A simplified approach for predicting early-age concrete pavement deformation

Studies on deformation characteristics of early-age Jointed Plain Concrete Pavements (JPCP) due to environmental effects have drawn significant interest over the years. However, the complex nature of the problem arising from interacting environmental factors has resulted in difficulties in predicting the JPCP deformation characteristics. This study introduces a simplified approach for predicting the early-age deformation of JPCP due to environmental factors using an equivalent temperature difference concept. A newly constructed JPCP section on highway US-30 near Marshalltown, Iowa was instrumented to monitor the pavement response to variations in temperature and moisture during the first seven days after construction. Based on the collected field data, the total equivalent linear temperature difference ( teltd T ∆ ) corresponding to the actual deformation was quantified using Finite Element (FE) based approach, namely ISLAB 2000. The FEbased calculations were compared with the field measured slab deformation properties. Better predictions were obtained when employing a simplified equivalent temperature difference ( teltd T ∆ ) concept for FE based primary response model.