Cracking simulation and analysis of the mortise-and-tenon wet joints in Precast reinforced concrete ribbed girder Bridges

Abstract

ABSTRACT Flexural tests were conducted on the normal section of two different forms of specimens with wet joints to study the damage and cracks of mortise-and-tenon wet joints. Simulations were performed to analyze the mortise-and-tenon joint specimens. The extent of damage and development of cracks of specimens with straight joints and mortise-and-tenon joints are similar. The interface cracking of the specimens with mortise-and-tenon joints is often caused by concrete cracking at the root. Different tenon sizes have a negligible effect on the cracking load and overall bearing capacity of specimens. Therefore, the tenon end and depth sizes are considered 25–37.5% of the joint width, and the transition zone of the joint interface is selected to be 100–150 mm. According to the calculation formula of the flexural bearing capacity at the wet joint position and reduction factor of straight joints φ f , the correction coefficient of mortise-and-tenon joints φ s was proposed to be 1.03.