Experimental Study on the Mechanical Performance of the Interface between Concrete Pavement and Lean Concrete Base Treated with Different Bond-breaking Layers

Abstract

This research explored the variation in the bond-breaking effect with a variety of bond-breaking layers installed between concrete pavement surface slabs and lean concrete base to determine the parameters for the structural analysis of pavements with bond-breaking layers and to optimize the selection of such layers for practical road engineering projects. This study tested the bond stresses and frictional forces at the slab-base interface of pavements under different bond-breaking conditions, Moreover, the dynamic stresses at the bottom of the pavement surface slabs atop different bond-breaking layers were tested via indoor straight pavement fatigue tests and field tests to determine the mechanical properties of slab-base interface treated with different bond-breaking layers in a number of highway projects in Hunan and Guangdong provinces. The bond-breaking media applied in this research includes a 3 cm asphalt concrete (AC), 1 cm emulsified asphalt slurry seal (EASS), geotextile, and emulsion wax curing agent (EWCA). The findings from the field tests for the bond stress between slab-base layers indicated that EASS and EWCA outperformed geotextile in terms of reducing friction or bond stress at the slab-base interface. Furthermore, the findings from the indoor straight pavement fatigue tests indicate that AC exhibited improved performance over EASS and EWCA with no bond-breaking layer in terms of alleviating stress. The mechanical properties of slab-base interface with different bond-breaking media derived from this research provide a scientific reference for pavement design and construction control in practical road engineering projects.