Download or read book Evaluation of Fiber Composite and Stainless Steel as Alternative Dowel Bar Material written by Jeffrey G. Hoffman and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dowel bars are used to transfer loads between adjacent pavement sections within a jointed concrete pavement. Epoxy coated steel is the most common material used for dowel bars, but steel dowel bars have been found to be susceptible to corrosion. The objectives of this research is to investigate fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) and stainless steel as alternative dowel bar materials, and to study the effects of FRP and stainless steel dowels size and spacing on load transfer behavior of concrete pavements. The load transfer behavior of the pavement was evaluated biannually by utilizing a falling weight deflectometer (FWD), measuring joint faulting and joint opening, and conducting a visual distress survey. The analyses indicate the epoxy coated steel outperformed the alternative materials. The average research lifetime load transfer for the epoxy coated steel is 91 percent, while the best performance of the alternative material at the same 12 inch on center spacing is approximately 87 percent for the stainless steel. The data also indicate the decrease in spacing, from 12 to 8 inches, increases the load transfer for stainless steel and 1.5 inch diameter FRP dowels. Although the FRP dowels with decreased spacing were outperformed by the epoxy coated steel dowels, they performed adequately. It is recommended that the current dowel bar standard continue to be implemented for concrete pavements requiring dowels as load transfer devices. However, if the pavement is to be constructed in a corrosive environment or a longer design life is desired, stainless steel spaced at 12 inches and 1.5 inch diameter FRP dowels spaced at 8 inches should be considered.