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 February 2023 is Kathryn Kennebeck, a Ph.D. student in civil engineering at the University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA).
BIO:
Kathryn completed her Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Pittsburgh in December 2020 and is a second-year Ph.D. student studying under the guidance of Professor Lev Khazanovich. She has been involved in the development of a new finite element analysis software for rigid pavements. In her doctorate studies, Kathryn will focus on modeling early age behavior of concrete pavement systems.
TITLE:
Finite Element Modeling of Early Age Behavior of Concrete Pavements
The application of the finite element method has had a profound impact on civil structural engineering. It has allowed engineers to optimize the design and analysis process of structures such as bridges, buildings, towers, and pavements. In particular, the finite element program ISLAB2000, and its predecessor, ILLIS-SLAB, have been widely used for the modeling of concrete pavements since the 1980s. ISLAB2000 has been instrumental in the development of Pavement ME. However, ISLAB2000 was designed for mature slabs. Recent research has demonstrated the importance of modeling concrete pavement behavior immediately after concrete placement.
Concrete pavements exhibit significantly different behavior in their early stages (up to 28 days) compared to when they are mature. In the early stages, the slab is highly susceptible to subgrade friction, non-uniform temperature distribution, shrinkage, and creep, which vary in time and can significantly impact the slab’s performance during its service life. For example, subgrade friction interaction significantly contributes to joint formation and may cause early-age cracking. Non-uniform temperature distribution at the time of set and time-dependent non-uniform shrinkage strains through the slab thickness result in permanent concrete slab shape distortion commonly referred as Built-In-In Curling (BIC). Accurate modeling of these phenomena may significantly contribute to the improvement of the mechanistic-empirical design procedures.
Figure 1: Development of profile curvature due to shrinkage over 28 days for a single slab
It is anticipated that the models developed by Katheryn will contribute to the finite element program PittSlab that is currently under development at the University of Pittsburgh.
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/
JUNE 2022: Charles Donnelly, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/06/24/student-research-spotlight-june-2022/
JULY 2022: Amir Malakooti, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/07/30/student-research-spotlight-july-2022/
AUGUST 2022: Haoran Li, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/08/24/student-research-spotlight-august-2022/
SEPTEMBER 2022: Sumit Nandi, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (Roorkee, India): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/09/18/student-research-spotlight-september-2022/
OCTOBER 2022: Eric Ribeiro da Silva, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil Engineering, Polytechnic School of the University of São Paulo (São Paulo, Brazil): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/10/20/student-research-spotlight-october-2022/
NOVEMBER 2022: Zachary Brody, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/11/18/student-research-spotlight-november-2022/
DECEMBER 2022: Jesús Castro Pérez, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (Urbana, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2022/12/17/student-research-spotlight-december-2022/
JANUARY 2023: Dan King, Ph.D. Candidate, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University (Ames, USA): https://www.concretepavements.org/2023/01/26/student-research-spotlight-january-2023/