Experimental Investigation on the Structural Performance of Single Span Hollow Core Slab under Successive Impact Loading

In Lebanon and many other countries where structures are vulnerable to impact loads caused by accidental rock falls due to landslides, specifically bridges with hollow core slab, it is mandatory to develop safe and efficient design procedures to design such types of structures to withstand extreme cases of loading. The structural response of concrete members subjected to low velocity high falling weight raised the interest of researchers in the previous years. The effect of impact due to landslide falling rocks on reinforced concrete (RC) slabs has been investigated by many researchers, while very few studied the effect of impact loading on pre-stressed structures, noting that a recent study was conducted at Beirut Arab University which compared the dynamic behavior of reinforced concrete and post-tensioned slabs under impact loading from a 605 kg impactor freely dropped from a height of 20 m. Hollow core slabs are widely used in bridges and precast structures. Thus, studying their behavior due to such hazards becomes inevitable. This study focuses on these types of slabs. For a better understanding of the behavior, a full scale experimental program consists of testing a single span hollow core slab. The specimen has 6000 mm × 1200 mm × 200 mm dimensions with a 100 mm cast in a place topping slab. Successive free fall drops cases from 14 m height will be investigated on the prescribed slab having a span of 6000 m. This series of impacts will be held by hitting the single span hollow core slab at three different locations: center, edge, and near the support. The data from the testing program were used to assess the structural response in terms of experimental observations, maximum impact and inertia forces, structural damage/failure: type and pattern, acceleration response, and structural design recommendations. This research showed that the hollow core slab has a different dynamic behavior compared to the post tensioned and reinforced concrete slabs mentioned in the literature review section.

An application of physics: simply supported bridges made of post-tensioned concrete and structural steel beams

Bridges represent an important application of physics capable of solving real transportation problems. Knowledge of convenience of different mechanical solutions when analyzing and designing bridge is needed. For these reasons, this work is focused on the study of convenience of using two types of bridges. Simply supported short-medium span bridges (30 m to 45 m) are usually excessively long when choosing reinforced concrete solutions and usually short for other types of structures such as cable-stayed or cantilever bridges. The suitability of simply supported bridges leads to the need of studying their cost benefit ratios. This work studies the cost benefit ratio for post-tensioned concrete beams and structural steel girders in simply supported straight bridges. Eight models built of type I sections were used in both cases to analyze the bridges using a software based on the stiffness method. Span of each bridge was set to 30 m, 35 m, 40 m, and 45 m. The convenience of each type of bridge was done comparing the total and the cost per linear meter of each solution (post-tensioned and structural steel). Comparison was done using material consumption, labor, and construction processes costs only. Also, allowable vertical displacement given by current bridge design standards was verified.