Analysis, prediction, and case studies of early-age cracking in bridge decks
Journal Title: International journal of advanced structural engineering - Year 2016, Vol 8, Issue 2
Abstract
Early-age cracking can adversely affect strength, serviceability, and durability of concrete bridge decks. Early age is defined as the period after final setting, during which concrete properties change rapidly. Many factors can cause early-age bridge deck cracking including temperature change, hydration, plastic shrinkage, autogenous shrinkage, and drying shrinkage. The cracking may also increase the effect of freeze and thaw cycles and may lead to corrosion of reinforcement. This research paper presents an analysis of causes and factors affecting early-age cracking. It also provides a tool developed to predict the likelihood and initiation of early-age cracking of concrete bridge decks. Understanding the concrete properties is essential so that the developed tool can accurately model the mechanisms contributing to the cracking of concrete bridge decks. The user interface of the implemented computer Excel program enables the user to input the properties of the concrete being monitored. The research study and the developed spreadsheet were used to comprehensively investigate the issue of concrete deck cracking. The spreadsheet is designed to be a user-friendly calculation tool for concrete mixture proportioning, temperature prediction, thermal analysis, and tensile cracking prediction. The study also provides review and makes recommendations on the deck cracking based mainly on the Florida Department of Transportation specifications and Structures Design Guidelines, and Bridge Design Manuals of other states. The results were also compared with that of other commercially available software programs that predict early-age cracking in concrete slabs, concrete pavement, and reinforced concrete bridge decks. The outcome of this study can identify a set of recommendations to limit the deck cracking problem and maintain a longer service life of bridges.
Authors and Affiliations
Adel ElSafty, Matthew K Graeff, Georges El-Gharib, Ahmed Abdel-Mohti, N. Mike Jackson
Finite element and micromechanical modeling for investigating effective material properties of polymer–matrix nanocomposites with microfiber, reinforced by CNT arrays
This paper is motivated by the lack of studies to investigate the effect of fiber reinforced CNT arrays on the material properties of nanocomposites. To make a comprehensive study, this research work is conducted in two...
Bending and free vibration analysis of functionally graded plates using new eight-unknown shear deformation theory by finite-element method
In this paper, a new eight-unknown shear deformation theory is developed for bending and free vibration analysis of functionally graded plates by finite-element method. The theory based on full 12-unknown higher order sh...
Seismic response of a full-scale wind turbine tower using experimental and numerical modal analysis
Wind turbine technology has developed tremendously over the past years. In Egypt, the Zafarana wind farm is currently generating at a capacity of 517 MW, making it one of the largest onshore wind farms in the world. It i...
A contact element for dynamic analysis of beams to a moving oscillator on tensionless elastic foundation
This paper presents the contact elements for dynamic analysis of Euler–Bernoulli beams to a moving oscillator on tensionless elastic foundation considering discontinuous contact. The elastic foundation is modeled by line...
Wind effects on ‘Z’ plan-shaped tall building: a case study
The present paper is centered on the study to understand the behavior of various surfaces of a ‘Z’ planshaped tall building under varying wind directions. For that purpose, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) package of A...