Modeling temperature distribution in rigid pavement slabs: Impact of air temperature

This study presents the impact of air temperature on the temperature distributions through the depth of rigid pavement slabs. A one-dimensional heat transfer model is proposed to predict the temperature distribution across the pavement. To highlight the impact of daily temperature amplitude on a pavement temperature profiles, the summer weather condition is used as an input to simulate the temperature distributions through slabs in mountainous desert and coastal regions. The results section presents the impact of daily ambient temperature on the pavement-surface heat exchange and subsequent slab temperature development. The feasibility of using the sinusoidal-approximated air temperature is also described. The subsequent discussion concentrates on whether the predicted results of these two regions can be used to develop similar conclusions in other regions and other seasons. The discussion also focuses on the boundary-formulation differences between the proposed model and the documented temperature prediction models for concrete slabs.

► Use of sinusoidal-fit air temperature is feasible in a model aiming to predict pavement temperature.
► The EICM model potentially overestimates pavement-surface temperatures.
► Several published correlations between air and sky temperatures result in varied slab-temperature prediction.
► Formulating pavement thermal irradiation should use methods that directly link sky emissivity to dew point.