LOAD-DEFLECTION BEHAVIOR OF SMOOTH DOWELS. DISCUSSION AND CLOSURE

A discussion of a paper with the aforementioned title by S.S. Mannava; T.D. Bush, Jr.; and A.R. Kukreti, published in this journal (Volume 96, Number 6, November-December 1999), is presented. The discusser maintains that the analysis of dowel action in concrete by linear elastic methods and static tests is interesting, but has not been very useful in describing performance of dowel joints in concrete pavements. On the other hand, empirical dynamic tests have led to rules of thumb for design that the highway community has readily accepted and which have given reliable performance in the field. The discusser believes that the authors, in their background, understate the significance of previous work by Teller and Cashell (1958) and that the only way of evaluating alternative load transfer devices is by comparing dynamic testing between dowels and the proposed devices. Today, several new alternatives are being used, such as plate dowels, square dowels, plastic fiber composite dowels, and plastic sleeved dowels. Discussion is followed by closure from the authors.