Selection of parameters of dowelling connections in concrete airport pavement

The article presents numerical analysis of the portion of concrete airport pavement that consists of two concrete panels connected with dowels, subjected to thermal and service loads, in terms of changes in base rigidity, plate thickness and diameters, and spacing of dowels. Modifications of the thickness of the plates, diameter and spacing of dowels, and base rigidity were considered by assessing the level of stress and displacement in the analysed concrete plate, as well as normal and tangential stresses in dowels by using finite element method. On the basis of an analysis of examples, an optimal solution of dowelling connections in concrete plates with established loads was proposed. The results of the calculations were presented as a contour level distributions and comparison tables.