Mechanical response of concrete pavement slab reinforced with basalt fibre under multi-field coupling: numerical simulation and experimental verification

Concrete pavement slabs are prone to cracking or fracture due to loads or the external environment. To investigate the stress-transfer mechanism within pavement slabs during service, this study developed and experimentally validated a mechanical response model for basalt fibre (BF)-reinforced concrete pavement slabs under the combined effects of wheel load, hydrodynamic pressure and temperature. The mechanical response of the slabs, which was calculated using the model, showed that under wheel loading, the slab was divided into compression (0–80 mm), transition (80–105 mm) and tension (105–240 mm) zones from top to bottom. Under wheel load–hydrodynamic pressure coupling, concentrated compressive strain occurred in the loaded area, with ‘umbrella-shaped dispersed’ tensile strain at the slab edges. The introduction of temperature further reduced the compressive strain in the loaded area while significantly enhancing the tensile strain at the edges. Strain-energy development varied across the physical fields. The superposition of hydrodynamic pressure and temperature increased the strain energy of ordinary concrete slab by up to 390.37% when compared with that under wheel loading alone. BF effectively reduced the strain energy by 9.22%, 4.34% and 7.69% under different field couplings. These findings provide theoretical support for the application of BF in road engineering.