Portland concrete pavements are subjected to a variety of loads during their life, however, most existing design practices utilise a single so-called critical load position for designing pavements. This load is normally the corner or edge load for jointed highway pavements and the interior load for continuously reinforced highway pavements. It is essential that the entire spectrum of loads using the facility be considered. With analytical techniques formerly available this was difficult, however, at the present time the availability of discrete-element methods makes it possible to consider the effect of a wide range of load sizes, arrangement and placement on critical stresses and deflections and thus predicted life. This article presents a study of the sensitivity of pavement behaviour as indicated by maximum stress levels and the resulting expected pavement performance relative to the position of the load on the slab. The findings are compared with existing design practice.
Samenvatting