United States Department of Transportation
i
Roller compacted concrete : field evaluation and mixture optimization.
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2014-08-01
[PDF-6.44 MB]
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Abstract:Roller Compacted Concrete (RCC) as an economical, fast construction and sustainable materials has attracted increasing attention for pavement construction. The growth of roller-compacted concrete pavement used in different regions is impeded by concerns regarding its compatibility with domestic materials, environmental conditions and local restrictions. This report addresses the short-term and long-term performance of RCC made with materials locally available in the state of Missouri. The report also provides a comprehensive review on the current practices and recent developments in material selection and aggregate gradation and mixture design methods.
The research project involved an extensive sampling and testing carried out to evaluate fresh and mechanical properties as well as shrinkage and key durability characteristics of the RCC used for widening Route 160 near Doniphan. The results of compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, splitting tensile strength, and flexural strength of the concrete mixtures used for the pavement of route 160 are presented and discussed. In-situ compressive strength and relative bond strength were also determined on the cores taken from the pavement. The compressive strengths of the core samples were very close to those of specimens cast at the job site. Both in-situ and laboratory testing confirm that the tested RCC satisfies the mechanical requirements given by Missouri Standard Specifications for Highway Construction.
Short-term and long-term performance of the RCC is also evaluated using embedded vibrating wire gage sensors to monitor variations in temperature and deformation in the pavement over time. The measured shrinkage of concrete pavement was found to be significantly lower than the corresponding deformation in RCC specimens tested in standard laboratory condition.
RCC mixture is then optimized to enhance its mechanical properties and durability characteristics. Various aggregate types, water to cement ratios, and cementitious materials were investigated in the optimization procedure. The basic concept of mixture proportions was to optimize the solid skeleton of RCC through minimizing the void ratio of the solid particles. The workability and strength criteria were considered in the selection of final optimum RCC mixture. Mechanical properties of RCC were found to be better than or equal to the conventional pavement concrete as the reference material. Obtained data confirms the feasibility of producing RCC with local materials that complies with MoDOT requirements.
Air entrained RCC is also investigated in the research program. Air-entrained RCC is also investigated in this research program. The experiments show that the air-entrainment is difficult in dry mixtures such as RCC and that the air bubbles are not stable during mixing and compaction of RCC; however, the preliminary study presented and discussed in this report showed that air entrainment can be achieved in the RCC. Adjusting the amount of air content, the stability of air bubbles during the transport and compaction and uniformity of air-void distribution across the pavement, are among the important issues that should be addressed before using air-entrained RCC in the field applications. The durability results reveals that a little amount of spherical air bubbles entrained in the RCC mixture can have a beneficial influence on the frost resistance durability of concrete. The frost durability tests show that air-entrained RCC performs superior compared to non-air entrained RCC in frost resistance tests. However, the result indicates that the non-air entrainment RCC can be quite resistant to frost action if the concrete ingredients are well adjusted.
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