Analysis of structural performance and sustainability of airport concrete pavements incorporating blast furnace slag

In this study, the effects of various blast furnace slag (BFS) contents on the performance of cement pastes and pavement were investigated at two levels, the micro and the macro. At the micro level, the strength and chemical properties of cement pastes containing various percentages of BFS and subjected to different water curing periods were evaluated. At the macro level, the structural and sustainability performance of airport concrete pavements were studied. In this regard, several structural design charts were developed to determine the thickness of the concrete slab required to withstand traffic loadings for various versions of aircraft design and subgrade strengths. The sustainability of the concrete pavements was assessed in terms of fuel requirements and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In addition, a simple graphical method was proposed for comparing structural and environmental performance of concrete pavements with respect to BFS content, subgrade strength, different versions of the aircraft design, fuel requirements and GHG emissions for pavement construction. Based on the results obtained using the proposed method and the structural and sustainability analyses, scenarios are suggested for choosing preliminary BFS content.