Contribution to basic concrete pavements optimized project

Abstract

In the design of simple rigid pavements of the PCA (1984), tables and abacuses are used to verify the plate’s bending fatigue and subgrade erosion. If one of these criteria is not met, or even if the criteria are met by a high margin, the calculation must be repeated for a new set of parameters, in which the adjustment of the plate’s thickness is usual. A computational algorithm, which combines the thickness of the plate with the characteristic tensile strength in the concrete bending, is designed to minimize the cost of the simple rigid pavement plate. The AUSTROADS guide (2010) is used to explicitly gather the analytical equations involved in the process of verifying the criteria in question. A numerical example is presented and discussed, which shows that the combined adjustment of the plate’s thickness with the concrete’s resistance allows the definition of more optimal projects compared to those in which only the thickness is accounted for.