Analysis of the Coupling Effect of Thermal and Traffic Loads on Cement Concrete Pavement with Voids Repaired with Polymer Grout

Abstract

Under the repeated action of traffic and thermal loads, a cement concrete pavement slab may partially lose contact with its base course, and voids may develop underneath the slab. Such distress will greatly impact the pavement performance. To fill the voids and restore the base support to the slab, the technology of polymer grouting has been increasingly adopted in recent years due to its advantages of quick application and high efficiency. There is, however, a lack of research on the mechanistic responses and performance of such a repaired rigid pavement under coupled influences of thermal and traffic loads. Existing literature has mainly focused on normal cement concrete pavement structures (i.e., without polymer grouted voids). This study intends to fill the research gap by investigating the time-domain characteristics of thermal stress response of a cement concrete pavement with underlying voids filled with polymer grout, along with design traffic loads. The finite element method was adopted with a 3-dimensional nonlinear temperature field within the pavement. A program module was developed in the Abaqus FEA software environment for temperature effect analysis. It was found that under the coupling action of thermal and traffic loads, thermal stress had a greater influence on the critical slab stress at the slab corner than those at other slab locations. Through the comparative analysis before and after polymer grouting repair, the critical tensile stress at the slab corner under the vehicle and thermal loads can be effectively reduced. The polymer performance is stable after three years.

The Influence of Temperature Variations on Rigid Pavement Concrete Slabs

“…Moreover, the pattern of stress increase is influenced by the existing high temperature. This pattern is similar to that of the research conducted by Cui et al (2022) and El-nakib (2007).…”

“…The research carried out by Cui et al (2022) assessed the thermal stress response of rigid pavements that have bottom voids with polymer grout fillers in the time domain, and the design traffic load was employed. A finite element method with a 3-dimensional approach with the help of Abaqus was also used.…”

A Review of Research on the Effect of Temperature on the Properties of Polyurethane Foams

“…Among them, rigid polyurethane foam (RPUF) is a polyurethane foam that does not undergo significant deformation under a certain load and cannot return to its initial state when deformation occurs under excessive load. In recent years, RPUF materials have been widely used in water conservancy [ 12 ], civil engineering [ 13 ], transportation [ 14 , 15 ], and mining [ 16 , 17 ] because of the advantages of no maintenance, fast reaction molding, lightweight, and good mechanical properties, etc. Its main role in water conservancy projects is to replace some cement-based materials with polyurethane foam materials as grouting materials for foundation treatment [ 18 ] and seepage control and repair [ 19 , 20 ], etc.…”

Seismic Response Analysis of Secondary Lining Polymer Grouting Debonding Repair for Tunnel Construction Based on Parameter Inversion

“…Fang et al showed through experiments that polymers can efectively repair the settlement of high-speed railways and provide sufcient long-term durability under dynamic train loads [19,20]. Te research of Li et al shows that high polymer can efectively repair cracks and voids in pavement and efectively prevent pavement settlement [21,22]. Te polymer grouting material can sufciently and densely fll the damaged area, thereby controlling the unfavorable deformation and better restoring the structural integrity.…”