Tensile Performance of SHCC Road-Bridge Link Slabs in Fully Jointless Bridges

Deformation of the main girder is absorbed by a continuously reinforced concrete pavement (CRCP) with microcracks in fully jointless bridges. The conventional fully jointless bridge has been challenged by durability and reliability issues because the CRCP is vulnerable to crack and hard to control the crack width when it suffers temperature variation. In this paper, a new type of fully jointless bridge with the road-bridge link slabs using strain-hardening cementitious composite (SHCC) material is investigated. First, an experiment was carried out to study the material properties of SHCC material for a preliminary assessment of road-bridge link slab performance using this material. Results found that SHCC is adequate for link slabs for its high tensile ductility and fine cracks development. Second, an SHCC slab model tensile test was carried out to study the absorptive capacity and the crack distribution of the SHCC slab. Results verified the high absorptive deformation capacity of the SHCC slabs. When the longitudinal deformation reaches 10 mm, the surface cracks in the SHCC slab are fine and dense, the crack width is kept in 80 μm, and the internal force is small. Third, by comparing the tensile test results with a conventional CRCP slab with same length, it is found that an SHCC slab has higher absorption capacity, better crack distribution, and smaller internal force than a CRCP slab. Finally, through ABAQUS finite element modelling, the stress performance of SHCC road-bridge link slabs is simulated using a trilinear constitutive model. The calculated results are consistent with the experimental results.

Numerical analyses on mechanical performance of flat buried approach slab and soil deformation

<p><br clear="none"/></p><p>The vulnerability problem of expansion joints could be fundamentally resolved using the concept of jointless bridges. The longitudinal deformation of the superstructure can be transferred to the backfill by using the approach slab. The flat buried approach slab (FBAS) has been used in many jointless bridges in European countries. In order to understand the mechanical performance of FBAS and soil deformation, a finite element model (FEM) was implemented in PLAXIS. Considering the friction between the FBAS and soil, the buried depth, the FBAS length and thickness as parameters, a parametric analysis was carried out. According to the obtained results and in order to reduce the soil deformation above the FBAS, it is suggested to increase the friction between the FBAS and sandy soil, and the buried depth of FBAS. Moreover, it should be paid attention to the vertical soil deformation and the concrete tensile stress of FBAS in pulling condition.</p>

Numerical analyses on flexural performance of UHPC link slab- abutment backwall system in jointless bridges

<p>The link slab could be applied to the abutment-superstructure connections to eliminate deck joints to form a link slab-abutment backwall (LS-AB) system in jointless bridges. However, due to the rotation and longitudinal deformation of girder ends, the reinforced concrete LS-AB system may crack. In order to improve the crack resistance of the LS-AB system, the ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) could be used. The finite element model was built by ABAQUS to investigate the flexural performance of the UHPC LS-AB system. The results indicated that UHPC could improve the ultimate load, bending stiffness and crack resistance of the LS-AB system. The cracks mainly appeared on the link slab under bending. With an increase in the ratio of rubber sheet length to span, the displacement corresponding to initial concrete cracks increase. The bending stiffness of the UHPC LS-AB system is mainly influenced by the material and rubber sheet length.</p>

Seismic Performance of Various Piles Considering Soil–Pile Interaction under Lateral Cycle Loads for Integral Abutment Jointless Bridges (IAJBs)

The flexural pile foundation is used in integral abutment jointless bridges (IAJBs) in practical engineering to effectively dissipate the horizontal reciprocating deformation induced by the ambient temperature or earthquake loadings. Various types of flexural piles including the H-shaped steel pile (HP), prestressed concrete pile (PC), prestressed high-strength concrete pile (PHC) as well as the reinforcement concrete pile (RC) have been implemented in IAJBs. However, there is a lack of comprehensive studies on the flexural deformation and seismic performances of these piles. In order to investigate and compare their mechanical behaviors and seismic performances, a low-cycle pseudo-static test on several different types of piles was carried out. The test results indicated that the plastic hinge location of piles moved to a deeper pile depth with the increase of reinforcement ratio, buried pile depth and prestressing level, which led to better pile–soil interaction. The crack resistance of a concrete pile was improved as the reinforcement ratio and prestressing level increased. Moreover, the rectangular pile had a better soil–pile interaction and energy dissipation capacity than the circular pile. The inflection point of the pile deformation shifted deeper as reinforcement ratio, buried pile depth and prestressing level increased, which improved the effective length and horizontal deformation capacity of piles. The H-shaped steel pile showed a better elastic-plastic deformation capacity, ductility and energy dissipation capacity as compared to the concrete pile. Moreover, the pile having a higher bearing ratio sustained larger lateral loads whereas the surrounding soil was subjected to higher loads. Finally, new seismic design criteria of three-stage seismic fortification and five damage level for the concrete piles of IAJBs were proposed.

Experiment on Interaction of Abutment, Steel H-Pile and Soil in Integral Abutment Jointless Bridges (IAJBs) under Low-Cycle Pseudo-Static Displacement Loads

Soil-abutment or soil-pile interactions under cyclic static loads have been widely studied in integral abutment jointless bridges (IAJBs). However, the IAJB has the combinational interaction of soil-abutment and soil-pile, and the soil-abutment-pile interaction is lack of comprehensively study. Therefore, a reciprocating low-cycle pseudo-static test was carried out under an cyclic horizontal displacement load (DL) to gain insight into the mechanical behavior of the soil-abutment-pile system. Test results indicate that the earth pressure of backfill behind abutment has the ratcheting effect, which induced a large earth pressure. The soil-abutment-pile system has a favorable energy dissipation capacity and seismic behavior with relatively large equivalent viscous damping. The accumulative horizontal deformation in pile will be occurred by the effect of abutment and unbalance soil pressure of backfill. The test shows that the maximum horizontal deformation of pile occurs in the pile depth of 1.0b~3.0b of pile body rather than at the pile head due to the accumulative deformation of pile, which is significantly different from those of previous test results of soil-pile interaction. The time-history curve for abutment is relatively symmetrical and its accumulative deformation is small. However, the time-history curve of pile is asymmetrical and its accumulative deformation is dramatically large. The traditional theory of deformation applies only to the calculation of noncumulative deformation of pile, and the influence of accumulative deformation should be considered in practical engineering. A significant difference of inclinations in the positive and negative directions increases when the displacement load is relatively large. The rotation of abutment when bridge expands is larger than that when bridge contracts due to earth pressure of backfill.

Research on Friction between Grade Flat Approach Slab and Sliding Material in Jointless Bridges

<p>The application of jointless bridges has been increasing year by year, because it could reduce the life‐cycle cost and improve the riding comfort. The approach slab in jointless bridges does not only have the function of road transition which is the same as the approach slab in bridges with expansion joints, but also transfer and absorb the deformation produced by the thermal expansion and contraction of the girder. The Grade Flat Approach Slab (GFAS) horizontally placed on the subgrade is one of the most common types of the approach slab in jointless bridges. The material placed between GFAS and subgrade should be able to properly slide to reduce the stress in GFAS. The friction coefficient between GFAS and sliding material is an important parameter affecting the mechanical behavior of GFAS in jointless bridges. In this paper, the tests of GFAS with different sliding materials subjected to horizontal displacement were conducted to obtain the corresponding friction coefficients (from 0.34 to 0.68). The mathematical model of bilinear spring could be adapted to simulate the friction function between GFAS and different sliding materials. One Deck‐Extension Bridge (DEB) that is one type of jointless bridges was chosen as a case study. The finite element model was implemented by using Midas‐Civil software. The influence of GFAS with different sliding materials on the mechanical properties of DEB under temperature variation was investigated. It can be concluded that the influence of the friction coefficient between GFAS and sliding material on the bending moment of DEB should be taken into account.</p>