Abstract
Orthotropic steel decks (OSDs) have been widely used in long‐span bridges due to their advantages of being lightweight, having high capacity, and allowing rapid construction. However, due to the insufficiency of local stiffness of OSD, fatigue cracking and pavement damage have been common problems of OSDs worldwide. It seriously affects the safety and durability of long‐span bridges. Therefore, to solve this problem, this paper introduces an innovative steel ultrahigh‐performance concrete (steel‐UHPC) lightweight composite deck (LWCD). LWCD can reduce the fatigue stress of the conventional OSD by up to 80% and extend the fatigue life to twice the design requirements. Furthermore, engineering practices in China have proven that LWCD can effectively reduce manufacturing costs and maintenance costs throughout the whole life cycle of the structures. Thus, to provide references for design and maintenance of long‐span bridges, this paper introduces the structural design, construction techniques, joint construction design, repair methods, and economic benefits of LWCD in detail. Furthermore, numerical simulations and laboratory tests are introduced in this paper to validate the superiority of LWCD.
Highlights
Orthotropic steel decks (OSDs) have become the preferred structures of main girders of long-span bridges in recent decades because OSDs have many advantages such as being lightweight, having high strength, allowing rapid construction [1,2,3,4]. e development of OSD started in the 1920s
In 1938, the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) named such kind of deck as “battle deck” because the deck felt like having the same strength as battleship [5]
In 2002, De Jong and Kolstein suggested using a two-component epoxy layer with bauxite to connect OSD and a reinforced high-performance concrete (RHPC) layer. en, this technique was applied in the Caland Bridge in 2003. e field test results showed that the stress of the Caland Bridge deck and the rib deck weld was reduced by 80% and 60%, respectively [20]
Summary
Orthotropic steel decks (OSDs) have become the preferred structures of main girders of long-span bridges in recent decades because OSDs have many advantages such as being lightweight, having high strength, allowing rapid construction [1,2,3,4]. e development of OSD started in the 1920s. In 2020, Chen et al proposed a crack-fixing method which was retrofitting the cutout of the cracked diaphragm and strengthening the diaphragm by reinforced steel plates [1] Behind those prevention methods of OSD cracking, there were a large number of experimental studies, including shear test, static loading test, and fatigue test. An innovative steel-UHPC lightweight composite deck (LWCD) used in a self-anchored suspension bridge (Fengxi Bridge) in China is introduced. LWCD takes the UHPC layer as a part of the top plate Such design increases the deck’s local stiffness and reduces the thickness of the steel top plate of the OSD. In the Fengxi Bridge, by adopting LWCD, the top steel plate of the OSD was reduced from 16 mm to 14 mm, which saved a total of 202 tons of steel. In the Fengxi Bridge, by adopting LWCD, the top steel plate of the OSD was reduced from 16 mm to 14 mm, which saved a total of 202 tons of steel. erefore, compared with conventional OSDs, LWCDs have the advantages of higher stiffness, lighter weight, and lower manufacturing cost
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