The analysis and design of jointed plain concrete pavements with wider slabs

Despite the cost-effective nature of asphalt pavements, concrete pavements are preferred for their superior serviceability.Many agencies use Jointed Plain Concrete Pavement (JPCP) designs with a standard slab size of 3.5 4.5 m, focusing on transverse cracking.However, night-time Longitudinal Top-Down Cracking (LTDC) can occur in widened slabs due to tandem and tridem axles.This study employs a Finite Element (FE) approach to assess wider slabs under various loads.Longitudinal tensile stresses at critical points were found to increase with the slab width.Therefore, the study emphasizes the need for a design approach addressing transverse and longitudinal cracking.The design of the wider slabs (4.5 4.5 and 5.0 4.5 m) is demonstrated using a case study.If the longitudinal joint in a 9.0 m slab is placed at 5.0 m from the edge, the pavement could perform better than other slab sizes.However, it is necessary to design the pavement considering both longitudinal and transverse cracking.