Mechanistic Modeling of Continuously Reinforced Concrete Pavement

A computer program, CRCP-10, has been developed using finite element formulations, transformed field domain analysis, and probability theories to analyze the behavior of continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CROP). This mechanistic model predicts the crack spacing distribution and the time histories of mean crack spacing, crack width, and longitudinal steel stress. The CRCP-10 computer program considers nonlinear variations of temperature and drying shrinkage through the depth of the concrete slab, curling and warping effects, concrete creep effect, nonlinear bond-slip between concrete and steel bars, changes in material properties with time, and moving dynamic tandem-axle loads. This paper presents details of the mechanistic modeling of CRCP and applications of CRCP-10 to various problems. Because engineers have only limited resources and time to use in estimating a large number of variables, the mechanistic model can be used to aid in solving real problems more efficiently.