ABSTRACT
A previous study demonstrated after 10 million cycles of 50 kN wheel loads that reinforcing a partial OSD specimen with SFRC overlay suppressed the crack growth propagation. To analytically evaluate the crack growth suppression effect of SFRC pavement reinforcement, several finite element models were developed, and semi-elliptical cracks with an aspect ratio of 0.15 were introduced at the root of the rib-to-deck weld. Using the displacement-matching approach for calculating the stress intensity factor (SIF) at the crack tip, the results showed that reinforcing a 12 mm thick deck plate with a 75 mm thick SFRC pavement lowers the SIF to about the level of the threshold value, confirming the experimental results.
