Concrete pavement temperature prediction and case studies with the FHWA HIPERPAV models

Abstract

High performance concrete paving (HIPERPAV) is a concrete paving software product sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration. The objective of this paper is to present recent improvements made to the temperature prediction model, and to illustrate that this model can be used to predict the in-place temperature development in portland cement and fast-setting hydraulic cement concrete paving applications. The concrete temperature prediction model consists of a transient one-dimensional finite-difference model, which includes the heat of hydration of the cementitious materials and the heat transfer mechanisms of thermal conduction, convection (including evaporative cooling), solar radiation, and irradiation. A new model is introduced to account for the effect of evaporative cooling, which may occur on the concrete surface. To validate the temperature model, the concrete temperatures measured in the field were compared to the concrete temperatures predicted with the temperature model. The HIPERPAV temperature model produced accurate predictions of the in-place temperature development of hydrating concrete.