An Analytical Approach to Computing Joint Opening in Concrete Pavements

Satisfactory performance of the transverse joints is crucial for achieving the intended service life of jointed plain concrete pavement. An accurate prediction of joint opening and movement is desired in order to quantify the effects of the environment, base type, concrete material constituents, and slab geometry on the concrete pavement responses. In this paper, an analytical model based on elasticity theory is presented to predict joint opening using a bilinear slab-subbase interfacial constraint assumption. The proposed model predicts the mean joint opening based on uniform temperature change and drying shrinkage through the slab thickness. To account for the temperature curling effect, a “correction” term to the joint opening is proposed using a closed-form solution derived from Westergaard’s temperature curling deflection equation. Initial model calculation using in-situ measured pavement temperature profile suggests that proposed analytical model generates reasonable joint opening during the monitoring period.