Advances in the Deformation and Failure of Concrete Pavement under Coupling Action of Moisture, Temperature, and Wheel Load

Abstract

The deformation and cracking of concrete will lead to various deterioration processes, which will greatly reduce the durability and service life of the concrete pavement. The relating previous studies and analysis revealed that the coupling action of environmental temperature, moisture, and wheel load will cause cracking and seriously affect the normal service and durability of pavement concrete. This paper presents theoretical and numerical state-of-the-art information in the field of deformation and failure of pavement concrete under coupling action of moisture, temperature, and wheel load and draws some conclusions. (a) Concrete is a typical porous material, moisture and heat transfer theory has obtained enough data to simulate the hygro-thermo properties of concrete, and the relationship between moisture and heat is very clear. (b) There are few studies on concrete pavement or airport pavement considering the coupling action of moisture, temperature, and wheel load. (c) Concrete pavement is subjected to hygro-thermal-mechanical coupling action in service, which has the characteristics of a similar period and its possible fatigue effect. (d) COMSOL software has certain advantages for solving the coupled hygro-thermal-mechanical of concrete.

Influence of Humidity on the Elastic Modulus and Axis Compressive Strength of Concrete in a Water Environment

“…The resistance to water flow under pressure is very great when the internal micropores of wet concrete are filled with water. As a component of concrete composition, water can also bear certain pressure and corresponding deformation when a compression load is applied [ 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ]. The water in the pore is replaced by air due to water evaporation, since air is more compressible than the water it can be easily squeezed out or compressed when a compression load is applied, and resistance to deformation is reduced.…”

Editorial for “Mechanical Behavior of Concrete Materials and Structures: Experimental Evidence and Analytical Models”

“…Finally, the review paper by Dong et al [ 15 ] illustrated the various methods proposed in the literature to simulate the coupled hygro-thermo-mechanical behavior of concrete pavement. Among the analyzed methods, it emerged that an area of research that was not sufficiently explored by previous researchers is the deformation and failure mechanism of pavement concrete under the coupling action of moisture, temperature, and wheel load.…”