An Experimental Study and Evaluation of Thermal Stresses in Rigid Pavements using FE Method

In the present investigation, an experimental study was conducted to evaluate the thermal stresses in rigid pavement. In pavements design, temperature differential is having dominant role across the depth at critical locations. Seasonal climate changes influences the characteristic of pavement track. The study influences the behavior of the pavement slab in a nonlinear manner. The critical stresses are developed during the combined effect of load and temperature differential. Three different mix proportion were used in the present study using different mix proportion of N-sand and M-sand. (N) cast with N-sand, (M) cast with M-sand and (NM) with equal proportion of M-sand and N-sand. Temperature variations across the depth were being observed and recorded at three critical locations for all the three different mix proportions using thermocouples. The experimental results obtained were being analyzed using FE method. The result obtained from the study clearly shows that the actual temperature differentials are Non-linear. The finding confirmed the importance and the need to account the nonlinear temperature differential in the design of concrete pavements. Also, 3DFE technique using ANSYS proved to be a versatile technique in analyzing concrete slab for thermal and load stresses. The results arrived from this study shows that stresses due to the nonlinear temperature differential are greater than the linear temperature differential hence it is necessary to take care while designing the rigid pavements.