Full-Scale Investigation of Thermal Deformation and Load Transfer Performance of Prefabricated Prestressed Concrete Pavement for Airports

In the present work, a full-scale test section of prefabricated prestressed concrete pavement (PPCP) was assembled. The construction procedures of PPCP have also been presented. The temperature distribution law in the prefabricated slab and the thermal deformation of PPCP were then investigated. A method for calculating the width of expansion joints of PPCP was proposed, with calculated values agreeing with the measured values, indicating the reliability of the calculation theory. In addition, the deflection characteristics and load transfer efficiency (LTE) of PPCP were studied by static loading at the midpoint of the transverse joint and the slab corner. The results indicated that the deflection decreased and the LTEs increased with the increase of prestress. Most transverse LTEs were above 0.7, and the average LTE of longitudinal joints with 1 and 0.8 MPa prestress were 0.897 and 0.887, respectively, meeting the requirements for airfield pavements. Findings from this study provide reference for the rapid repair of airfield pavement and construction of prefabricated prestressed concrete pavement for airfields. (C) 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.