Test Study on Abrasion of Skid-resistant Textures on Concrete Pavements

CHEN Yu1 and ZHANG Qisen2

1
School of Communication and Transportation Engineering, Changsha University of Science and
Technology, 960 South Wanjiali Road, Changsha 410004, China; just4ujust43@163.com
2
School of Communication and Transportation Engineering, Changsha University of Science and
Technology, 960 South Wanjiali Road, Changsha 410004, China; 13808418373@hnmcc.com

ABSTRACT: An accelerated analog abrasion instrument, previously developed and

manufactured by the authors, is used to study the abrasion and attenuation of
skid-resistant textures on different cement concrete pavements. The abrasion
processes of groove concrete pavement, exposed aggregate concrete pavement and
porous concrete pavement are investigated in detail. The attenuation of their
skid-resistant textures is also numerically analyzed individually based on test results.
It can be concluded that the abrasion and attenuation processes of skid-resistant
textures on concrete pavements are controlled by their own structural formation and
the actual abrasion resistance. As a preliminary research, this is of much significance
for future research. It may also lay the foundation for predicting the theoretic service
duration of the skid-resistant textures on these three types of concrete pavements.

INTRODUCTION

In recent years the problem of the rapid abrasion of skid-resistant textures on

ordinary groove concrete pavement by moving tires, especially on certain roads such
as highway tunnels and long precipitous slope sections, has been the focus of many
studies (Xueliang et al., 2003; Panagouli and Kokkalis, 1998; Hongzhu et al., 2007).
Studies of exposed aggregate concrete with the random exposed hard aggregates
embedded in the concrete base (Sen et al., 2004) and porous cement concrete, a
skeleton-pore structure with the stochastic uneven appearance (Fujiwara, et al. 2001;
Park et al., 2005; Yu and Xueyi, 2007), have reported strong skid-resistance on the
surfaces. Due to the development of rigid pavement, these two types of concrete are
currently used in highway pavement, mainly to resolve the aforementioned problem.
Abrasion on concrete pavement can be explained as a tire-pavement system and

107

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 108 GEOTECHNICAL SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 190

is affected by the surrounding environment, such as wear particles, temperature,

humidity cycles, water, and other factors, a gradual loss of the materials on the
pavement surface, which directly contacts with moving tires. In this paper, an
accelerated analog abrasion instrument, through which the abrasion and attenuation
of skid-resistant textures on different concrete pavement slabs are tested, was
successfully developed and manufactured.

TEST METHOD

In China, concrete abrasion tests are referred to as standards: Test Methods of

Cement and Concrete for Highway Engineering (JTG E30-2005) or Test Method for
Abrasion Resistance of Concrete and Its Products (GB/T16925-1997). Further
abrasion tests have been developed by researchers (Horszczaruk, 2004; Xibin et al.,
2000). Unfortunately, none of these tests meets all the requirements for a study of the
abrasion of concrete pavement for the following reasons:
i. No close link with the practical service circumstances of highway pavement,
ii. No reflection of the abrasion process changing with time, and
iii. No good relevance of 2 indexes: the abrasion speed and the corresponding
attenuation degree of skid-resistant textures on concrete pavements.
Zong et al.(2002) used a rotating ring specimen of asphalt mixture to sustain
abrasion by the above heavy tire in order to avoid repetitive abrasion back and forth
upon a straight line specimen. As far as cement concrete is concerned, the difference
between the ring specimen and line specimen is not significant. However, for the ring
specimen, there exists a linear velocity difference along the tire’s edge, resulting in
apparent distinction of the abrasion on the ring specimen surface.

Fig.1. Accelerated analog abrasion instrument for concrete pavement slab

In an accelerated analog abrasion instrument shown in Fig.1, a concrete specimen

(300h300h50mm) is firmly placed on a sliding track, installed on a test table and
driven back and forth at 50~100 cycles/min by a power system, which includes an

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 GEOTECHNICAL SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 190 109

electromotor, a gearshift, an eccentric gear group with concave groove and a crank.
The system will exert pressure on the wear wheel axle and keep it rolling freely in
the vertical plane to the concrete surface. If there is enough friction between the
wheel and the concrete surface, the wheel rolls; if there isn’t, it transforms to slide.
To save test time, a hard emery wheel, with a width 200 mm and a vertical pressure
of 0.3f0.02MPa, was adopted to replace conventional rubber wheel.
Mass loss percentage, Δm , macro-texture depth, TD , as well as pendulum-like
friction coefficient, FB , on concrete surface were all measured. For the reason that
the 200×260mm wheel track region on concrete surface was not in line with the
requirements of handwork sand-paving method stipulated by On-the-spot Test
Methods for Highway Road Bases and Pavements (JTJ059-95) in China, modified
TD was calculated from the sand area paved and amount of sand actually used. Two
parameters defined as: mass loss percentage within wheel track region, Δmi , and
abrasion speed index, κ i , reflecting the abrasion degree and its corresponding speed
are shown in equations 1 and 2, respectively.
m0 − mi 300 × 300 m − mi
Δmi = × × 100% = 1.73 × 0 × 100% (1)
m0 200 × 260 m0
Δmi − Δmi −1
κi = ×1000 (2)
n
where, m0 original mass of concrete specimen; mi the ith measured mass of
concrete specimen; 1.73 size conversion coefficient; n abrasion frequency between
two neighboring measures.

RESULTS AND ANALYSIS

On Groove Concrete Pavement Slabs

Indoor manufacture C35 concrete specimens (9.5~16mm limestone as coarse
aggregate). After being roughly dragged by rag, the surface of the concrete slab was
hand pressed to form horizontal grooves with widths of 4mm, depths of 3mm and
intervals of 20mm. Δmi was measured after sustaining 200 cycles of abrasion. The
test data is shown in Fig.2. It illustrates that the abrasion process of a groove concrete
pavement slab can be divided into 3 phases:
i.Groove macro-texture on the surface of concrete slab, in direct contact with the
heavy wheel, rapidly wore away with Δmi straightly rising (<800cycles). Bad
abrasion resistance is undoubtedly due to only the weak convex part of a groove
bearing the abrasion.
ii.During 1000~1800 cycles of abrasion frequency, with grooves on concrete
surface being grinded away, both hardened mortar and coarse aggregates collectively
undertake abrasion. As a result of the strong coarse aggregates, κ i is by far lower

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 110 GEOTECHNICAL SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 190

than that at the first phase.

iii.Abraded to certain degree (>1800cycles), there is increasing κ i again on
account of accumulated internal damages within concrete.

12.0 10.0
Mass loss percentage (%)

10.0 8.0

Abrasion speed index

8.0 6.0

6.0 4.0

4.0 2.0
mass loss percentage (%)
2.0 0.0
abrasion speed index
0.0 -2.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Test occasion (once every 200 cycles)

Fig.2. Abrasion process on groove concrete slab

70 1.0
0.9
Macro-texture depth

60
Pendulum-like friction

0.8
coefficient (BPN)

50 0.7
40 0.6
(mm)

0.5
30 0.4
20 0.3
pendulum-like friction coefficient 0.2
10
macro-texture depth 0.1
0 0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Test occasion (once every 200 cycles)

Fig.3. Attenuation of skid-resistant textures on groove concrete slab

FB and TD are shown in Fig.3. In the early stages, when a heavy wheel directly
contacts with groove skid-resistant textures, both FB and TD straightly wane down
for the reason of weak convex hardened mortar, corresponding to the first phase with
quite high abrasion speed index shown in Fig.2. After sustaining about 1000 cycles

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 GEOTECHNICAL SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 190 111

of abrasion, the attenuation of skid-resistant textures tends to stabilize, and the final
values of FB and TD are dominated by both microscopic textures of hardened
cement stone and tiny veins of aggregates.

On Exposed Aggregate Concrete Pavement Slabs

Adopting 6~8mm basalt crushed stones embedded in concrete as exposed
aggregates, and 9.5~16mm limestone as coarse aggregate for concrete base to
produce exposed aggregate concrete pavement slabs. Concrete specimens are
measured FB and TD on their surfaces after sustaining every 200 cycles of
abrasion.
80 1.4
Pendulum-like friction

Macro-texture depth
70 1.2
pendulum-like friction
coefficient (BPN)

60 coefficient 1.0
macro-texture depth
50

(mm)
0.8
40
0.6
30
20 0.4

10 0.2
0 0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Test occasion (once every 200 cycles)
Fig.4. Attenuation of skid-resistant textures on exposed aggregate concrete slab
Fig.4 shows the optimal function curves of FB and TD on exposed aggregate
concrete slab, both of which satisfy the nonlinear exponent function y = Ae Bx + C ,
accounting for rapid attenuation in early stages, gradually retarding later, and at last
the tendency of stabilization. ( A + C ) stands for the initial FB or TD , indicating the
original skid resistance of exposed aggregate texture; while C means the final stable
value after attenuating. A , attenuation range, is on behalf of the gap of skid resistance
between the surface and basis of exposed aggregate concrete. Higher absolute
B means more rapid attenuation of skid-resistant textures.

On Porous Concrete Pavement Slabs

Two typical highway porous concrete specimens (5~10mm basalt crushed stones
as coarse aggregates) are manufactured from diverse raw materials and different
mixtures. As shown in Fig.5, though there are different Δmi and κ i for 2 groups of

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 112 GEOTECHNICAL SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 190

concrete, their abrasion processes are unanimous in essence. There are 2 main
features during the abrasion of porous concrete slabs:
i. low Δmi and κ i in correspondence with the same abrasion cycles, and
ii. steady abrasion process with no intense change of abrasion speed index.
10.0 4.0
mass loss percentage 3.5
8.0 abrasion speed index
percentage (%)

Abrasion speed
3.0
Mass loss

6.0 2.5

index
2.0
4.0 1.5
1.0
2.0
0.5
0.0 0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Test occasion (once every 600 cycles)
a. No.1

7.0 2.0
6.0
percentage (%)

Abrasion speed
5.0 1.5
Mass loss

4.0
index

1.0
3.0
mass loss
2.0 0.5
percentage
1.0 abrasion speed
index
0.0 0.0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Test occasion (once every 600 cycles)
b. No.2

Fig.5. Abrasion process on porous concrete slab

FB and TD are marked in Fig.6. Compared to groove concrete and exposed
aggregate concrete slabs shown in Fig.3 and Fig.4, there are no remarkable and
stable descending tendency of both FB and TD with the increase of accumulated
abrasion cycles. Scattered test data in Fig.5 do not show certain definitive law, not
only because of transforming of skid-resistant texture on the abraded surface along
the concrete depth, but also because of possible low precision measures. Yu and

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 GEOTECHNICAL SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 190 113

Xueyi (2007) have highlighted that the attenuation of skid-resistant textures on

porous concrete is no more than 5% through a more reasonable parameter; the fractal
dimension of transect contour line of porous concrete specimen.
90 1.4
1.3
coefficient (BPN)
Pendulum-like

80 78 1.2

Macro-texture
1.1 1.0

depth (mm)
77
friction

67
70 1.0
0.9 68
64 58
60 0.8
0.8
pendulum-like 0.7
50 friction coefficient 0.6
macro-texture depth
40 0.4
1 2 3 4 5 6
Test occasion (once every 600 cycles)
a. No.1

90 1.4
1.3
coefficient(BPN)

1.1
Pendulum-like

80 1.2 1.2

Macro-texture
75 69 depth (mm)
74 66
friction

70 72 63 1.0
0.9
60 0.8 0.8
pendulum-like friction 0.7
50 coefficient 0.6
macro-texture depth
40 0.4
1 2 3 4 5 6
Test occasion (once every 600 cycles)
b. No.2

Fig.6. Attenuation of skid-resistant textures on porous concrete slab

The theoretical abrasion processes of different concrete pavement slabs are
described in Fig.7. For groove concrete, when only weak groove mortar is untaken
abrasion at the early period, mass loss is serious and abrasion is quite rapid. With
groove mortar grinded away step by step, strong coarse aggregates restrain the
abrasion course resulting in a decrease of abrasion speed. Finally, there is accelerated
abrasion again. In comparison, exposed aggregate concrete displays excellent
abrasion resistance in the early stages because it has strong exposed basalt stones that

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 114 GEOTECHNICAL SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 190

sustain abrasion, and it exhibits the similar law with that of porous concrete at the
same stage. With the exposed aggregates entirely worn and the internal structure
exposed, the abrasion curve comes together with that of groove concrete at the later
stage.



Fig.7. Theoretical abrasion processes on different concrete pavement slabs

Different from groove concrete and exposed aggregate concrete, porous concrete
has an identical constitution materials and a homogeneous structure along its depth.
During abrasion, every abraded layer, directly contacted with the heavy wheel, is
stochastic but statistically identical. No weak layer within porous concrete leads to
stable abrasion process without stages. A slight rise in the abrasion speed should be
taken into consideration in practice, attributed to the accumulated internal damages
within concrete caused by moving tires for a long period of time.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on tests using the accelerated analog abrasion instrument developed by the
authors, the abrasion and attenuation of skid-resistant textures on different concrete
pavement slabs were investigated in detail. It can be concluded that as far as the
abrasion resistance and theoretical service life of skid-resistant textures are
concerned, porous concrete pavement is the most durable.
It is worth noting that the above-mentioned analysis is qualitative, not
quantitative. This is becausefor every factor of consistent materials such as cement
brand and added amount, coarse aggregate type and gradation, concrete admixture as
well as its dose, may affect test data even on the same test grounds. However, as a
preliminary test research, it is of much significance for future research. It may lay the
foundation for predicting the theoretical service duration of skid-resistant textures on
these three types of concrete pavements.

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 GEOTECHNICAL SPECIAL PUBLICATION NO. 190 115

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors appreciate the support of Hunan Transportation Science foundation

provided by Hunan Provincial Communications Department.

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