Concrete Pavement Joint Durability: A Sorption-Based Model for Saturation, the Role of Distributed Cracking, and Calcium Oxychloride Formation

摘要

Concrete pavement joints have shown the potential to deteriorate, thereby compromising the service life of an otherwise healthy pavement. It is proposed that this damage is due to fluid collecting at the joint. The collection of fluid makes concrete 1) susceptible to freeze and thaw damage when it reaches a critical degree of saturation and 2) susceptible to damage due to a chemical reaction between the salt and matrix. Currently, models that describe the rate of water absorption in concrete consider the concrete as uncracked. In service however, concrete can develop cracks that increase the rate of transport. The first part of this paper will begin by discussing water absorption in undamaged concrete. The second part of this paper discusses the influence of distributed cracking. The third part of this paper discusses a potential chemical reaction between cement and deicing salt that forms calcium oxychloride.