Joint width and freeze/thaw effects on joint sealant performance

As part of ongoing research, a new testing method was developed to evaluate the effect of joint width and freezing and thawing on the performance of three types of commercially available one-component rigid pavement joint sealants (A, B, and C): A is a low modulus silicone, B is a self-leveling silicone, and C is a polyurethane used with a primer. The effect of joint width on sealant performance was investigated using two joint widths (6.5 mm and 19 mm), while the weathering effect of freezing and thawing was evaluated by exposing specimens to 50 cycles of rapid freezing and thawing prior to testing. Sealant performance was affected by joint width. A joint width of 6.5 mm offered higher sealant failure resistance than the 19 mm joint width. Exposure to freezing and thawing cycles reduced the number of loading cycles that caused failure for sealants A and C, and increased it for sealant B. The three sealants experienced a higher rate of stress reduction over the number of loading cycles after freezing and thawing conditioning.