NONLINEAR TEMPERATURE GRADIENT EFFECT ON MAXIMUM WARPING STRESSES IN RIGID PAVEMENTS

The results are presented of an experimental and analytical study to determine the actual temperature distribution within typical concrete pavement slabs and to evaluate the effects of nonlinear thermal gradients on the behavior of concrete pavements. The temperature data obtained in this study indicated that the temperature variations within the pavement slabs were mostly nonlinear. The temperature distribution throughout the depth of a concrete pavement slab can be represented fairly well by a quadratic equation. When the distribution is nonlinear, the maximum computed tensile stresses in the slab tend to be lower for the daytime condition and higher for the nighttime condition as compared with the stresses computed with the consideration of a linear temperature distribution.