Experiment of concrete pavements at LCPC's fatigue test track

Abstract

The article presents an experiment conducted on the pavement fatigue test track of the Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussees (LCPC) in France, aimed at validating the designs proposed by the French Catalogue for concrete pavements under heavy traffic conditions. Initiated by the French Highway Department and the concrete pavement contracting and cement industries, the experiment tested four types of concrete pavement structures for durability against fatigue. These structures were selected from the French design guide and included various configurations of concrete slabs, with and without dowels, on different subbase supports. The test track, operational since 1984, simulated the passage of millions of trucks to assess the performance of these pavement structures under accelerated loading conditions. Instrumentation was extensive, with strain gauges embedded in concrete, subbases, or glued to dowels to monitor stress, displacement, and damage, along with surface measurements for assessing pavement behavior under load. Initial results indicated a close correlation between experimental findings and the French pavement design method's predictions, validating its reliability for designing durable concrete pavements. The finite element method (FEM) was utilized for theoretical modeling, complementing experimental data with simulations to understand pavement behavior more comprehensively. This comprehensive experiment not only demonstrates the robustness of the French design guide for concrete pavements but also underscores the necessity of incorporating thermal, hydraulic, and mechanical considerations in pavement design to accurately predict and enhance pavement longevity. (Abstract generated by AI tool ChatGPT 4)