Effect of Diurnal Temperature Variations on Airport Cement Pavement

Abstract:

In order to investigate the effect of daily temperature change on airport cement pavement， the variation characteristics of cement slab temperature， strain， and deflection in an airport in southwest China during daily cycle were systematically monitored and analyzed. The results show that the in-plate temperature， average temperature， and temperature gradient change in daily cycle. The maximum positive and negative temperature gradient appear at 14：00—16：00 and 07：00—08：00， respectively. The non-synchronous change of strain and temperature leads to a hysteretic loop， which may be caused by the asynchronous change between each other. The effect of hysteretic characteristics can be reduced by analyzing the relationship between temperature gradient and curvature. The slab corner is curling more significant than the slab edge， and the difference of joint type has a greater effect on the curling of slab edge. The deflections measured at the slab edge and the corner fluctuates obviously with the variation of daily temperature， and the joint load transfer coefficient is mainly affected by temperature gradient. The effect of temperature should be considered in pavement performance evaluation. The sum of deflections on both sides of the joints（SD） has a high correlation with temperature， and may be independent of the joint load transfer capacity. The characteristics of SD give it an advantage in void detection of concrete slab effected by temperature. Further research on the characteristics of SD is needed.