Ultimate Strength of Concrete Barrier by the Yield Line Theory

Abstract

When the yield line theory is used to estimate the ultimate strength of a concrete barrier, it is of primary importance that the correct assumption is made for the failure mode of the barrier. In this study, a static test was performed on two full-scale concrete barrier specimens of Korean standard shape that simulate the actual behavior of a longitudinally continuous barrier. This was conducted in order to verify the failure mode presented in the AASHTO LRFD specification. The resulting shape of the yield lines differed from that presented in AASHTO when subjected to an equivalent crash load. Furthermore, the ultimate strengths of the specimens were lower than the theoretical prediction. The main causes of these differences can be attributed to the characteristics of the barrier shape and to a number of limitations associated with the classical yield line theory. Therefore, a revised failure mode with corresponding prediction equations of the strength were proposed based on the yield lines observed in the test. As a result, a strength that was more comparable to that of the test could be obtained. The proposed procedure can be used to establish more realistic test levels for barriers that have a similar shape.