Estimation of Critical Stress in Jointed Concrete Pavement

Pavements are subjected to repeated traffic loads along with temperature variation throughout their service life. In concrete pavement, critical stresses are developed due to the combined effect of wheel load and positive temperature differential leading to initiation of cracks. In this paper, a methodology has been presented for evaluating the critical stress in concrete pavement based on finite element technique. A generalized expression for estimating the critical stress has been developed considering various combinations of pavement configurations, axle loads and temperature differential. This equation can be effectively utilized to obtain the critical stress in concrete pavement for any combination of axle load and nonlinear positive temperature gradient without performing a rigorous finite element analysis. Based on the generalized expression, a modification on Bradbury's temperature stress coefficient (C) has been suggested.