Reasonable Reinforcement Ratio of CRC+AC Composite Asphalt Pavements

Abstract

The longitudinal reinforcement design was analyzed under current specifications of cement concrete pavement design for highway, considering the structural characteristics and limitations of existing studies on continuously reinforced concrete and asphalt concrete (CRC+AC) composite pavements. By using heat transfer theory and the finite element method, the temperature effect of the asphalt concrete (AC) layer was examined, and the influence of the temperature effect on the longitudinal reinforcement ratio of CRC+AC composite pavements was calculated and analyzed. The results show that (1) the longitudinal reinforcement design of CRC+AC composite pavements can disregard spalling, seepage, and thrust failure and only consider the tensile failure of reinforcement; (2) the longitudinal reinforcement ratio of CRC+AC composite pavements can be reduced through the efficient heat insulation of the AC layer, for instance, when the thickness of the AC layer is 10 cm, the longitudinal reinforcement ratio of the CRC layer can be reduced by approximately 0.12%; and (3) the sliding stent is recommended to be used in reinforcement erection, with banding method employed for jointing longitudinal reinforcement with an overlapped length that is approximately 35 times of the reinforcement diameter.