Journal Published Online: 05 December 2017
Volume 46, Issue 4

A Test Protocol for Evaluating Absorption of Joints in Concrete Pavements

CODEN: JTEVAB

Abstract

Premature deterioration at joint spresents a critical durability issue of concrete pavements associated with considerable repair costs. Durability of concrete exposed to aggressive environments depends mainly on the penetrability of its pore structure. Because absorption has been used as an important indicator for quantifying the durability of concrete, the aim of this study was to develop a customized test protocol for determining the absorption capacity of joints in concrete pavements. The study involved three phases with thorough statistical analyses of results. In Phase I, different absorption procedures were applied to laboratory specimens prepared with water-to-binder ratios (w/b) of 0.3, 0.5, and 0.6, representing variable qualities of concrete. The most efficient procedure was identified from Phase I and further verified in Phase II on concrete specimens prepared with a close range of w/b (0.35 and 0.40). In Phase III, the performance of the absorption protocol selected from the previous phases was assessed on cores extracted from recently constructed pavement sections in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. To further complement and verify the trends obtained from the absorption protocol, mercury intrusion porosimetry tests were conducted on the field cores to capture the characteristics of the pore structure. The results indicated that the proposed absorption protocol was efficient, robust, and reliable in reflecting the physical features of the microstructure of field pavement sections, including joint locations.

Author Information

Tiznobaik, M.
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba, Manitoba, Canada
Bassuoni, M. T.
Department of Civil Engineering, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Pages: 14
Price: $25.00
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Details
Stock #: JTE20160297
ISSN: 0090-3973
DOI: 10.1520/JTE20160297