Precast system and assembly connection of cement concrete slabs for road pavement: A review

Prefabricated pavement is increasingly applied worldwide due to the rapid construction on-site. This paper presents a state-of-the-art review of the precast systems and assembly connection of concrete slabs, as well as the precast pavement features. The previous research indicates that: (1) both super-slab and Michigan systems are recommended with the satisfied road performance close to the cast-in-place; (2) flexible base material is suggested for the fabricated pavement for the satisfied leveling and stress distribution; (3) to prevent the voiding phenomenon of the fabricated pavement, the sand cushion course, dry mixed mortar or self-leveling mortar, and other flowable materials could be used for the secondary leveling of the base after the pavement splicing; (4) two-direction dowel bars are recommended for slab connections of the fabricated pavement, which helps to improve the load transfer capacity of the joints and enhance the durability of the fabricated pavement structure; (5) the sealing treatment of precast slab joints needs strengthening to reduce the impact of surface runoff on the base course; (6) the further research focuses are designing with functional, composite, mechanized, intelligent, lightweight, and flexible pavement slabs. Besides, pavement mechanical properties induced by temperature overlapping traffic loads need to be revealed. (c) 2021 Periodical Offices of Chang'an University. Publishing services by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of KeAi Communications Co. Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This paper provides an overview of precast pavement systems and assembly connections of concrete slabs, as well as the features of precast pavement. Previous research suggests that both the super-slab and Michigan systems have satisfactory road performance, and flexible base materials are recommended for leveled and stress-distributed fabricated pavement. To prevent voiding, secondary leveling using materials such as sand cushion, dry mixed mortar, or self-leveling mortar can be applied. Two-direction dowel bars are recommended for slab connections to improve load transfer capacity and durability. Additionally, sealing treatments for precast slab joints need enhancement to minimize the impact of surface runoff. Future research should focus on designing functional, composite, mechanized, intelligent, lightweight, and flexible pavement slabs, and understanding the mechanical properties induced by temperature overlapping traffic loads.