Environmental Effects on Deformation and Smoothness Behavior of Early-Age Jointed Plain Concrete Pavements

In this paper, a study of environmental effects on the deformation and smoothness behavior of jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP) during its early age is presented. A newly constructed JPCP on US-34 near Burlington, Iowa, was instrumented and monitored during the critical time immediately following construction to identify its early-age behavior regarding temperature variations. The surface profiles were measured in diurnal cycles. The primary objective of this research was to investigate the effect of the early-age curling and warping behavior on the initial smoothness of newly constructed JPCPs. Variations in temperature during these critical periods were monitored by temperature sensors installed within the pavement test sections at the time of construction. The slab deformations associated with environmental loading were quantified, and the smoothness indices (international roughness index and ride number) were computed from measured pavement surface profiles. The changes in smoothness indices at different measurement times were investigated and compared with those obtained with finite-element simulations. On the basis of variations in measured and predicted smoothness indices, it was observed that the initial pavement smoothness might be influenced by curling and warping behavior of JPCPs (during the first 7 days after paving).