Kashif Muhammad, Naseem Ahsan, Onyelowe Kennedy Chibuzor, Riaz Muhammad Rizwan, Mehboob Syed Saqib, De Winne Pieter, De Backer Hans
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Lahore, Pakistan.
Department of Civil Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium.
Sci Rep. 2024 Jul 28;14(1):17337. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-68414-7.
The continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) system grapples with challenges such as non-uniform transverse crack patterns and the need for substantial reinforcement. Field research on the Belgian CRCP sections along motorway E313 indicates that active cracking induced by partial surface saw-cuts consistently leads to transverse crack patterns. This study introduces an innovative modification to the CRCP: the actively reinforced concrete pavement design (ARCP). The ARCP leverages partial surface saw-cuts to reduce reinforcement needs by replacing continuous-length steel bars with partial-length counterparts. The main objective of the present study is to develop a 3D finite element (FE) model capturing the active cracking behavior of ARCP under realistic external temperature variations. Comparative analysis with CRCP considers early-age crack patterns, crack strain development, and the distribution of maximum steel stress for different steel ratios (0.67%, 0.75%, and 0.85%). FE simulation results align with field data, indicating that ARCP exhibits similar early-age cracking behavior to CRCP but with a significant 24 to 42% reduction in total reinforcement. This innovation presents a promising avenue for addressing CRCP challenges while optimizing material usage in pavement construction.
连续配筋混凝土路面（CRCP）系统面临着诸如横向裂缝模式不均匀以及需要大量配筋等挑战。对沿E313高速公路的比利时CRCP路段进行的现场研究表明，局部表面锯切引发的主动开裂始终会导致横向裂缝模式。本研究引入了一种对CRCP的创新改进：主动配筋混凝土路面设计（ARCP）。ARCP利用局部表面锯切，通过用部分长度的钢筋替代连续长度的钢筋来减少配筋需求。本研究的主要目标是开发一个三维有限元（FE）模型，以捕捉ARCP在实际外部温度变化下的主动开裂行为。与CRCP的对比分析考虑了早期裂缝模式、裂缝应变发展以及不同配筋率（0.67%、0.75%和0.85%）下的最大钢筋应力分布。有限元模拟结果与现场数据一致，表明ARCP与CRCP表现出相似的早期开裂行为，但总配筋量显著减少了24%至42%。这一创新为应对CRCP挑战以及优化路面施工中的材料使用提供了一条有前景的途径。
