Effect of Density on Strength and Freeze-Thaw Durability of Roller Compacted Concrete

Abstract

Roller compacted concrete (RCC) is a durable, economical, low-maintenance material for low speed heavy duty paving applications. However, it is difficult to prepare laboratory specimens to represent field performance, because RCC is very dry and requires considerable compactive effort to achieve field densities. The gyratory compactor, commonly used to prepare hot mix asphalt specimens, may be used in preparing specimens for laboratory testing. Materials and mix designs from two industrial paving projects were used to prepare specimens for comparison. Results indicated that the gyratory compactor produced specimens with mechanical properties consistent with those achieved in the field. Specimens had high strength and consistent density, with low variability. Laboratory specimens achieved density and strength comparable with cores extracted from field test strips. The effects of water-cement ratio and degree of compaction on the freeze-thaw resistance of gyratory compacted RCC were also investigated.