An innovative technique for using polymer composites in airport pavement rehabilitation

✍ Scribed by D.V Ramsamooj

• Book ID: 104404101
• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2001
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 257 KB
• Volume: 32
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1359-8368
• DOI: 10.1016/s1359-8368(00)00052-4

✦ Synopsis

A new design of a fiberglass composite overlay with a granite riding surface to eliminate reflective cracking on jointed rigid airport pavements is presented, together with an analytical solution for the stresses and deflection in the overlay. The stresses and deflection are obtained from fracture mechanics using the relationship between the deflection and the stress intensity factor for a crack or joint. All modes of cracking are analyzed rationally. The thermal, bending and shear stresses together with the number of cycles of repeated loading for the occurrence of the first sign of reflective cracking are presented. A 15 mm thick E-glass mat-reinforced polyester (0/90Њ woven fabric, 18.3% volume fraction) is used over the joints covering a length of 20 cm on either side. This laminate has the strength and flexibility to carry very heavy gear loads and tire pressures across the joints. Within a distance of 50 cm from the joint, the thickness of the fiberglass/polyester laminate is decreased gradually to 1.9 mm and formed a hybrid composite with a thin asphalt concrete (AC) layer. The overlay is designed to withstand the thermal and vehicular stresses for about one million cycles of loading. The new design is considerably more economical than the conventional AC overlay.