Temperature Reduction of Concrete Pavement Using Glass Bead Materials

Abstract

In this study, different proportions of glass beads used for road marking were added into the concrete samples to reduce the temperature gradient through the concrete pavement thickness. It is well known that decreasing the temperature gradient reduces the risk of thermal cracking and increases the service life of concrete pavement. The extent of alkali–silica reaction (ASR) produced with partial replacement of fine aggregate by glass bead was investigated and compressive strength of concrete samples with different proportion of glass bead in their mix designs were measured in this study. Ideal results were obtained with less than 0.850 mm diameter size glass beads were used (19 % by total weight of aggregate) for C30/37 class concrete. Top and bottom surface temperatures of two different C30/37 strength class concrete slabs with and without glass beads were measured. It was identified that, using glass bead in concrete mix design, reduces the temperature differences between top and bottom surfaces of concrete pavement. The study presented herein provides important results on the necessity of regulating concrete road mix design specifications according to regions and climates to reduce the temperature gradient values which are very important in concrete road design. © 2016, The Author(s).