An analytical solution for an infinite pavement strip on elasticfoundation

Abstract

In this paper, continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) and the reinforced plate of CRCP are treated as an infinite pavement strip and a laminated plate, respectively. The equilibrium equations of pavement on semi-infinite elastic foundation are established according to the classical theory of anisotropic and unsymmetrical composite plate. Analytical solutions of the equations are obtained from expanding the distribution of the vertical load into double Fourier's series. The good agreement of the results of the present method, ANSYS code, and CP05 code verified the validity of the present method. Several examples are given and the following can be concluded: (i) the variation of the elastic modulus of the foundation has no apparent influence on the displacements of CRCP; (ii) the variation of the thickness of the plate influences considerably the displacements of the pavement; (iii) the variation of the reinforcement location has little influence on the stresses of the pavement; (iv) there is little influence on the displacements of the slabs with the variation of steel ratios in CRCP; and (v) the configuration of the load has apparent influence on the displacements of the pavement. The results of this study are applicable to the design and construction of CRCP.Key words: infinite pavement strip, CRCP, composite material, anisotropy, semi-infinite elastic foundation, load stress, analytical solution.