A Case Study of Elastic Concrete Deck Behavior in a Four-Span Prestressed Girder Bridge: Finite Element Analysis

Details

• Creators:
  Cao, Li ; Allen, John H. ; Shing, Benson P.
• Corporate Creators:
  University of Colorado at Boulder. Dept. of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering
• Corporate Contributors:
  Colorado. Department of Transportation ; United States. Department of Transportation. Federal Highway Administration
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Bridge decks
  • Corrosion
  • Material reinforcement
  • Strain gages
  • Case studies
  • Prestressed concrete bridges
  • Girder bridges
  • Finite element method
• Publication/ Report Number:
  CDOT-DTD-CU-93-7
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States ; Colorado
• Edition:
  Interim Report: 6/92 to 1/93
• Corporate Publisher:
  Colorado. Department of Transportation
• Description:
  The feasibility of eliminating the top mat of steel reinforcement in a concrete bridge deck was investigated using a finite element model. The elimination of the top level of steel is possible because of the flexibility of the girders. Girder deflections reduce the magnitude of maximum tensile and compressive stresses in the transverse directions. It is desirable to eliminate or reduce the amount of steel present in the top of the deck because this steel is subjected to corrosion from deicing chemicals. The deck is supported on precast concrete girders which represents a more severe case than a deck supported on steel girders. A linear elastic finite element model was used to investigate the behavior of the bridge deck when loaded with a 92-kip tandem-axle truck with 24-kip axle weights. The analysis results confirm that the elimination of the top mat of reinforcing steel is feasible. This reinforcement technique is being used in one span of a bridge under construction in early 1993. The test structure has been instrumented with strain gages in the experimental and control sections in order to validate the finite element model.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  DOT92-061 ; CU/SR-93/1
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/93904/dot_93904_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 9.57 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bf5d38a147cfe673c39831a28fc6ecee710a1fd9e09a9afc0a02e128a1d5684c8acdb44e4bd69c66d88b551e56850cf2783c019e60c67942e41feb009062b317