Experimental and numerical investigation on mechanical behaviour and moisture transport of pavement concrete under fatigue load and hydrodynamic coupling

Abstract

To investigate the mechanical behaviour and moisture transport of pavement concrete under fatigue load and hydrodynamic coupling, a three-dimensional nonlinear numerical model was proposed and the distribution and change of the internal stress, strain and humidity were analysed at different concrete layers with the loading cycles. Furthermore, the proposed coupling model was validated by experimental results and the effect of stress level and loading frequency on the mechanical response of concrete were explored. The results showed that severer coupling conditions accelerate the deterioration of the concrete structure. After the stage, I loading, the water retained in the upper layer tends to transfer to the middle layer. 0.5 stress level can be seen as the threshold for pavement concrete from the elastic stage to the plastic stage. With the 0.7 stress level, the peak stress at the upper layer of the concrete is positively correlated with the loading frequency.