Engineered cementitious composites design framework for pavement applications

Abstract

Engineered cementitious composites (ECCs) have gained attention as a potential material alternative for extending the lifespan of pavements and overlays due to their exceptional mechanical strength and ductility. This study presents a novel thickness design framework that incorporates the elastic and plastic regimes of ECCs, along with a wide range of mechanical properties, to develop general thickness design equations for the fatigue failure mode of ECC pavements. The pavement thickness design framework proposed in this study integrates three components: (1) experimental models characterizing the beam flexural fatigue performance of ECC materials; (2) Finite Element (FE) analysis to quantify the stress response of ECC pavements under vehicular loading; and (3) empirical stress equivalency functions to combine the FE analysis results with the beam flexural fatigue models and predict the fatigue life of ECC pavements during the plastic regime. Using the proposed framework, two general thickness design equations predicting the service life of ECC pavements were developed, one for the elastic regime and one for the plastic regime of ECCs. The thickness design equations developed are in terms of ECC material properties and empirical coefficients, which can be determined through experimentation and modeling. The analysis of the results indicates that the proposed framework provides a more accurate representation of the service life of ECC pavements, particularly during the plastic deformation regime, compared to previous design frameworks discussed in the literature.