Shear assessment of a reinforced concrete bridge deck slab according to level‐of‐approximation approach

Abstract

Reinforced concrete (RC) slabs without shear reinforcement are commonly used for existing bridge structures. For such structures, shear and punching can be the governing failure modes at the ultimate limit state if subjected to large concentrated loads. The aim of this study is to examine a structured approach for the analyses of the RC bridge deck slabs, which make up a considerable proportion of the currently used bridge decks. The method used for analyses is the levels‐of‐approximation introduced in fib Model Code for Concrete Structures 2010. The different levels include simplified calculation method, linear finite element analysis as well as non‐linear finite element analysis. The differences between analysis methods at different levels of analyses were discussed regarding one‐way shear and punching shear behavior of the slab.