TypesofFailuresinRigidPavementsandtheirCausesandRepairTechniques

Failuresinrigidpavementsarecausedbydistressesduetovariouscauses.Repairtechniquesthesetypes
offailuresinrigidpavementsarediscussed.

TypesofFailuresinRigidPavements

Thedifferenttypesofdistressesresponsibleforfailuresinrigidpavementsare:

1. JointSpalling
2. Faulting
3. PolishedAggregate
4. ShrinkageCracking
5. Pumping
6. Punchout
7. LinearCracking
8. DurabilityCracking
9. CornerBreak

JointSpallinginRigidPavements

Excessivecompressivestresscausesdeteriorationinthejoints,calledasthespalling.Thismaybe
relatedtojointinfiltrationorthegrowthofpavement,thatarecausedbythereactiveaggregates.
Poorqualityconcreteorconstructiontechniquewillalsoresultinjointspalling.Smalledgestolarge
spallsinthebackoftheslabanddowntothejointscanbeobserved.

Maincausesofjointspallinginrigidpavementsare:

Jointssubjectedtoexcessivestressduetohightrafficorbyinfiltrationofanyincompressible
materials
Thejointthatareconstructedwithweakconcrete
Jointthatisaccumulatedwithwaterthatresultsinrapidfreezingandthawing

Fig.1:JointSpallinginRigidPavementSlabs

Thejointspallscanbeavoidedbyusinggoodconstructiontechniques,orbysealingthejoints.

FaultinginRigidPavements

Thedifferenceinelevationbetweenthejointsiscalledasfaulting.Themaincausesoffailuresinrigid
pavementsduetofaultingare:

Settlementofthepavementthatiscausedduetosoftfoundation
Thepumpingortheerosionofmaterialunderthepavement,resultinginvoidsunderthepavement
slabcausingsettlement
Thetemperaturechangesandmoisturechangesthatcausecurlingoftheslabedges.

Fig.2:Faultingwithdifferenceinelevationsfoundbetweenthejoints
PolishedAggregateinRigidPavements

Therepeatedtrafficapplicationleadstothisdistress.Thesearethefailuresinrigidpavementscaused
whentheaggregatesabovethecementpasteinthecaseofPCCisverysmallortheaggregatesarenot
roughorwhentheyareangularinshape,thatitcannotprovidesufficientskidresistanceforthevehicles.

Thepolishingdegreeshouldbespecifiedbeforetheconstructioniscarriedout.Thisstudyisincludedin
theconditionsurvey,whereitismentionedasadefect.

Fig.3:PolishedAggregates

ShrinkageCrackinginRigidPavements

Thesearehairlinecracksthatarelessthan2minlength.Theydonotcrosstheentireslab.Thesetting
andcuringprocessoftheconcreteslabresultsinsuchcracks.Thesearecausedduetohigher
evaporationofwaterduetohighertemperaturecracks.Impropercuringcanalsocreateshrinkagecracks
inrigidpavements.

Fig.4:ShrinkageCrackinginPavements

PumpingEffects

Theexpulsionofwaterfromtheunderalayerofthepavementiscalledaspumping.Thisdistressis
causedduetotheactivevehicleloadscomingoverthepavementinarepetitivemanner.Thiswillresult
inthefinematerialspresentinthesubbasetomovealongwithwaterandgetexpelledoutwiththe
water.

Largervoidsarecreatedunderthepavementduetorepeatedexpulsion.Thestainsonthepavementor
ontheshouldersurfacearethemethodthroughwhichthistypeoffailureofrigidpavementis
evidenced.

Pumpingcanbeavoidedbypreventionofwateraccumulationatthepavementsubbaseinterface.This
canbeachievedbyreducingthedeflectiontoaminimumvalueandbytheprovisionofastrongwell
constructedsubbase.

Theconstructedsubbasemusthavesufficientdrainagefacilitysothatthesubgradebelowisnot
saturated.Modernpavementconstructionmakesuseofundergrounddrainagesystemthatisthebest
solutionforpumpingdistress.

Fig.5:PumpingEffect

CornerBreaksinRigidPavements

Thesearethefailuresinrigidpavementsthatiscausedduetopumpinginexcessiverate.Whenthe
pumpingcompletelyremovetheunderlyingsupportthatnomoresupportexistsbelowtotakenthe
vehicleload,thecornercracksarecreated.Therepairmethodiseitherfullslabreplacementortherepair
forthefulldepthmustbecarriedout.
 Fig.6:CornerBreakFailuresinRigidPavement

PunchoutinRigidPavements

Alocalizedareaofconcreteslabthatisbrokenintopieceswillbenamedaspunchoutdistress.This
distresscantakeanyshapeorform.Thesearemainlydefinedbyjointsandcracks.Thejointsandcracks
willmainlykeep1.5mwidth.

Themainreasonbehindpunchoutsisheavyrepeatedloads,theslabthicknessinadequacy,the
foundationsupportlossortheconstructiondeficiencylikehoneycombing.

Fig.7.PunchoutFailuresinRigidPavements

LinearCrackinginRigidPavements

Thesetypesoffailuresinrigidpavementsdividestheslabintotwoorthreepieces.Thereasonbehind
suchfailuresistrafficloadsatrepeatedlevels,thecurlingduetothermalgradientandmoistureloading
repeatedly.

Fig.8:LinearCracking

DurabilityCrackinginRigidPavements
Thefreezingandthawingactionwillcreateregularexpansionandcontractionwhichwillresultinthe
gradualbreakdownoftheconcrete.Thistypeofdistressispatternsofcracksontheconcretesurfaceas
layersthatareparallelandclosertothejoints.

Jointsandcracksaretheareaswheretheconcreteseemtobemoresaturated.Hereadarkdepositis
foundandcalledtheDcracks.Thisfailureofrigidpavementwillfinallyresultinthecomplete
disintegrationofthewholeslab.

Fig.9.DurabilityCrackingorDCracksFailureinRigidPavements