Determination of Coefficient of Thermal Expansion Effects on Louisiana’s PCC Pavement Design

With the development of the Mechanistic Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG) as a new pavement design tool, the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) is now considered a more important design parameter in estimating pavement performance including cracking, faulting, and international roughness index (IRI). This study was conducted to measure typical CTE values of Portland cement concrete (PCC) pavements having various aggregates used in Louisiana and to investigate the relationship between CTE and other critical variables such as aggregate types, age of concrete, dimension of specimen, amount of course aggregate in mixture, relative humidity, and concrete mechanical properties. AASHTO TP 60-00 was used for measuring concrete CTE and a recently new standard test method, AASHTO T 336-09, was adopted to replace the TP 60-00. A calibration factor was developed to convert the CTE values measured by AASHTO TP 60-00 to that of the new standard testing method. From the analysis of measured data, it was found that aggregate types, coarse aggregate proportion, and relative humidity have a significant influence on CTE. This finding was confirmed with a statistical analysis of variance (ANOVA). CTE tests and mechanical property tests were also performed at different ages to provide input data for Level 1 design of MEPDG. Based on the results of the MEPDG analysis, current maximum joint spacing [20 ft. (6.1 m)] in jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP) can be adjusted to 15 or 18 ft. (4.6 or 5.5 m) when Kentucky limestone is used as a coarse aggregate. 17.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.ltrc.lsu.edu/pdf/2011/fr_451.pdf
• 
• Corporate Authors:

  Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge

  Department of Civil Engineering
  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70803

  Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development

  1201 Capitol Access Road, P.O. Box 94245
  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70804-9245

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Louisiana Transportation Research Center

  4101 Gourrier Avenue
  Baton Rouge, LA  United States  70808
• Authors:
  • Shin, Hak-Chul
  • Chung, Yoonseok
• Publication Date: 2011-12

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Figures; Photos; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 98p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Mechanical properties of pavements expressed numerically; Pavement design; Pavement joints; Pavement performance; Portland cement concrete; Thermal expansion
• Uncontrolled Terms: Coefficient of thermal expansion
• Geographic Terms: Louisiana
• Subject Areas: Highways; Materials; Pavements; I22: Design of Pavements, Railways and Guideways; I32: Concrete;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01361726
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: FHWA/LA.11/451, LTRC Project Number: 07-2C, State Project Number: 736-99-1450
• Contract Numbers: 07-2C / 736-99-1450
• Files: TRIS, USDOT, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Jan 31 2012 2:37PM