice: Joints and steel reinforcement
used to relieve curling stresses. Further, small cracks have
little impact on overall performance as long as load transfer
is maintained.
– Practicality: Pavement sees millions of load repetitions,
relatively the stress reversals due to curling are limited.
– When is it necessary? If performance is governed by edge
stress. Add curling stress to load during the day and
subtract at night.
• Effects of moisture not considered in design.

14

7
Stresses Due to Friction
• Sources of friction in concrete pavements:
– Volume Change: Shrinkage (interaction with the base) and
Joint Opening
– Steel Stresses: Welded Wire Fabric and Tie Bars

• Joint spacing used to control cracking:

– Plain concrete pavements – short joint spacing.
– Longer joint spacing – steel reinforcement is needed.

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Schematic of Shrinkage
Shrinkage can be external (interaction with base) or internal
due to differentials in shrinkage rate through depth of slab.

Thermal Shrinkage Moisture Loss Due to

ΔT where TSlab > TAir Drying

TAir
Internal
TSlab External Shrinkage Slab Shrinkage
Stress Stress Dist.

Base

16

8
 Joint Opening
• Joint spacing – Plain Concrete pavements
o Depends more on shrinkage rather than stress in
concrete.
o Longer joint spacings – wider joint opening
 L = C L (t  T +  )
t = Coefficient of thermal expansion (9 -10.8 *10 -6 / C)
 = drying shrinkage coefficient (0.5 to 2.5 * 10 -6 )
C = Adjustment factor (0.65 stabilized base to 0.8 subbase)
ΔL = the joint opening caused by temperature change and drying
shrinkage of concrete

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Steel Stresses
• Uses of Steel in Concrete pavements as reinforcement
– Tie Bars – Longitudinal Reinforcement
– Dowel Bars – Load Transfer
– Wire Mesh/Bar Mats – Transverse Reinforcement
• Design of transverse and longitudinal reinforcement
is based on stresses in concrete.
• Design of dowel bars is not.

18

9
 Steel Stress - Reinforcements
• Wire fabric or bar mats:
– Control concrete cracking, do not contribute to the
structural capacity of the pavement.
• Why use them
– to increase joint spacing
– to tie cracked concrete together and to maintain load
transfer through aggregate interlock
• When steel reinforcement is used, it is assumed that 100% of
tensile stress is taken by the steel.

19

Steel Reinforcement – Bar Mat

20

10
 Steel Stress – Tie Bars
• Placed along the longitudinal joint to tie two slabs
together.
– Tightly close joint
– Load transfer across joint
• Design calculations
– Required area of steel. Similar to other reinforcements
– Length of tie bars. Governed by allowable bond stress.
• Standardized design by DOTs
– Diameter = 0.5” by 36” long
– Spacing = 30” to 40”

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Tie Bars – Design Calcs

• Area of Steel
 chL' f a
As 
fs

• L’ is the lane width. Guidance in Huang book for 2, 3, and

4 lane pavements.
• Length of Tie Bar
1f d
t  s 
2  
– t = length of bar (in)
– µ = allowable bond stress (350 psi)
• Add three inches to add a factor of safety for misalignment.

22

11
Tie Bars
Tie bars

23

Steel Reinforcement – Dowel Bars

and Tie Bars

24

12
Stresses and Deflections Due to Loading
Analysis Methods
– Closed-form formulas
• Applied only to single wheel load and circular, semi-
circular, elliptical, or semi-elliptical areas
• Corner, interior and edge loading
– Influence Charts
• Multi-wheel loads of any configuration
• Interior and edge loading
• Apply to large slab on a liquid foundation.
– Finite-Element Method Programs – Better considers
properties of subgrade.
• For loads applied to multiple slabs with load transfer
across joints, and other than liquid foundations
• KENSLAB

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Closed-form Formulas
Corner loading Interior loading

c - tensile stress Edge loading i - interior stress

c – deflection i – interior
deflection
Equations 4.13-16
Equations 4.18, 4.21

e - edge stress
e – edge deflection
Equations 4.22-29

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13
 Closed Form Formula: Corner Loading

Goldbeck & Older: Westergaard:

• A concentrated load is applied • A circular load is applied
at corner • Subgrade reaction is taken into
• Subgrade support is neglected account
• Slab is considered a cantilever
3P   a 2  
0.6
beam
 c  2 1    
h   l  
3P tensile stress on top  
c  of slab
h2 Ionnides: (Finite Element)
3P   c  
0.72
•Solution is independent of x
(diagonal dist from corner)
 c  2 1    
h   l  
c = 1.722a (side length of
square contact area)
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Corner Loading

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 Interior and Edge Loading

• Interior Loading • Edge Loading

formulas are due to formulas were first
Westergaard: presented by
Westergaard and were
3(1  v)  l  corrected by Ionnides
i  2 
ln( )  0.6159 
2h  b  • Pg. 157
b = a when a  1.724h • Circular loading
b  1.6a2  h2  0.675h a  1.724h • Semi-circular

Formulas also developed for Deflection, 

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Dual Tires
Closed form formulas presented so far based on
a circular load area. If these closed form solutions are to
be used for dual tires => equivalent circle should have area
which is equal to contact area of duals plus area
between duals

1/ 2
0.8521Pd Sd  Pd 
a   
q   0.5227 q 
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 Westergaard
3P   a 2  
0 .6

ตัวอย่าง c  1   
h 2   l 




10,000lb
c = P / [1.1-0.88(a√2)
h=10in kl^2
k=100pci Ionides
a=6in c 
3P   c 
0.72

1    
h 2   l  
P c
c = kl^2/ [1.205-0.69( )

หา max stress และ deflection เนืองจาก corner loading

โดยใช้ westergaad และ ionides โดยที modulus of
concrete เท่ากับ 4*10^6
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