Influence of resin asphalt pavement on stress behaviors of double-side welded rib-to-deck joints in orthotropic steel decks

Abstract

Resin asphalt is one of the best choices for steel deck pavements owing to its excellent performance characteristics, such as high rigidity, excellent high-temperature stability, and convenient construction. Recently, resin asphalt has been increasingly used in orthotropic steel decks (OSDs), significantly influencing their stress levels. To determine the effect of a resin asphalt pavement on the stress behaviors and fatigue performance of double-side welded rib-to-deck (RTD) joints, experimental and numerical approaches were combined. A full-scale OSD specimen with a steel deck pavement was fabricated and tested under different temperature conditions. The experimental results indicated that the transverse bending rigidity of the deck could be improved by laying the resin asphalt pavement, and the stress ranges of the double-side welded RTD joints were significantly reduced. The stress behaviors of double-side welded RTD joints are sensitive to the pavement temperature. Thus, the stress ranges of the double-side welded RTD joints increased significantly with the temperature of the resin asphalt pavement. Furthermore, the numerical results showed that the maximum equivalent stress range of the double-side welded RTD joints occurred at crack type T2, under the transverse loading location of e = −150 mm. The equivalent stress range of the four crack types in the double-side welded RTD joints decreased significantly as the thickness of the resin asphalt pavement increased. The findings of this study suggest that the influence of resin asphalt pavements and their temperature effect must be considered to accurately evaluate the fatigue performance of RTD joints.