Internally Cured Concrete for Pavement and Bridge Deck Applications

Abstract

A laboratory and field testing program was conducted to evaluate the performance and usability of internally cured concrete (ICC) using lightweight aggregates for bridge decks and concrete pavement slabs under Florida conditions. The laboratory testing program evaluated three standard mixes (SM) and three corresponding ICC mixes with the same water-cementitious (w/c) ratios and cementitious materials contents. The ICC mixes were produced by replacing a part of the fine aggregate with a pre-wetted lightweight aggregate (LWA). The quantity of LWA used was an amount that would supply 7 lb of absorbed water per 100 lb of cementitious materials used. The amounts of water-reducing admixtures needed for the ICC mixes to achieve the same workability of the fresh concrete were less than those for the standard mixes with the same w/c ratios. The compressive strength, flexural strength, elastic modulus, splitting tensile strength, and coefficient of thermal expansion of the ICC mixes were lower than those of the standard mixes with the same w/c ratio. The ICC mixes showed substantially greater resistance to shrinkage cracking than the standard mixes as observed from the results of the restrained shrinkage ring test. Two ICC test slabs and one SM test slab were constructed to evaluate the performance of ICC in pavement slabs. The results of the critical stress analysis showed that at a critical loading condition, the computed stress-tostrength ratios for the ICC slabs were lower than that for the SM slab. Visual inspection of the SM slab after heavy vehicle simulator (HVS) loading showed that some hairline cracks could be seen next to the wheel path. These hairline cracks could be caused when micro shrinkage cracks developed into hairline cracks after the slab was loaded repetitively by the HVS wheel load. No visible cracks were observed from the two ICC test slabs. Based on the results of the critical stress analysis and the visual inspection of the three test slabs, the ICC test slabs appeared to have better performance than the standard-mix slab. A field testing program to further assess the performance and benefits of ICC mixes in bridge deck and pavement applications is recommended.

Development of Self-Cured Sustainable Concrete Using Local Water-Entrainment Aggregates of Vesicular Basalt

“…Tia et al [22] have ascertained the usability of self-cured concrete using lightweight aggregates for bridge decks and concrete pavement slabs through laboratory analysis and a field-testing program conducted on test slabs. A project management five-dimensional framework analysis, in categories of context, scheduling, costs, technique and finance, has been carried out by Daghighi [23] to evaluate the advantages and disadvantages of lightweight fine aggregate (LWFA) self-cured concrete and normal plain concrete in concrete paving methods.…”