# Theoretical Study on Prestress Loss in Cross-Tensioned Concrete Pavement with BFRP Tendons
## 1 Introduction  
Transverse joints in jointed plain concrete pavement (JPCP) can lead to several distresses, i.e., pumping, spalling, corner breaks, and even faulting, if they are not treated appropriately. Cross-tensioned concrete pavement has been proposed as an effective solution in enhancing the crack resistance of concrete pavement in order to improve the durability of concrete pavement and reduce the number of transverse joints. Pre-compression stress can be produced in the concrete slab by imposing an external tensioning to the reinforcement tendon, counteracting the flexural and tensile stress caused by the traffic load and environmental factors; as a result, the crack resistance and durability of the concrete pavement can be significantly improved [1; 2]. [PERSON] et al. [3; 4] demonstrated the thickness and prestress requirements of prestressed concrete pavement by launching a precast prestressed concrete pavement pilot project near Georgetown, Texas. Currently, researchers [5; 6; 7; 8; 9; 10] have carried out many studies on the design, construction, and structural analysis under vehicle load and thermal gradient of the prestressed concrete pavement given both theoretical and numerical methods, but without givingmuch consideration on the prestress loss, which is an important factor and cannot be neglected in the design of the cross-tensioned concrete pavement. The concrete panel will continue to bear a high-level pre-compression stress with the overestimated prestress loss, resulting in excessive invert arch, which not only undermines the performance of the pavement structure but also causes the waste of materials [11]. On the contrary, if the estimated prestress loss is lower than the actual value, it will lead to insufficient pre-compression stress in the pavement slab, causing premature cracking of the slab and failure to achieve the desired effect of prestressed pavement [12]. Therefore, an accurate estimation of the prestress loss of prestressed tendons is necessary to ensure the performance and durability of the prestressed concrete pavement. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [13] proposed a new relaxation model for steel strands that was based on the equivalent creep coefficient to provide accurate time-dependent prestress loss of cable forces. [PERSON] et al. [14] evaluated the friction coefficients between the strand and the duct with smart strands on the basis of a full-scale test specimen and two actual long-span girder bridges. [PERSON] et al. [15] developed a refined method for the calculation of time-dependent prestress losses in prestressed concrete girders and verified the proposed method with numerical results. However, the existing studies on prestress loss are mainly for bridges and beams, and mostly involve steel strands. Despite the decreased transverse cracks in cross-tensioned concrete pavement, the corrosion of the steel can still cause great damage to the performance and durability of the prestressed pavement structure, resulting in high maintenance costs [16; 17]. Recently, new materials such as basalt fiber-reinforced polymer (BFRP), which is lightweight and corrosion-resistant [18], has been widely used as longitudinal reinforcement in continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP), and has been proven to be a promising alternative to steel in CRCP given excellent bond relationship between the BFRP and the concrete [19; 20]. Nonetheless, no study has been found in the literature regarding the application of the BFRP in cross-tensioned concrete pavement. Due to the difference in the relaxation mechanism of fiber-reinforced tendons and steel strands, the traditional method for calculating the prestress loss of steel strands cannot be directly used for calculating the prestress loss of BFRP tendons in cross-tensioned concrete pavements. In this paper, a systematic theoretical method was proposed for calculating the prestress loss of BFRP tendons in cross-tensioned concrete pavement.