FINITE-ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF CONCRETE SLABS AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR RIGID PAVEMENT DESIGN

A FINITE-ELEMENT METHOD PROGRAMMED FOR A HIGH-SPEED COMPUTER WAS DEVELOPED FOR DETERMINING THE STRESSES IN CONCRETE METHOD IS BASED ON THE CLASSICAL THEORY OF THIN PLATES ON WINKLER FOUNDATIONS AND YIELDS NUMERICAL RESULTS THAT CHECK CLOSELY WITH OTHER AVAILABLE SOLUTIONS AS WELL AS WITH THE EXPERIMENTAL MEASUREMENTS FROM THE AASHO ROAD TEST. ALTHOUGH A SINGLE VALUE OF THE MODULUS OF SUBGRADE REACTION CAN BE SELECTED TO PREDICT APPROXIMATELY THE STRESSES FOR VARIOUS SLAB THICKNESSES AND AXLE LOADS, IT WAS FOUND THAT, UNDER A GIVEN AXLE LOAD, A BETTER AGREEMENT BETWEEN THEORETICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS COULD BE OBTAINED IF GREATER SUBGRADE MODULI WERE USED FOR THICKER PAVEMENTS, A FACT CONTRIBUTING TO THE NONLINEAR BEHAVIOR OF SUBGRADE SOILS. NUMERICAL RESULTS ARE PRESENTED TO ILLUSTRATE THE EFFECT OF LOADING POSITION, LOAD TRANSFER, AND LOSS OF SUBGRADE CONTACT ON CRITICAL STRESSES IN RIGID PAVEMENTS. WHEN LOAD TRANSFER IS PROVIDED AT THE TRANSVERSE JOINT, THE MOST CRITICAL STRESS IN HIGHWAY PAVEMENTS OCCURS WHEN THE LOAD IS NEAR THE EDGE AND FAR FROM THE JOINT. IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE EDGE STRESS, INSTEAD OF THE STRESS AT THE JOINT, BE USED FOR THE DESIGN OF HIGHWAY PAVEMENTS.

• Record URL:
  • http://onlinepubs.trb.org/Onlinepubs/hrr/1973/466/466-004.pdf
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/isbn/0309022509
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Publication of this paper sponsored by Committee on Rigid Pavement Design. Distribution, posting, or copying of this PDF is strictly prohibited without written permission of the Transportation Research Board of the National Academy of Sciences. Unless otherwise indicated, all materials in this PDF are copyrighted by the National Academy of Sciences. Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
• Authors:
  • Huang, Y H
  • Wang, S T
• Conference:
  • 52nd Annual Meeting of the Highway Research Board
  • Location: Washington District of Columbia, United States
  • Date: 1973-1-22 to 1973-1-26
• Publication Date: 1973

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: pp 55-69
• Monograph Title: Pavement systems analyses
• Serial:
  • Highway Research Record
  • Issue Number: 466
  • Publisher: Highway Research Board

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Axle load force; Coefficient of subgrade reaction; Finite element method; Forecasting; Load transfer; Pavement design; Pavements; Rigid pavements; Slabs; Stresses; Thickness; Transverse joints
• Uncontrolled Terms: Edges; Pavement thickness
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pavements;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00207623
• Record Type: Publication
• ISBN: 0309022509
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: May 15 1974 12:00AM