The Influence of the Dry Density on the Mechanical and Durability Properties of Roller Compacted Concrete Pavement Using the Response Surface Method

Document Type : Research Article

Authors

1 Faculty of Civil Engineering, Graduate University of Advanced Technolog, Kerman, Iran

2 Civil Engineering, Bahonar University, Kerman, Iran

Abstract

In the current study, the response surface methodology has been used for designing of the experiments. Considering the conventional soil-compaction method, the main factors investigated include cement and w/c contents. The upper and lower levels of the factors of cement and w/c content were 308-392 kg/m3 and 0.34-0.39, respectively. The dry specific weighs, compressive strengths, permeable voids, and capillary absorption coefficients were determined according to the ASTM D 1557, ASTM C39, ASTM C642 and ASTM C1585 at ages up to 180 days, respectively.
Using the statistical analyses, the prediction models and contours of the durability characteristic and 28 day compressive strength were derived. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was also performed on the results to estimate the significance of the factors. It could be concluded that the terms of the cement content, w/c and their interaction significantly influenced the responses of the compressive strength, dry specific weight, water absorption and permeable voids. The results also indicated that by obtaining an optimum level of dry density one could reach the lowest level of permeable voids and water absorption into the concrete. This is achieved by adjusting the interaction of cement content and w/c content. However, no meaningful correlation was found between the dry density and capillary absorption coefficient. This indicates that the tortuously and continuously of microstructure may be independent from the dry density. However, similar contour trends were obtained for the dry density and capillary absorption coefficient.

Keywords

Main Subjects


[1] ACI 325, State of the Art Report on Roller Compacted Concrete Pavements, Manual of concrete practice, American Concrete Institute, 2001.
[2] P.Gauthier, J.March, Design and Construction of Roller Compacted Concrete Pavements in Quebec, Association des constructeurs routes et grands travaux Québec, 2005.
[3] D.A.F.Harrington, Guide for Roller compacted Concrete Pavements. Iowa State University, National Concrete Pavement Technology Center, 2005.
[4] T.Parhizkar, J.Sobhani, A.M.Raisghasemi, A.Pourkhorshidi, H.Madani, A.Bagheri, A Practical Guideline and Quality Control for Roller Compacted Concrete Pavements, Road, Housing and Urban evelopment Research Center, 2016.
[5] ASTM D 1557, Standard Test Methods Laboratory Compaction Characteristics of Soil Using Modified Effort, Annual book of ASTM standards, 2007.
[6] M.Sonebi, Medium strength self-compacting concrete containing fly ash: Modelling using factorial experimental plans, Cement and Concrete Research 34(7) (2007) 1199-1208.
[7] S.Nunes, P.Oliveria, J.S. Coutinho, J. Figueiras, Interaction diagrams to assess SCC mortars for different cement types, Construction and Building Materials 23(3) (2009) 1401-1412.
[8] E.K.K.Nambiar, K. Ramamurthy, Models relating mixture composition to the density and strength of foam concrete using response surface methodology, Cement and Concrete Composites 28(9) (2006) 752-760.
[9] T.Cho, Prediction of cyclic freeze–thaw damage in concrete structures based on response surface method, Construction and Building Materials 21(12) (2007) 2031-2040.
[10] F.Bektas, B. A. Bektas, Analyzing mix parameters in ASR concrete using response surface methodology, Construction and Building Materials 66 (2014) 299-305.
[11] M.A.A. Aldahdooh, Evaluation of ultra-high-performance-fiber reinforced concrete binder content using the response surface method, Materials & Design, 52 (2013) 957-965.
[12] F.Bayramov et al.Optimisation of steel fibre reinforced concretes by means of statistical response surface method, Cement and Concrete Composites 26(6) (2004) 665-675.
[13] D.Montgomery, Design and Analysis of Experiments, John Wiley & Sons, 2008.
[14] United States. Dept. of the Army, Standard Practice for Concret Pavements, Departments of the Army and the Air Force, 2004.
[15] ASTM C 1435, Standard Practice for Molding Roller Compacted Concrete in Cylinder Molds Using a Vibrating Hammer, Annual book of ASTM standards, 2007.
[16] ASTM C 39, Standard Test Method for Compressive Strength of Cylindrical Concrete Specimens, Annual book of ASTM standards, 2007.
[17] ASTM C 642, Standard Test Method for Density, Absorption, and Voids in Hardened Concrete, Annual book of ASTM standards, 2007.
[18] ASTM D 1585, Standard Test Method for Measurement of Rate of Absorption of Water by Hydraulic Cement Concretes, Annual book of ASTM standards, 2007.
[19] Minitab, MINITAB statistical software, Minitab Release, 2015.
[20] N.Vaughn, Design-Expert® software. Minneapolis, Stat-Ease, Inc, 2007.
[21] A.Mardani-Aghabaglou, O.Andiç-Çakir, K.Ramyar, Freeze–thaw resistance and transport properties of high-volume fly ash roller compacted concrete designed by maximum density method, Cement and Concrete Composites 37 (2013) 259-266.
[22] N.Delatte, Concrete Pavement Design, Construction and Performance,Taylor & Francis, 2008.
[23] Service d’Expertise en Matériaux Inc., Frost Durability of Roller-compacted Concrete Pavements, Portland Cement Association, 2006.
[24] J.Castro, D.Benta, J.Weiss, Effect of sample conditioning on the water absorption of concrete, Cement and Concrete Composites 33(8) (2011) 805-813.
[25] G.Ransinchung , B. Kumar, V. Kumar, Assessment of water absorption and chloride ion penetration of pavement quality concrete admixed with wollastonite and microsilica, Construction and Building Materials 23(3) (2009)1168-117.
[26] S.Kolias, C. Georgiou, The effect of paste volume and of water content on the strength and water absorption of concrete, Cement and Concrete Composites 27(2) (2005) 211-216.