Impact of Farm Equipment Loading on Low-Volume Concrete Road Structural Response and Performance

Authors

  • Halil Ceylan Dept of Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering, Town Engineering Building, Iowa State University, 813 Bissell RD, Ames, IA 50011, USA
  • Shiyun Wang Kleinfelder Inc., Interchange Business Park, 10835 E. Independence ST, Suite 102, Tulsa, OK 74116, USA
  • Sunghwan Kim Institute for Transportation, 24 Town Engineering Building, Iowa State University, 813 Bissell RD, Ames, IA 50011, USA
  • Kasthurirangan Gopalakrishnan Dept of Civil, Construction & Environmental Engineering, Town Engineering Building, Iowa State University, 813 Bissell RD, Ames, IA 50011, USA
  • Lev Khazanovich Dept of Civil, Environmental & Geo-Engineering, 160 CivE Building, University of Minnesota, 500 Pillsbury Drive SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA
  • Shongtao Dai Minnesota Road Research Section, Minnesota Department of Transportation, 9011 77th Street NE, Monticello, MN 55362, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3846/bjrbe.2015.41

Keywords:

concrete, farm equipment, finite element, full-scale tests, pavement, structural responses

Abstract

The rapid increase in farm equipment size in the United States of America agricultural industry has raised significant concerns regarding its impact on the low-volume road infrastructure. The study described in this paper investigated the impact of heavy farm equipment (or agricultural vehicle) on the structural behaviour of rigid pavement system. A series of full-scale traffic tests were conducted at the Minnesota’s Cold Weather Pavement Testing Facility (more commonly known as MnROAD) on two existing low-volume rigid pavement sections: (1) to study the effects of agricultural vehicle and weights, traffic wander pattern, pavement structure, and environmental factors on rigid pavement responses (deflections, strains and stresses), and (2) to compare these responses with those of a standard 356 kN (80 kips) five-axle, semi-trailer truck for assessing relative rigid pavement damage caused by heavy farm equipment. Numerical analyses were also carried out for rigid pavement fatigue damage estimations by simulating field test conditions. The Finite Element Model was able to predict rigid pavement responses under complicated heavy agricultural farm equipment loading. The study findings revealed that seasonal change, traffic wander, vehicle loading/configurations, pavement thickness, slab length and modulus of subgrade support are all important factors   to be considered in designing rigid pavement subjected to heavy farm equipment loading. The use of tandem or tridem axles is recommended for all farm equipment because those axles help to distribute the load and minimize rigid pavement damage.

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Published

27.12.2015

How to Cite

Ceylan, H., Wang, S., Kim, S., Gopalakrishnan, K., Khazanovich, L., & Dai, S. (2015). Impact of Farm Equipment Loading on Low-Volume Concrete Road Structural Response and Performance. The Baltic Journal of Road and Bridge Engineering, 10(4), 325-332. https://doi.org/10.3846/bjrbe.2015.41