TypesofFailuresinRigidPavementsandtheirCausesandRepairTechniques
Failuresinrigidpavementsarecausedbydistressesduetovariouscauses.Repairtechniquesthesetypes
offailuresinrigidpavementsarediscussed.
TypesofFailuresinRigidPavements
Thedifferenttypesofdistressesresponsibleforfailuresinrigidpavementsare:
1. JointSpalling
2. Faulting
3. PolishedAggregate
4. ShrinkageCracking
5. Pumping
6. Punchout
7. LinearCracking
8. DurabilityCracking
9. CornerBreak
JointSpallinginRigidPavements
Excessivecompressivestresscausesdeteriorationinthejoints,calledasthespalling.Thismaybe
relatedtojointinfiltrationorthegrowthofpavement,thatarecausedbythereactiveaggregates.
Poorqualityconcreteorconstructiontechniquewillalsoresultinjointspalling.Smalledgestolarge
spallsinthebackoftheslabanddowntothejointscanbeobserved.
Maincausesofjointspallinginrigidpavementsare:
Jointssubjectedtoexcessivestressduetohightrafficorbyinfiltrationofanyincompressible
materials
Thejointthatareconstructedwithweakconcrete
Jointthatisaccumulatedwithwaterthatresultsinrapidfreezingandthawing
Fig.1:JointSpallinginRigidPavementSlabs
Thejointspallscanbeavoidedbyusinggoodconstructiontechniques,orbysealingthejoints.
FaultinginRigidPavements
Thedifferenceinelevationbetweenthejointsiscalledasfaulting.Themaincausesoffailuresinrigid
pavementsduetofaultingare:
Settlementofthepavementthatiscausedduetosoftfoundation
Thepumpingortheerosionofmaterialunderthepavement,resultinginvoidsunderthepavement
slabcausingsettlement
Thetemperaturechangesandmoisturechangesthatcausecurlingoftheslabedges.
Fig.2:Faultingwithdifferenceinelevationsfoundbetweenthejoints
PolishedAggregateinRigidPavements
Therepeatedtrafficapplicationleadstothisdistress.Thesearethefailuresinrigidpavementscaused
whentheaggregatesabovethecementpasteinthecaseofPCCisverysmallortheaggregatesarenot
roughorwhentheyareangularinshape,thatitcannotprovidesufficientskidresistanceforthevehicles.
Thepolishingdegreeshouldbespecifiedbeforetheconstructioniscarriedout.Thisstudyisincludedin
theconditionsurvey,whereitismentionedasadefect.
Fig.3:PolishedAggregates
ShrinkageCrackinginRigidPavements
Thesearehairlinecracksthatarelessthan2minlength.Theydonotcrosstheentireslab.Thesetting
andcuringprocessoftheconcreteslabresultsinsuchcracks.Thesearecausedduetohigher
evaporationofwaterduetohighertemperaturecracks.Impropercuringcanalsocreateshrinkagecracks
inrigidpavements.
Fig.4:ShrinkageCrackinginPavements
PumpingEffects
Theexpulsionofwaterfromtheunderalayerofthepavementiscalledaspumping.Thisdistressis
causedduetotheactivevehicleloadscomingoverthepavementinarepetitivemanner.Thiswillresult
inthefinematerialspresentinthesubbasetomovealongwithwaterandgetexpelledoutwiththe
water.
Largervoidsarecreatedunderthepavementduetorepeatedexpulsion.Thestainsonthepavementor
ontheshouldersurfacearethemethodthroughwhichthistypeoffailureofrigidpavementis
evidenced.
Pumpingcanbeavoidedbypreventionofwateraccumulationatthepavementsubbaseinterface.This
canbeachievedbyreducingthedeflectiontoaminimumvalueandbytheprovisionofastrongwell
constructedsubbase.
Theconstructedsubbasemusthavesufficientdrainagefacilitysothatthesubgradebelowisnot
saturated.Modernpavementconstructionmakesuseofundergrounddrainagesystemthatisthebest
solutionforpumpingdistress.
Fig.5:PumpingEffect
CornerBreaksinRigidPavements
Thesearethefailuresinrigidpavementsthatiscausedduetopumpinginexcessiverate.Whenthe
pumpingcompletelyremovetheunderlyingsupportthatnomoresupportexistsbelowtotakenthe
vehicleload,thecornercracksarecreated.Therepairmethodiseitherfullslabreplacementortherepair
forthefulldepthmustbecarriedout.
Fig.6:CornerBreakFailuresinRigidPavement
PunchoutinRigidPavements
Alocalizedareaofconcreteslabthatisbrokenintopieceswillbenamedaspunchoutdistress.This
distresscantakeanyshapeorform.Thesearemainlydefinedbyjointsandcracks.Thejointsandcracks
willmainlykeep1.5mwidth.
Themainreasonbehindpunchoutsisheavyrepeatedloads,theslabthicknessinadequacy,the
foundationsupportlossortheconstructiondeficiencylikehoneycombing.
Fig.7.PunchoutFailuresinRigidPavements
LinearCrackinginRigidPavements
Thesetypesoffailuresinrigidpavementsdividestheslabintotwoorthreepieces.Thereasonbehind
suchfailuresistrafficloadsatrepeatedlevels,thecurlingduetothermalgradientandmoistureloading
repeatedly.
Fig.8:LinearCracking
DurabilityCrackinginRigidPavements
Thefreezingandthawingactionwillcreateregularexpansionandcontractionwhichwillresultinthe
gradualbreakdownoftheconcrete.Thistypeofdistressispatternsofcracksontheconcretesurfaceas
layersthatareparallelandclosertothejoints.
Jointsandcracksaretheareaswheretheconcreteseemtobemoresaturated.Hereadarkdepositis
foundandcalledtheDcracks.Thisfailureofrigidpavementwillfinallyresultinthecomplete
disintegrationofthewholeslab.
Fig.9.DurabilityCrackingorDCracksFailureinRigidPavements
