Ultra-High-Performance Concrete Shear Keys in Concrete Bridge Superstructures

Author(s):  
Elsy Y. Flores ◽  
Jordan Varbel ◽  
William K. Toledo ◽  
Craig M. Newtson ◽  
Brad D. Weldon

This research investigated the use of locally produced, non-proprietary ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) as a grouting material to repair deteriorated shear keys. Shear keys are used in adjacent girder superstructures to produce monolithic behavior and load transfer across the structure. Shear key degradation can jeopardize the integrity of the structure. Transportation agencies have reported that 75% of distress in adjacent girder bridges is because of cracking and de-bonding along shear keys. Previous research has shown that locally produced UHPC has excellent mechanical and durability properties. UHPC has also been shown to have good bonding characteristics that are desirable in a potential grouting material. Bond strength between UHPC grout and substrate concrete was evaluated using slant-shear and direct tension tests. Results showed that adequate bond was achieved at 7 days. Low strengths at 28 days were observed because of low strength of the substrate concrete. Shrinkage of UHPC grout was also investigated. Shrinkage at 28 days was less than 600 µstrain which is acceptable for repair practices. Full-scale testing was used to evaluate load-deflection behavior of channel girder assemblages with grouted shear keys. Results showed that UHPC grout and non-shrink grout had similar mechanical performance. Excellent bond was achieved with all grouts, even with minimal surface preparation. The similar performances of the non-shrink grout and the UHPC grout indicates that UHPC grout does not provide a mechanical benefit over the non-shrink grout.

2019 ◽  
Vol 271 ◽  
pp. 07006
Author(s):  
Elsy Y. Flores ◽  
Jordan Varbel ◽  
Craig M. Newtson ◽  
Brad D. Weldon

Many existing bridges have adjacent girders that utilize grouted shear keys to transfer loads laterally across the superstructure. Cracking and leaking often cause degradation of the shear key and the girder. This work investigates the potential for using non-proprietary ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) as a grouting material for repair of deteriorated shear keys by testing bond strength between UHPC and substrate concrete surfaces that were either formed or scarified by chipping. Bond strengths were adequate for both surface textures even though texture depth was substantially less than recommended by ACI 546. Scanning electron microscopy has also been used to investigate the bonded area. This microscopic scanning has shown fly ash residue remaining on the substrate after bond failure, indicating that the supplementary cementitious materials produce much of the bond. Ongoing work for this project also includes full-scale testing of UHPC shear keys between pre-stressed channel girders.


Author(s):  
Arezki Tagnit-Hamou ◽  
Nancy A. Soliman

This paper presents research work on the development of a green type of ultra-high-performance concrete using ground glass powders with different degrees of fineness (UHPGC). This article presents the development of an innovative, low-cost, and sustainable UHPGC through the use of glass powder to replace cement, and quartz powder particles. An UHPGC with a compressive strength (fc) of up to 220 MPa was prepared and its fresh, and mechanical properties were investigated. The test results indicate that the fresh UHPGC properties were improved when the cement and quartz powder were replaced with non-absorptive glass powder particles. The strength improvement can be attributed to the glass powder’s pozzolanicity and to its mechanical performance (very high strength and elastic modulus of glass). A case study of using this UHPGC is presented through the design and construction of a footbridge. Erection of footbridge at University of Sherbrooke Campus using UHPGC is also presented as a full-scale application.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-9
Author(s):  
Meimei Song ◽  
Chuanlin Wang ◽  
Ying Cui ◽  
Qiu Li ◽  
Zhiyang Gao

High autogenous shrinkage property is one of the disadvantages of ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC), which may induce early age cracking and threaten the safety of concrete structure. In the present study, different dosages of calcium sulfoaluminate (CSA) cement were added in UHPC as an effective expansive binder. Hydration mechanism, autogenous shrinkage property, and compressive strength of UHPC were carried out to investigate the effect of CSA addition on the mechanical properties of UHPC. Scanning electron microscopy was also employed to characterize the intrinsic microstructural reasons relating to the changes in macroproperties. Based on the XRD diagram, increasing formation of ettringite and Ca(OH)2 can be found with increasing CSA content up to 15%. In the heat flow results of UHPC with 10% CSA addition, the maximum heat release increases to 2.6 mW/g, which is 8.3% higher than the reference UHPC, suggesting a higher degree of hydration with CSA addition. The results in autogenous shrinkage show that CSA expansion agent plays a significantly beneficial role in improving the autogenous shrinkage of UHPC. The corresponding autogenous shrinkage of UHPC is −59.66 μ ε , −131.11 μ ε , and −182.31 μ ε , respectively, at 7 d with 5%, 10%, and 15% addition, which is 108%, 117%, and 123% reduction compared to the reference specimen without CSA. In terms of compressive strength, UHPC with 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% CSA addition has 10.5%, 17.4%, 30.2%, and 22.1% higher compressive strength than that for the reference UHPC at 28 d. Microstructural study shows that there is an extremely dense microstructure in both the bulk matrix and interfacial transition zone of UHPC with 10% CSA addition, which can be attributed to the higher autogenous shrinkage property and can therefore result in higher mechanical performance.


2021 ◽  
Vol 1203 (3) ◽  
pp. 032105
Author(s):  
William K. Toledo ◽  
Craig M. Newtson

Abstract Direct tension tests were conducted to investigate the effects of substrate moisture conditions and texture on ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) overlay bond strengths. Improper substrate surface preparation can result in inadequate bond strengths and, in severe cases, lack of bond. To demonstrate the importance of surface preparation, pull-off tests were performed on overlaid slabs that had two extreme substrate surface moisture conditions (saturated and dried) prior to overlay application. Saturated slabs had a tined, tined-light sand blasted, or tined-medium sand blasted substrate surface texture. Dried slabs had either a tined or an exposed aggregate surface texture. Saturated specimens with tined, tined-light sand blasted, and tined-medium sand blasted surface textures achieved average bond strengths of 0.924, 1.45, and 1.95 MPa, respectively. Dried substrate surfaced specimens had zero bond strength. Surface moisture conditions that ranged from saturated to dry were also investigated by allowing the substrate surfaces to dry for 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes prior to application of an UHPC overlay. Tined-light sand blasted specimens with surfaces that dried for 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes achieved average bond strengths of 2.86, 2.01, 1.59, and 0.165 MPa, respectively. Results showed tined-light sand blasted specimens with proper saturating achieved adequate bond strengths, and properly saturated, tined-medium sand blasted specimens produced excellent bond strengths. Results also exposed the drastic consequences of not maintaining a saturated substrate surface prior to overlay application and delaying overlay application up to 60 minutes can drastically reduce bond strength.


Materials ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (11) ◽  
pp. 2979
Author(s):  
Moochul Shin ◽  
Younghoon Bae ◽  
Sukhoon Pyo

This numerical study investigates the structural performance of railway sleepers made of ultra high-performance concrete (UHPC). First, numerical concrete sleepers are developed, and the tensile stress-strain relationship obtained from the direct tension test on the UHPC coupons is used for the tensile constitutive model after applying a fiber orientation reduction factor. The numerical sleeper models are validated with the experimental data in terms of the force and crack-width relationship. Second, using the developed models, a parametric study is performed to investigate the performance of the UHPC sleepers while considering various design/mechanical/geometrical parameters: steel fiber contents, size of the cross-section, and diameter and strength of prestressing (PS) tendons. The simulation results indicate that the size of the cross-section has the most impacts on the performance, while the effect of yielding strengths of PS tendons is minimal among all the parameters. Engineers need to pay attention to efficiency and an economical factor when using a larger cross-section, since sleepers with larger cross-sections can be an over-designed sleeper. This study suggests an economical design factor for engineers to evaluate what combination of parameters would be economical designs.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth K. Walsh ◽  
Nathan J. Hicks ◽  
Eric P. Steinberg ◽  
Husam H. Hussein ◽  
Ali A. Semendary

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