Impact of Curling and Warping on Concrete Pavement

Impact of Curling and Warping on Concrete Pavement
Author: Halil Ceylan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 142
Release: 2016
Genre: Pavements, Concrete
ISBN:

Portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement undergoes repeated environmental load-related deflection resulting from temperature and moisture variations across the pavement depth. This phenomenon, referred to as PCC pavement curling and warping, has been known and studied since the mid-1920s. Slab curvature can be further magnified under repeated traffic loads and may ultimately lead to fatigue failures, including top-down and bottom-up transverse, longitudinal, and corner cracking. It is therefore important to measure the “true” degree of curling and warping in PCC pavements, not only for quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) purposes, but also to achieve a better understanding of its relationship to long-term pavement performance. In order to better understand the curling and warping behavior of PCC pavements in Iowa and provide recommendations to mitigate curling and warping deflections, field investigations were performed at six existing sites during the late fall of 2015. These sites included PCC pavements with various ages, slab shapes, mix design aspects, and environmental conditions during construction. A stationary light detection and ranging (LiDAR) device was used to scan the slab surfaces. The degree of curling and warping along the longitudinal, transverse, and diagonal directions was calculated for the selected slabs based on the point clouds acquired using LiDAR. The results and findings are correlated to variations in pavement performance, mix design, pavement design, and construction details at each site. Recommendations regarding how to minimize curling and warping are provided based on a literature review and this field study. Some examples of using point cloud data to build three-dimensional (3D) models of the overall curvature of the slab shape are presented to show the feasibility of using this 3D analysis method for curling and warping analysis.

Curling and Warping of Concrete Pavement

Curling and Warping of Concrete Pavement
Author: Nicole Carter
Publisher:
Total Pages: 42
Release: 2016
Genre:
ISBN:

This project focuses on characterization of pavement behavior as it undergoes short-term curling and warping. Curling and warping cause slab deflections due to a temperature gradient and moisture gradient, respectively; this can result in excessive cracking and reduce the quality and lifetime of the pavement. In this study, one test section consisting of three panels was analyzed for early-age curling, warping, and shrinkage behavior. Deflection readings were taken on all three panels of the test section and one panel was instrumented with strain gages and moisture sensors. This procedure was a successful proof of concept in which we were able to determine that a relationship exists between strain, moisture, and deflection, indicating a relationship with curling and warping. Although data collected corresponds with the expected behavior, the amount of error produced from the test equipment and operators makes it difficult to accurately calculate deflection due to curling versus that due to warping.

Impact of Curling, Warping, and Other Early-age Behavior on Concrete Pavement Smoothness

Impact of Curling, Warping, and Other Early-age Behavior on Concrete Pavement Smoothness
Author:
Publisher:
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2007
Genre: Pavements, Concrete
ISBN:

This report summarizes the activities in Phase II of "Assessing the Impact to Concrete Pavement Smoothness from Curling, Warping, and other Early-Age Behavior: Early, Frequent, and Detailed (Project 16)." The purpose of this report is to obtain detailed information about factors affecting pavement smoothness during the critical time immediately following construction by conducting a controlled field evaluation of three concrete pavement construction projects. In Phase II, both field and laboratory testing of the materials and construction process were conducted for two newly constructed Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement (JPCP) test sections; one on highway U.S. 34 near Burlington and the other on U.S. 30 near Marshalltown, Iowa. Extensive pavement profiling was also performed during strategic times after placement. This report fulfills the remaining requirements of Phase II. As a whole, the data collection effort undertaken by the project team was a success. The result of this project is a large amount of quality data on the early-age effects of curling and warping on pavement smoothness. By using the data from this research and by using the mathematical models developed as part of current FHWA studies and elsewhere, the complex relationships between concrete pavements curling, warping, and other early-age behavior and pavement smoothness were discussed and presented. This study shows that the curling and warping behaviors at early ages are influenced not only by temperature variation but also by other environmental effects such as the moisture variation, drying shrinkage, and temperature conditions during pavement construction. Within the scope of this project, it can be concluded that measurable changes of early-age pavement smoothness do occur over time from the standpoint of smoothness specifications.

Impact of Temperature Curling and Moisture Warping on Jointed Concrete Pavement Performance

Impact of Temperature Curling and Moisture Warping on Jointed Concrete Pavement Performance
Author: United States. Federal Highway Administration. Office of Pavement Technology
Publisher:
Total Pages: 6
Release: 2010
Genre: Concrete slabs
ISBN:

This TechBrief summarizes the results of a study on curling and warping in jointed concrete pavement (JCP). Profile measurements, following quality assurance plans developed under the study, were collected in all U.S. climate zones, diurnal periods, and seasons of the year to obtain sufficient data to fully characterize slab curvatures. Both functional and structural pavement performance were measured to correlate performance to curling and warping. Products of the study include a new technique that quantifies the magnitude of JCP curling and warping and a system to assess the influence of diurnal and seasonal changes on JCP curvature and pavement unevenness.

Development and Evaluation of a Portable Device for Measuring Curling and Warping in Concrete Pavements

Development and Evaluation of a Portable Device for Measuring Curling and Warping in Concrete Pavements
Author: Halil Ceylan
Publisher:
Total Pages: 86
Release: 2015
Genre: Concrete
ISBN:

Portland cement concrete (PCC) pavement undergoes repeated environmental load-related deflection resulting from temperature and moisture variations across pavement depth. This has been recognized as resulting in PCC pavement curling and warping since the mid-1920s. Slab curvature can be further magnified under repeated traffic loads and may ultimately lead to fatigue failures, including top-down and bottom-up transverse, longitudinal, and corner cracking. It is therefore significant to measure the "true" degree of curling and warping in PCC pavements, not only for quality control (QC) and quality assurance (QA) purposes, but also for better understanding of its relationship to long-term pavement performance. Although several approaches and devices—including linear variable differential transducers (LVDTs), digital indicators, and some profilers—have been proposed for measuring curling and warping, their application in the field is subject to cost, inconvenience, and complexity of operation. This research therefore explores developing an economical and simple device for measuring curling and warping in concrete pavements with accuracy comparable to or better than existing methodologies. Technical requirements were identified to establish assessment criteria for development, and field tests were conducted to modify the device to further enhancement. The finalized device is about 12 inches in height and 18 pounds in weight, and its manufacturing cost is just $320. Detailed development procedures and evaluation results for the new curling and warping measuring device are presented and discussed, with a focus on achieving reliable curling and warping measurements in a cost effective manner.

High Performance Concrete Pavement in Indiana

High Performance Concrete Pavement in Indiana
Author: Tommy E. Nantung
Publisher: Purdue University Press
Total Pages: 66
Release: 2011-10-12
Genre: Transportation
ISBN: 9781622600052

Until the early 1990s, curling and warping of Portland cement concrete pavement did not concern pavement engineers in many transportation agencies. Since beginning construction of the interstate system in the United States in the late 1950s through the late 1980s, the performance of Portland cement concrete pavement has been associated with properties of concrete as a pavement material. In those years developed standards and design guidelines emphasized better concrete materials and construction control. At the time, combining curling and loading stresses was quite controversial due to the nature of the load-carrying capacity of concrete pavement and the occurrence of types of loads. Arguments developed that the types of loads (traffic and curling) rarely occurred at the same time of day. The concrete pavement design principle did not include the effects of curling and warping of concrete pavement as determining design factors in pavement performance. This research project was initiated as a response from the INDOT Pavement Steering Committee related to the joint spacing of Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement in Indiana. There was an initiative in the Committee to reduce the joint spacing from 18 feet to 15 feet as a way to reduce premature concrete pavement deterioration. There was an indication that some newly paved JPCP had transverse cracks even before the pavement section was opened to traffic. In this experimental study, several important conclusions were drawn from temperature analysis, stress-strain analysis, and other data analysis. The analysis from this experimental study supports the decision by INDOT to shorten the concrete pavement joint spacing to increase the performance of Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement in Indiana.