Site conditions, pavement design features, and construction practices are all known to influence the long-term performance of Jointed Plain Concrete Pavements (JPCP). The traditional empirical design procedures for JPCP were unable to take into account most of these factors. However, a new pavement design procedure, developed by the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) and now known as the Mechanistic-Empirical Pavement Design Guide (MEPDG), accounts for climatic conditions, local materials, selected construction practices, and actual highway traffic distribution. In this study, the performance of six typical JPCP pavements in Kansas due to alternative inputs corresponding to widened lane, shoulder type (tied vs. untied), dowel diameter, dowel spacing, base type (stabilized and granular), and curing method (curing compound vs. wet curing) was evaluated using NCHRP MEPDG. The results show that predicted JPCP roughness (IRI) by MEPDG is very sensitive to varying dowel diameter. Lower dowel diameter results in higher JPCP faulting. However, variation in dowel diameter does not affect predicted slab cracking. Predicted roughness, faulting, and slab cracking of JPCP pavements are significantly reduced by tied concrete shoulder. No faulting was observed for a JPCP with a widened lane that also had tied concrete shoulder. Lower roughness and lesser cracking were also obtained for the widened lane. There are no marked differences in performance with respect to the treated base types. No significant effect on IRI, faulting, and slab cracking was observed for dowel spacing from 10 to 14 inches (250 to 350 mm). Effect of curing method on the predicted JPCP distresses was not very prominent.
Samenvatting