Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Mustaque A. Hossain / Due to budget constraints, many highway agencies are becoming interested in pavement preservation or rehabilitation rather than reconstruction to ensure pavement is in serviceable condition. Thin whitetopping (TWT) is the process of rehabilitation of distressed asphalt concrete (AC) pavements using a concrete overlay. This study was done to develop a design catalog for existing AC pavements to be overlaid with TWT. The finite element (FE) analysis was performed with SolidWorks, a 3-D FE software program to develop this design catalog. The design considered different TWT thicknesses, existing AC layer thicknesses and modulus, bonding conditions between TWT and existing AC layer, shoulder conditions and temperature differentials. Each model was built as a three-layer pavement system—concrete (TWT), asphalt layer, and subgrade soil. The traffic load was modeled as a constant pressure with a rectangular area applied at the surface and with intensity equal to the tire inflation pressure of 100 psi. The expected lives of TWT overlays were estimated using fatigue equations developed by the Portland Cement Association (PCA). Results obtained from this study show that interface bonding condition is the most important factor affecting the behavior of TWT. With the increase of TWT thickness or existing AC thickness or AC modulus, and addition of paved shoulder, concrete tensile stress decreases. Curling stress increases with the increase of TWT thickness and is not a function of AC properties. A design catalog was developed in terms of service life of the pavement. Unlike unbonded TWT with unpaved shoulder that results in catastrophic loss of rehabilitated pavement life, bonded TWT is expected to last 10 years, assumed in design. Thus, proper bonding must be ensured in order to have extended pavement life.

No description available.

Motivado pela alteração do sistema construtivo de pavimentos de concreto de cimento Portland, na qual foi abolida a utilização da manta plástica entre placas e bases cimentadas, com conseqüente emprego de imprimação da base com emulsão asfáltica, este trabalho buscou responder algumas indagações surgidas durante este processo. Em laboratório, através de uma metodologia de ensaio especialmente adaptada para o estudo da resistência ao cisalhamento entre concreto de cimento Portland (CCP) e concreto compactado com rolo (CCR), inferiu-se, para diferentes tratamentos de interface, elevados níveis de resistência ao cisalhamento em interfaces sem emulsão asfáltica que potencializam o emprego de estruturas monolíticas de pavimentos. Quanto àquelas que continham material asfáltico, foram obtidos resultados muito inferiores aos anteriores, com caracterização de ruptura dúctil, por efeito de fluência do material betuminoso. Duas pistas experimentais instrumentadas, uma em whitetopping ultradelgado e outra em pavimento simples de concreto executado segundo a nova prática construtiva, capazes de mensurar as deformações específicas do CCP durante a execução de provas de carga dinâmica, associadas às modelagens por elementos finitos (MEF), realizadas com auxílio do programa ISLAB2000, propiciaram importantes inferências sobre o comportamento mecânico destes dois tipos de pavimentos de concreto. Verificou-se o trabalho mecânico composto (monolítico) das estruturas de whitetopping ultradelgado, com boas correlações entre as tensões medidas e numericamente calculadas; e entre os rebaixamentos da linha neutra (LN) determinados analítica, numérica e experimentalmente. No tocante ao pavimento simples de concreto sobreposto à base cimentada imprimada, apesar das ótimas correlações entre tensões medidas e determinadas numericamente, não se pode obter conclusões definitivas a despeito do trabalho mecânico desta estrutura, apesar da existência de indícios de comportamento não-monolítico. / This thesis intended to answer some inquiries, which arose during the alteration of the concrete pavement constructive process. This process substituted the plastic blanket by the asphalt emulsion, between the concrete slabs and the cemented bases. A laboratorial test methodology, specially adapted for the study of shear strength between the Portland cement concrete and the rolled concrete, inferred, for different types of interlayer treatments, high levels of shear strength, at the interfaces without asphalt emulsion. These shear strength levels enable the monolithic behavior of the pavement structure. When the asphalt emulsion was presented at the interlayer, the shear strength was much smaller than the former, with ductile rupture due to creep of the bituminous material. Two instrumented road tests, the first section in ultra-thin whitetopping pavement and de second one, in jointed plain concrete pavement (built according to new constructive process), and the finite element analyses led to important conclusions about the mechanical behavior of these pavement structures. This was possible because the strain-gages measured the specific concrete deformations during the dynamic load tests. The monolithic behavior of the ultra-thin whitetopping pavement was verified. There were good correlations between the measured stresses and theoretical stresses, which were calculated by the finite element method; and between the neutral axle displacements, estimated by analytical, numerical and experimental methods. With regard to the jointed plain concrete pavement, which was built over the cemented base (covered by the asphalt emulsion), great correlations between measured and simulated stresses were found, as well as it was found for ultra-thin whitetopping. However, it was not possible to conclude, definitively, concerning the mechanical behavior of this pavement structure, although there are clues that ndicated a non-monolithic behavior, that is, concrete slabs are unbounded up with the cemented base.

Motivado pela alteração do sistema construtivo de pavimentos de concreto de cimento Portland, na qual foi abolida a utilização da manta plástica entre placas e bases cimentadas, com conseqüente emprego de imprimação da base com emulsão asfáltica, este trabalho buscou responder algumas indagações surgidas durante este processo. Em laboratório, através de uma metodologia de ensaio especialmente adaptada para o estudo da resistência ao cisalhamento entre concreto de cimento Portland (CCP) e concreto compactado com rolo (CCR), inferiu-se, para diferentes tratamentos de interface, elevados níveis de resistência ao cisalhamento em interfaces sem emulsão asfáltica que potencializam o emprego de estruturas monolíticas de pavimentos. Quanto àquelas que continham material asfáltico, foram obtidos resultados muito inferiores aos anteriores, com caracterização de ruptura dúctil, por efeito de fluência do material betuminoso. Duas pistas experimentais instrumentadas, uma em whitetopping ultradelgado e outra em pavimento simples de concreto executado segundo a nova prática construtiva, capazes de mensurar as deformações específicas do CCP durante a execução de provas de carga dinâmica, associadas às modelagens por elementos finitos (MEF), realizadas com auxílio do programa ISLAB2000, propiciaram importantes inferências sobre o comportamento mecânico destes dois tipos de pavimentos de concreto. Verificou-se o trabalho mecânico composto (monolítico) das estruturas de whitetopping ultradelgado, com boas correlações entre as tensões medidas e numericamente calculadas; e entre os rebaixamentos da linha neutra (LN) determinados analítica, numérica e experimentalmente. No tocante ao pavimento simples de concreto sobreposto à base cimentada imprimada, apesar das ótimas correlações entre tensões medidas e determinadas numericamente, não se pode obter conclusões definitivas a despeito do trabalho mecânico desta estrutura, apesar da existência de indícios de comportamento não-monolítico. / This thesis intended to answer some inquiries, which arose during the alteration of the concrete pavement constructive process. This process substituted the plastic blanket by the asphalt emulsion, between the concrete slabs and the cemented bases. A laboratorial test methodology, specially adapted for the study of shear strength between the Portland cement concrete and the rolled concrete, inferred, for different types of interlayer treatments, high levels of shear strength, at the interfaces without asphalt emulsion. These shear strength levels enable the monolithic behavior of the pavement structure. When the asphalt emulsion was presented at the interlayer, the shear strength was much smaller than the former, with ductile rupture due to creep of the bituminous material. Two instrumented road tests, the first section in ultra-thin whitetopping pavement and de second one, in jointed plain concrete pavement (built according to new constructive process), and the finite element analyses led to important conclusions about the mechanical behavior of these pavement structures. This was possible because the strain-gages measured the specific concrete deformations during the dynamic load tests. The monolithic behavior of the ultra-thin whitetopping pavement was verified. There were good correlations between the measured stresses and theoretical stresses, which were calculated by the finite element method; and between the neutral axle displacements, estimated by analytical, numerical and experimental methods. With regard to the jointed plain concrete pavement, which was built over the cemented base (covered by the asphalt emulsion), great correlations between measured and simulated stresses were found, as well as it was found for ultra-thin whitetopping. However, it was not possible to conclude, definitively, concerning the mechanical behavior of this pavement structure, although there are clues that ndicated a non-monolithic behavior, that is, concrete slabs are unbounded up with the cemented base.