Closed-Form, Six-Slab, Thick-Plate Solution for Analysis of Edge Slab of Concrete Pavement (05-0184)
Tien Fang Fwa, National University of Singapore
Wei Liu, National University of Singapore

This paper describes the development and application of a theoretical closed-form solution of a six-slab thick-plate model for the structural design and analysis of an edge slab in jointed concrete pavement subjected to vertical loads. The jointed concrete pavement system is idealized as a six-slab system resting on a Winkler foundation. The six slabs are arranged in two rows with 3 slabs in each row. The loaded slab of interest is represented by a middle slab, with the five surrounding slabs to take into consideration the effects of jointed pavement system. Fundamental equations of the proposed model were derived based on thick-plate theory. Solutions of the fundamental equations are obtained by superposition of the solutions of appropriate elemental slabs. The validity of the proposed solutions was checked against finite element solutions. The six-slab model was applied to analyze the critical stresses and deflections of an edge slab under the following three loading conditions: interior, edge, and corner loadings. Comparisons of the computed critical stresses and deflections were made with Westergaard’s solutions. Westergaard’s solutions were found to over-estimate the maximum bending stresses and deflections for large slabs, but tend to under-estimate these pavement responses for small slabs. The likelihood of under-estimation by Westergaard’s solutions also increases as the load transfer efficiency of pavement joints falls.