Analysis of Shear Capacity of Prestressed Concrete Bridge Girders

For the assessment of existing slab-between-girder bridges, the shear capacity and failure mode are under discussion. In particular, preliminary assessment calculations showed that the critical failure mode of the girders is shear-tension. In this paper, four girders taken from a demolished bridge that were tested in the lab are analyzed according to existing codes. The comparison between the experiments and the analysis shows that the Dutch RBK provisions are conservative and the ACI 318-19 provisions result in good predictions of the shear capacity at inclined cracking and at ultimate. These observations are then combined into recommendations for the assessment of prestressed concrete girders in existing slab-between-girder bridges for shear cracking and the ultimate shear capacity.

Automated summary

The paper discusses the shear capacity and failure mode of existing slab-between-girder bridges, focusing on shear-tension as a critical failure mode of the girders. Analysis of four tested girders from a demolished bridge showed that the Dutch RBK provisions are conservative while the ACI 318-19 provisions provide accurate predictions. Recommendations for assessing prestressed concrete girders in existing bridges for shear cracking and ultimate shear capacity are proposed based on the findings.