STUDENT SPOTLIGHT: Each month, or every other month, a student will provide a 1-page illustrated abstract of the research they are currently conducting. This is a wonderful opportunity for the student, for our International Society for Concrete Pavements (ISCP) Members, and for the transferring and sharing technology/research through our concrete paving industry.
The ISCP “STUDENT RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT” for June 2022 is Charles Donnelly, a Ph.D. candidate in civil engineering at the University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA).
BIO:
Charles Donnelly is a PhD candidate at the University of Pittsburgh studying under the advisement of Dr. Julie Vandenbossche at the University of Pittsburgh. Charles earned his both his BS and MS degrees in Civil Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh in 2018 and 2021, respectively. While a graduate student researcher, Charles has worked on a national calibration of a faulting model for unbonded concrete overlays (UBOLs), evaluating the effects of superload vehicles on concrete pavements, and material compatible repairs for concrete pavements. Charles’s dissertation is focused on the development of a predictive dowel performance model that will account for damage accumulation due to traffic and environmental loading.
TITLE:
DOWEL PERFORMANCE MODELING
Faulting is a common distress in concrete pavements that reduces the ride quality and long-term performance of the pavement. A common method of mitigating the development of faulting is the use of dowel bars placed at transverse joints, which increase the joint stiffness. Although dowels are highly effective in reducing faulting, damage accumulation due to repeated vehicle and environmental loads causes reduction in dowel performance. It has not been well established how damage accumulates in transverse joints, resulting in limitations in the accuracy of current mechanistic-empirical (ME) pavement performance models. The objective of this research is to identify the mechanisms of damage accumulation to doweled joints in order to develop predictive damage models, which will improve the accuracy of pavement design tools.
To quantify damage development, this research is evaluating the key mechanisms which have been shown to reduce dowel performance in a two phase laboratory study. First, damage induced by repeated vehicle loads is investigated using a novel small-scale beam test shown in Figure 1. Doweled specimens are subjected to repeated loads which are representative of typical vehicle loads, and performance is quantified as a function of key design parameters. The second damage mechanism investigated in this research is that of corrosion. Dowels are susceptible to corrosion development due to exposure to water and deicing agents, however, it is not well known how corrosion develops in dowels and how corrosion development affects dowel performance. Doweled specimens will be subjected to an accelerated corrosion program in order to quantify loss of dowel performance as a function of corrosion development.
The results from the laboratory studies will be used to develop predictive damage models to account for critical loading and design parameters. The damage models will be coupled with available field data from in service doweled pavements to develop predictive performance models for doweled pavements and incorporated into current ME design tools. The resulting tools will enable pavement engineers to accurately estimate design life for doweled pavements, thus improving ability to evaluate various design alternatives.
_______________________________________________________
ISCP would like to feature a “STUDENT RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT” each month, or every other month. If you would like to nominate a student, or if you are a student and would like to nominate yourself or a colleague, please send ISCP an email to: newsletter@concretepavements.org
ALL SPOTLIGHTS:
DECEMBER 2021—Inaugural: Katelyn Kosar, Phd Student-Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh (Pitt): www.concretepavements.org/2021/12/14/new-at-iscp-student-research-spotlight/
JANUARY 2022: Aniruddha Baral, Ph.D. Candidate-Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois-Urbana-Champaign: www.concretepavements.org/2022/01/15/student-research-spotlight-jan-2022/
FEBRUARY 2022: Jordan Ouellet, Tech, BEng, MASc, PhD Candidate, Teaching and Research Assistant, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: www.concretepavements.org/2022/02/26/student-research-spotlight-february-2022/
MARCH 2022: Sampath Kumar Pasupunuri, Ph.D. candidate, Pavement Engineering-School of Civil Engineering, University of Nottingham, UK: https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/03/31/student-research-spotlight-march-2022/
APRIL 2022: Anupam B R, Pursuing his doctorate-Indian Institute of Technology Bhubaneswar, India: https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/04/15/student-research-spotlight-april-2022
MAY 2022: Andréia Posser Cargnin, Ph.D Candidate-Polytechnic School, University of São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/05/09/student-research-spotlight-may-2022/