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Behavior of Adjacent Prestressed Concrete Box Beam Bridges Containing Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) Longitudinal Joints

Semendary, Ali A.
http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0057-4752
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1518181442348314

Abstract Details

2018, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, Civil Engineering (Engineering and Technology).
Adjacent precast prestressed concrete box beam bridges have been used for short and medium spans for decades. This type of bridge is preferred due to its high torsional rigidity, vertical clearances, and overall aesthetics. However, one of the major issues with this type of bridges is cracking that can occur between adjacent beams, at the longitudinal connection, which could lead to reflective cracks in composite deck or overlay surfaces. These cracks can cause water to leak through the joints, which can accelerate the corrosion of steel reinforcement from salt water exposure, causing the load transfer, between adjacent beams, to be reduced or diminished significantly. Despite several studies, the root cause of the cracking has yet to be addressed, therefore, a grout material with superior mechanical properties, interface bond strength, and long term durability is needed for this type of bridge in order to reduce or eliminate longitudinal cracks. In this doctorate study, ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC), which is becoming a common grout material in bridge connections, was used in the longitudinal joints of prestressed concrete box beam bridge. The new longitudinal joint design consisted of UHPC as the grout, with threaded dowel bars spaced evenly along the shear key joint length. This new shear key connection led to the elimination of transverse post-tensioning, composite deck, and transverse tie rods. The performance of this type of connection was investigated in laboratory testing conducted by the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA) Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center for a pair of box beams under cyclic and temperature loads. However, the field performance can vary greatly from grout produced under ideal lab conditions. Further investigations of this type of connection are needed because most of the studies indicated that the longitudinal cracks were initiated by temperature effects, and propagate due to applied load. To test this, a bridge utilizing FHWA Turner-Fairbank Highway UHPC connections was constructed, instrumented, and tested in the field to investigate the behavior of the bridge due to truck and environmental loads. Results of this research showed that the fabrication of the new UHPC connections was not difficult and that proper placement of the beams ensured no conflict between dowel bars. No longitudinal cracks in shear key or at the interface were observed at early age based on field observation and data analysis. The bridge behaved monolithically, which indicates the ability of the reinforced UHPC shear keys to transfer and resist the applied load. Distribution factors determined by AASHTO LRFD Design Specifications were conservative, although the beams were assumed as being sufficiently connected to behave as a unit. The dynamic amplification factor matches that recommended by AASHTO LRFD Design Specifications. Monitoring of the bridge during various environmental changes did not show any detrimental effects. The cold temperature was found to have more effect on the behavior of UHPC shear key connections than warmer temperatures. Results from finite element model compared well with the field measurements, which indicates the ability of the model to capture the behavior of the bridge. The parametric studies that were conducted on bridges with different widths, skews, depths and lengths showed the ability of the new shear key design to transfer and resist the applied load.
Eric Steinberg, Ph.D. P.E. (Advisor)
252 p.
Civil Engineering
Box beam bridge; Shear key; Longitudinal crack; UHPC; Connection; Dowel bar; Truck load; Thermal load; Temperature; Moment distribution factor; Finite element modeling; Field test; Dynamic amplification factor

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Semendary, A. A. (2018). Behavior of Adjacent Prestressed Concrete Box Beam Bridges Containing Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) Longitudinal Joints [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1518181442348314

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Semendary, Ali. Behavior of Adjacent Prestressed Concrete Box Beam Bridges Containing Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) Longitudinal Joints. 2018. Ohio University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1518181442348314.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Semendary, Ali. "Behavior of Adjacent Prestressed Concrete Box Beam Bridges Containing Ultra High Performance Concrete (UHPC) Longitudinal Joints." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio University, 2018. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ohiou1518181442348314

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Ohio University and OhioLINK.