Publication

Fatigue behaviour of bridge deck slab elements strengthened with reinforced UHPFRC

Eugen Brühwiler, Tohru Makita
2012
Conference Papers

Abstract

With the occurrence of higher and more frequent axle loads on roads, in particular bridge deck slabs are more severely solicitated by fatigue loading. To avoid heavy interventions for strengthening of bridge deck slabs, an improved building material is used, namely Ultra-High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete containing steel rebars (=R-UHPFRC). By adding a thin (30 to 50 mm) layer of R-UHPFRC on top of the deck slab, the required fatigue resistance and load carrying capacity may be restored and improved. In addition the R-UHPFRC layer is waterproof which provides improved durability. This paper presents results of fatigue tests for the determination of the fatigue behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) slab-like beams strengthened with R-UHPFRC leading to RU-RC beams. The experimental results show high fatigue resistance of RU-RC beams indicating a significant potential for strengthening of RC bridge deck slabs. For the application, rules are deduced for the design of the RU-RC member and the corresponding fatigue safety verification. Finally, an application of this novel technology is briefly described demonstrating that improvement of bridge deck slabs using UHPFRC is a relatively gentle intervention with limited intervention costs. There is a potential inherent with this novel construction method to limit the duration of the working site and thus to reduce the user costs as well as life cycle costs.

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/fbbb9425-1f52-4ff0-83cb-3530d77dfbda

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Eugen Brühwiler, Tohru Makita
2012
Conference Papers

Abstract

Official source

https://infoscience.epfl.ch/entities/publication/fbbb9425-1f52-4ff0-83cb-3530d77dfbda

About this result

Related concepts (23)

Fatigue (material)

In materials science, fatigue is the initiation and propagation of cracks in a material due to cyclic loading. Once a fatigue crack has initiated, it grows a small amount with each loading cycle, typically producing striations on some parts of the fracture surface. The crack will continue to grow until it reaches a critical size, which occurs when the stress intensity factor of the crack exceeds the fracture toughness of the material, producing rapid propagation and typically complete fracture of the structure.

Reinforced concrete

Reinforced concrete, also called ferroconcrete, is a composite material in which concrete's relatively low tensile strength and ductility are compensated for by the inclusion of reinforcement having higher tensile strength or ductility. The reinforcement is usually, though not necessarily, steel bars (rebar) and is usually embedded passively in the concrete before the concrete sets. However, post-tensioning is also employed as a technique to reinforce the concrete. In terms of volume used annually, it is one of the most common engineering materials.

Deck (bridge)

A deck is the surface of a bridge. A structural element of its superstructure, it may be constructed of concrete, steel, open grating, or wood. Sometimes the deck is covered by a railroad bed and track, asphalt concrete, or other form of pavement for ease of vehicle crossing. A concrete deck may be an integral part of the bridge structure (T-beam or double tee structure) or it may be supported with I-beams or steel girders. When a bridge deck is installed in a through truss, it is sometimes called a floor system.

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