Sustainable Engineering: Load Transfer Characterization for the Structural Design of Thinner Concrete Pavements

Andrés César and Mauricio Pradena
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Andrés César: Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C Correo3, Concepción 4030000, Chile
Mauricio Pradena: Departamento de Ingeniería Civil, Facultad de Ingeniería, Universidad de Concepción, Casilla 160-C Correo3, Concepción 4030000, Chile

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 12, issue 21, 1-19

Abstract: Concrete pavements are characterized by their high durability and low conservation costs. However, concrete production causes large amounts of harmful emissions. In this context, short slab pavements allow us to reduce the slab thickness and the amount of concrete used in their construction. These benefits are only valid if the design assumptions are fulfilled, one of which is the provision of enough Load Transfer Efficiency (LTE) by the aggregate interlock. However, the current design method for short slabs does not relate the LTE with the Crack Width (CW) under the joints. This can jeopardize the sustainable benefits of short slabs. The objective of this study is to propose a method to develop the LTE–CW relationship for the short slabs’ design. The sustainable and accessible approach adopted in the proposal represents a paradigm shift compared to the traditional methods, which are limited to laboratories with sufficient resources to perform real-scale testing. The results show that it is possible to develop the LTE–CW relation in a sustainable manner. Furthermore, the aggregates that fulfill the technical specifications for pavements provide enough LTE when most of the joints are activated. When that happens, short slab pavements reduce environmental and human health impacts by 33% and 26%, respectively.

Keywords: sustainable engineering; pavement innovation; load transfer; laboratory test; sustainability analysis; concrete pavements (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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