Experimental and Numerical Study of Behaviour of Concrete Pavements

The numerical methods are a fundamental tool in the analysis of concrete pavements. However, the numerical methods need experimental data in order to calibrate the model parameters. This means that only the use of both techniques, experimental and numerical, allows an efficient simulation of the behaviour of pavements. Therefore, a concrete model for the numerical analysis of concrete pavements was developed which was subsequently assessed by carrying an experimental program. The experimental program consists in a series of cyclic load tests of concrete prismatic specimens and of slabs resting on soil foundation. A series of fatigue bending tests under third point loading is performed on the prismatic specimens to compare the performance of plain concrete and steel flbi -e reinforccd concrete. For the slabs on grade the experimental program was developed in order to compare the performance of plain concrete and steel fibre reinforced concrete slabs. The study of the influence of a steel reinforcement placed at the middle of the slab was peifoitned as well. The constitutive model developed for structural concrete allows the characterisation of concrete response under cyclic loading conditions, namely after the onset of cracking. The model, based in the theory of plasticity, was then integrated in a finite element code so that the concrete pavements can be analysed.