Steel-concrete Composite Deck Research Articles

Structural Design and Mechanical Behavior Investigation of Steel–Concrete Composite Decks of Narrow-Width Steel Box Composite Bridge

Steel–concrete composite decks are commonly employed in narrow-width steel box composite girder bridges to augment their lateral spanning capabilities, while the concurrent omission of longitudinal stiffeners leads to a substantial reduction in the number of components, thereby yielding a structurally optimized bridge configuration. This paper delineates the structural design parameters of a narrow-profile steel box composite girder bridge and assess the mechanical behavior of its incorporated steel–concrete composite deck under static and fatigue loading conditions. To this end, two full-scale segment specimens from the composite bridge decks were subjected to equal amplitude cyclic fatigue tests. The investigation specifically concentrated on the impacts of two types of shear connectors—namely, perforated steel plates combined with shear studs and perfobond rib shear connectors (PBL connectors)—on the static and fatigue performance, including fatigue stiffness, of the steel–concrete composite bridge decks. The results indicate that, under the static bending condition, the composite deck specimen equipped with stud connectors demonstrates superior overall flexural stiffness in comparison to the specimen featuring PBL connectors. Furthermore, the flexural stiffness of the steel–concrete composite specimens experiences a negligible alteration across two million fatigue loading cycles. Upon the completion of two million fatigue loading cycles, the composite deck specimens incorporating the shear connectors composed of perforated steel plates and shear studs exhibit relatively wider crack widths under the static peak load. Both configurations of the steel–concrete composite bridge deck specimens manifest evident interfacial detachment, signifying insufficient tensile pull-out stiffness of the shear connectors. It is recommended to increase the quantity of the shear connectors or select the pertinent types in order to enhance the interface shear resistance.

Experimental study on crack performance of steel and early-age BFRC composite beams in negative moment region

The wet joint interface concrete deck in the negative moment region of steel-concrete composite beams is susceptible to tensile cracking, which compromises the durability of the structure. Herein, a basalt fiber reinforced concrete (BFRC) is proposed to examine the wet joint cracking performance of concrete deck in the negative moment region of steel-concrete composite beams. To this end, four-point bending tests were conducted on seven steel-concrete composite beams to investigate failure modes, crack distribution patterns, load-deflection relationship, and load-crack width relationship. Experimentally, the effects of the wet joint concrete types (BFRC and normal concrete), basalt fiber volume content (0, 0.3%, and 0.6%), and concrete age (28, 14, 7, and 3 days) on their mechanical behavior were performed and discussed. The results showed that typical flexural failure commonly occurred in all specimens under the negative moment, with initial cracks appearing at the wet joint interface. The wet joint concrete with basalt fiber volume content of 0.3% exhibited the highest crack resistance, which resulted in a higher number of cracks, less crack spacing, and more uniform crack distribution in the wet joint concrete deck. The prediction methods of the average crack spacing and crack width of the wet joint concrete were proposed based on the existing theoretical models. The crack width and concrete age influence coefficients were proposed to rationally assess the effects of basalt fiber and concrete age. The modified formulas for the average crack spacing and crack width showed a reasonably good agreement with the experimental results when considering the effects of basalt fiber and concrete age. These formulas can be effectively utilized to evaluate the main crack width at the non-interface joint in the negative moment region of steel-concrete composite beam decks. The proposed approaches can provide a simple and practical method to effectively predict the crack width in the negative moment region of the steel-concrete composite beam.

Investigation on permanent deformation in steel-concrete composite beam bridge deck pavement under temperature-load coupling effect

Rutting is one of the common distresses observed in asphalt pavement, influenced by temperature and load conditions. To clarify the permanent deformation behavior of steel-concrete composite beam (SCCB) bridge deck pavement under temperature-load coupling effect and provide references for the distress cause analysis, five typical SCCB bridge deck pavements were selected. The temperature distribution and the temperature stress of the pavement structures were analyzed by numerical simulation under periodic temperature variations. In addition, considering the daily variation in traffic volume, the permanent deformation of the five pavement structures were calculated under temperature-load coupling effect. Finally, the influence of heavy load on the development of rutting distress was also investigated. The results show that the temperature field and temperature stresses within the SCCB bridge deck pavement exhibit periodic variations under periodic temperature variations. Additionally, after 500,000 times of standard axle load application, “EA + SMA” exhibits the smallest permanent deformation and the best resistance to rutting distress under temperature-load coupling effect. Finally, heavy load conditions have a great influence on the permanent deformation of SCCB bridge deck pavement. In areas with severe rutting distresses, it is recommended to use “EA + SMA” pavement structure in SCCB bridge.

Study on Shear Resistance and Structural Performance of Corrugated Steel–Concrete Composite Deck

This study looks into a new composite bridge deck structure that employs a corrugated steel plate as the base. The goal is to address the shortcomings of traditional deck-bearing capacity, stiffness, and stress performance. Specifically, this study investigates the shear performance and slip characteristics of this structure. To achieve this, the study analyzes the shear behavior and slip tendencies of the composite bridge deck. The study focuses on the role of shear studs and PBL (Perfobond Leiste) perforated steel plates as essential components for shear connections. The shear performance of the composite deck is analyzed based on the structure of shear connection keys such as shear studs and PBL perforated steel plates. The advantages of composite decks in terms of stiffness, self-weight, load-bearing capacity, shear resistance, slip resistance, etc., are discussed to provide a theoretical reference for practical engineering applications. The shear resistance of shear stud shear keys is investigated through shear push-out experiments, and the shear resistance of shear studs is investigated through finite element simulations based on the ABAQUS 2020 finite element software. The results showed that the shear load capacity of the shear studs increased with the increase in the height-to-diameter ratio for different diameters of the shear studs, and the range of increases was from 2% to 23%. However, when the diameter of the shear stud exceeded 22 mm, the ultimate shear capacity of the shear stud increased with the increase in the height-to-diameter ratio, and the magnitude of the increase slowed down. For the actual design of the composite deck, it is recommended to maintain a shear stud height-to-diameter ratio within the range of 9 to 12. When using a composite deck with a PBL open-hole steel plate, the maximum longitudinal slip at the plate end and within the span is only 0.28 mm and 0.0158 mm, respectively. These values are 31% and 36% lower than those of the composite deck with a peg shear key. Additionally, the vertical peeling within the span of the PBL open-hole steel plate is merely 0.46 mm, showing a 21% reduction compared to that of the shear studs. It can be seen that the PBL perforated steel plates are more effective than the shear studs in resisting slip and peel.

Study of a Layered Plate Girder Element of Composite Materials and Its Applications

This study aims to provide an effective method to study the behavior of a steel–concrete composite deck. First, the structural characteristics of the composite deck and the challenges arising in the computational analysis of the structure using general software are described. Then, an LPGE element that combines the plate element and the girder element into one element to conveniently construct the model with high computation efficiency is proposed. Based on the principle of multivariate field function, the constraint matrix for the plate and girder and the stiffness matrix for the LPGE are derived. The LPGE method is used to study the behavior of the composite deck through the computation of a steel truss arch bridge. The computation results are compared with the results obtained in ANSYS and the test results to verify the correctness and effectiveness of the LPGE method. The results of the paper offer references for the analysis of steel–concrete composite decks.

Structural performance of orthotropic Steel-Concrete continuous composite decks with larger U-ribs and PBL shear connectors

This study investigates the structural performance of the OSCCCDs with larger U-ribs and PBL shear connectors. Four OSCCCDs with larger U-ribs and PBL shear connector specimens were fabricated and tested under a static load, in which the experimental parameters were the spacing of the PBL shear connector and the spacing of the holes of the PBL shear connectors. Parametric analysis via finite element models was also carried out to explore the effects of the reinforcement ratio, the thickness of the steel plate, the thickness of the U-ribs, the thickness of the concrete slab, and the hole diameter of the PBL shear connector on the structural performance. It can be concluded from the experimental and numerical results that the OSCCCDs exhibited higher bearing capacity and better ductility. The OSCCCDs exhibited flexure failure at the mid-span and diagonal tension failure at the intermediate supports. The thickness of the U-ribs and the thickness of the concrete slab showed the highest impact on the initial stiffness and ultimate load of the OSCCCDs, followed by the spacing of the PBL shear connectors and the spacing of holes in the PBL shear connectors. The reinforcement ratio, the thickness of the steel plate, and the hole diameter of the PBL shear connector had little influence on the initial stiffness and ultimate load of the OSCCCDs. Finally, a simplified flexural analysis method can be proposed to accurately predict the elastic deflection and ultimate bending moment of the OSCCCDs under the service loads, respectively. The maximum absolute discrepancies of the elastic deflection and ultimate bending moment of the theoretical results are 8.2% and 12.0% by validating against the experimental and numerical results within the investigated ranges of parameters, respectively.

Flexural behavior of different types of steel-concrete composite decks with perfobond rib or head stud shear connectors

With the advent of long-span bridges, steel-concrete composite decks are increasingly concerning structures to address the fatigue problem, wear of the surfacing, and corrosion of the steel decks. The different types of ribs result in the variety of the cross-sections of the composite decks. Thus, the flexural behavior of different types of steel-concrete composite decks with perfobond rib (PBL) or head stud shear connectors was investigated in this study. The different types of composite decks included steel-concrete composite decks (SCCDs), open-rib stiffened steel-concrete composite decks (OSCCDs), and U-rib stiffened steel-concrete composite decks (USCCDs). For this purpose, the static flexural tests of two USCCDs with PBL or head stud shear connectors were conducted. Parametric analyses were also carried out via finite element models to investigate the effects of the number of ribs, the thickness of the ribs, the thickness of the steel plate, the thickness of the concrete slab, and the spacing of the shear connectors on the flexural behavior of the SCCDs, OSCCDs, and USCCDs with PBL or head stud shear connectors. The results indicated that the types of ribs showed significant influence on the flexural behavior of the composite decks. For the same type of shear connector, the flexural behavior of the USCCDs was significantly higher than that of the SCCDs and OSCCDs. Compared with the SCCDs with PBL or head stud shear connectors, the initial stiffness and ultimate load of the USCCDs with PBL or head stud shear connectors were increased by 314.2% and 354.5%, 62.2%, and 89.3%, respectively. The flexural behavior of the composite decks with PBL connections was larger than that of the composite decks with head stud shear connectors for one type of composite deck. The thickness of the concrete slab showed the highest impact on the flexural behavior of the composite decks, followed by the thickness of the rib, the number of ribs, and the spacing of the shear connector. The thickness of the steel plate showed a slight influence on the flexural behavior of the composite decks. The ultimate load of three types of composite decks with PBL or head stud shear connectors was increased by more than 46.5% when the thickness of the concrete slab increased from 80 mm to 120 mm. The reduction stiffness method considering the slip effect was proposed to accurately predict the elastic deflections of three types of composite decks. This study can provide some reference for the design and engineering application of the different types of composite decks.

A Symplectic-Spectral Element Method for High Frequency Vibration Analysis and Its Application in Structure-Borne Noise Prediction

The frequency-domain vibration model of the vehicle-track structure is established based on the symplectic-spectral element method (S-SEM). To this end, the vehicle is considered as 10-degree-of-freedom, and the rail is modeled by an infinite Timoshenko beam supported by discrete sprung fasteners. Further, the track slab and base plate are regarded as two-dimensional Timoshenko beams supported by uniformly distributed sprung elements. Using the pseudo excitation method (PEM), the track irregularity is viewed as the pseudo load. The vibration response and the internal force of the single-layer or multi-layer beam models are obtained by solving the corresponding S-SEM-based equations. The spectral forces are also applied in frequency bands to the finite element (FE) and statistical energy analysis (SEA) acoustic models. The steel-concrete composite bridge deck is simulated with composite plate materials. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified by comparing the predicted results with those obtained from the field test. The achieved results reveal that multi-layer beam structures effectively consume energy, and elastic fasteners and steel springs are capable of effectively reducing bridge noise.

Fatigue evaluation of steel-concrete composite deck in steel truss bridge—A case study

Fatigue evaluation of steel-concrete composite deck in steel truss bridge—A case study

Research on the Residual Carrying Capacity of Composite Decks with MCL Connectors under Fatigue Load

To investigate the mechanical behavior of the profiled steel-concrete composite deck with modified clothoid (MCL) connectors under fatigue load, a method for calculating the residual carrying capacity of the composite deck is proposed, and a finite element (FE) model is established to analyze the mechanism of the composite decks after fatigue failure. The maximum error between the theoretical method and the test result is 4%, and for the finite element model, the maximum error is 9%. The result indicates that the residual carrying capacities of the composite deck obtained from the theoretical method and the finite element model accord well with the test results. Parametric analysis is performed to investigate the influence of the shear span length Lsp, the modified clothoid shape connector spacing Lmc, and the upper flange depth hc of the concrete slab. It reveals that with the increase of the shear span length and the MCL connector spacing, the residual carrying capacity decreases exponentially. Additionally, the relation between hc and the residual capacity of the composite deck is linear. The study is helpful for the fatigue design of the profiled steel-concrete composite decks.

Vertical shear capacity of steel-concrete composite deck slabs with steel ribs

The design of steel-concrete composite (SCC) deck slabs is likely governed by the vertical shear under small shear span-depth ratios. This paper aims to propose the calculation method of the vertical shear capacity of the SCC deck slab (Vu). Firstly, Vu is computed as the summation of the contributions of concrete layer (Vc,u) and steel members (Vs,u). Vc,u is treated as the product of the shear capacity of an equivalent reinforced concrete member without web reinforcement and a coefficient that reflects the effects of steel ribs. The formula of Vs,u is developed based on the force equilibrium conditions between the concrete layer and steel members and the section analysis considering the steel-concrete slips. Later, an iterative calculation method is proposed and verified against experiments and finite element (FE) models established via validated simulation techniques. Lastly, an extensive parametric analysis is implemented using the iterative method, from which a simplified calculation method was proposed and proved. Results indicate the iterative method is able to capture the effects of material and geometric parameters, shear span-effective depth ratio, and the degree of steel-concrete interaction. The increases in the heights of concrete layer and steel rib, as well as the rib thickness, can effectively enlarge Vu, while the influences of the steel plate’s thickness and the steel-concrete slips are relatively minor. The iterative method produces accurate predictions with a mean error of 1% and a coefficient of variation of 0.05. The simplified method is more engineer-friendly and yields the average FE/test-predicted ratio being 1.11 as well as the percentage of safe predictions being 95%.

Experimental Study on the Behavior of Steel–Concrete Composite Decks with Different Shear Span-to-Depth Ratios

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the mechanical behaviors of steel‒concrete composite decks with different shear span-to-depth ratios. Herein, four composite decks categorized into two types with shear span-to-depth ratios of 2.5 and 4.6 are designed for an experimental program. The decks then undergo the four-point bending tests until failure to investigate the structural responses, such as the load, displacement, crack mechanism, and failure mode. Conventional section analysis is used to derive the flexural strength of composite decks in comparison with the test results. Additionally, the ductility of the composite decks is assessed based on the displacement indices. The analysis results demonstrate that the stiffness and capacity of the composite deck increase with the decrease in the shear span length. However, the ductility of the composite slabs increases with the shear span length. The flexural strengths predicted by section analysis overestimate the actual test results. The shear span-to-depth ratio affects the crack mechanism of the composite decks.

Fatigue behavior and failure mechanism of steel-concrete composite deck slabs with perforated ribs

This paper aims at investigating the variable-amplitude fatigue behavior and failure mechanism of the steel-concrete composite (SCC) deck slab with perforated ribs. Firstly, two identical full-scale specimens were tested under different fatigue loading procedures. Test results reveal that the fatigue failure process starts with the initiation of cracks at the welding part between the steel plate and perforated rib, after which the slab could sustain tens or hundreds of thousands of load cycles until the crushing of concrete. As load amplitude increases by 54%, the crack propagation rate is accelerated by 300%, and the fatigue life from the crack initiation to the crushing of concrete is reduced by 79%. Higher load amplitude applied in the earlier service stage leads to the irreversible and a higher level of degradation on the stiffness, deformation recovery, and composite action. Further, the finite element (FE) model is established and verified, through which the stress state of the welding part is analyzed. It reveals that owing to the shear transfer between the steel members and concrete layer, the welding part is in the multiaxial stress condition where longitudinal normal stress, vertical normal stress, and shear stress coexist. Subsequently, the crack initiation position is predicted using the critical plane approach based on the SWT parameter, which shows good consistency with experimental results. Finally, by conducting the parametric analysis, the effects of geometric parameters and shear-span ratio on the SWT parameter of the welding part are clarified.

Fatigue Performance of Steel-Concrete Composite Continuous Box Girder Bridge Deck

The fatigue performance of the bridge deck significantly affects the safety and durability of the overall steel-concrete composite beam bridge. Based on the vehicle flow information of the highway within 10 years, the fatigue performance of a two-way four-lane steel-concrete composite continuous beam bridge deck is studied in this research. The results indicate that the effect of the wheel track position is negligible for two-way four-lane bridge when the wheel track sways laterally, and the fatigue stress of bridge deck concrete is the most unfavorable while the loading position is 7.0 m away from the bridge center line. The fatigue damage decreases by 30%–40% when the centerline of the lane deviates from the most unfavorable stress position by 1 m. The punching fatigue of the concrete is more sensitive to the changes in slab thickness, and the thickness of the deck concrete slab is recommended to be ≥35 cm.

Experimental study and numerical simulation of temperature gradient effect for steel-concrete composite bridge deck

The temperature distribution of the bridge and its thermal effect has always been an important issue for researchers. To investigate the temperature distribution and thermal stress in the steel-concrete composite bridge deck, a 1:4 ratio temperature gradient effect experimental study was carried out in this paper. First, a set of experimental equipment for laboratory temperature gradient loading was designed based on the principle of temperature gradient caused by solar radiation, the temperature gradient obtained from the measurements were compared with the specifications and verified by the FE method. Next, the loading of the steel-concrete composite deck at different temperatures was performed. The thermal stress response and change trend of the simply supported and continuously constrained boundary conditions under different temperature loads were analyzed. The experimental results show that the vertical temperature of steel-concrete composite bridge deck is nonlinear, which is consistent with the temperature gradient trend of specifications. The vertical temperature gradient has a great influence on the steel-concrete composite bridge deck under different constraints, and the extreme stress of concrete slab and steel beam is almost linear with the temperature gradient. Finally, some suggestions for steel-concrete composite deck design were provided based on the research results.

Steel and composite tied-arch bridges: a conceptual approach to structural design

The behaviour of tied-arch bridges with composite decks (bowstring bridges) is overly sensitive to the different choices made by the designer in the first phases of the conceptual approach, mainly in the design of the arch and the deck. The geometry of the arch shape, the design of the arch–tie joint and the construction sequence can significantly modify the global behaviour in terms of stress state and deformed configuration. After a general discussion on the different parameters affecting the behaviour of bowstring bridges with steel–concrete composite decks, the consequences of choices made in the conceptual design phases are discussed, analysing the effects of each choice on the global behaviour of the bridge with particular focus on the potential for significant concrete slab cracking and on the reinforcement amount to be used in the deck slab for limiting the crack widths. Acting on geometry, materials and construction sequence, the bridge behaviour can be optimised, and examples of this approach are shown for two actual cases of bridges in southern Italy.

Model Test of Steel-Concrete Composite Beam Deck under Negative Moment

In order to understand the mechanical properties and force transfer law of steel-concrete composite beam deck under negative bending moment, and further guide the design. Based on a steel-concrete composite girder cable-stayed bridge, the model test of the mechanical behavior of the steel-concrete composite girder deck under the action of negative moment was carried out. The characteristics of mechanical failure and mechanical properties were analyzed.

钢–混组合梁桥桥面板受力分析

钢–混组合梁桥桥面板受力分析

Experimental study on behavior of corrugated steel-concrete composite bridge decks with MCL shape composite dowels

In this paper, corrugated steel-concrete composite bridge decks with perfobond ribs (PBL) and modified clothoid (MCL) shape shear connectors have been experimentally studied. Six specimens were designed, push-out tests were performed, load-slip curves were drawn and static mechanical property indices of two types of shear connectors were analyzed. Two full-scale deck slab specimens with MCL shape shear connectors were fabricated and flexural tests were conducted on them. The following conclusions were drawn from the experiments. Both types of shear connectors showed ductile failure mode. The ultimate bearing capacity, shear stiffness and ductility of MCL shape composite dowels were higher than those of PBL shear connectors. When elliptical holes were made in MCL shape composite dowels, ultimate bearing capacity was significantly increased. Full-scale flexural test results indicated that MCL shear connectors were effective for corrugated steel composite bridge decks.

Vibration-Based Damage Detection of a Steel-Concrete Composite Slab Using Non-Model-Based and Model-Based Methods

This paper presents vibration-based damage detection (VBDD) for testing a steel-concrete composite bridge deck in a laboratory using both model-based and non-model-based methods. Damage that appears on a composite bridge deck may occur either in the service condition or in the loading condition. To verify the efficiency of the dynamic test methods for assessing different damage scenarios, two defect cases were designed in the service condition by removing the connection bolts along half of a steel girder and replacing the boundary conditions, while three damage cases were introduced in the loading condition by increasing the applied load. A static test and a multiple reference impact test (MRIT) were conducted in each case to obtain the corresponding deflection and modal data. For the non-model-based method, modal flexibility and modal flexibility displacement (MFD) were used to detect the location and extent of the damage. The test results showed that the appearance and location of the damage in defect cases and loading conditions can be successfully identified by the MFD values. A finite element (FE) model was rationally selected to represent the dynamic characteristics of the physical model, while four highly sensitive physical parameters were rationally selected using sensitivity analysis. The model updating technique was used to assess the condition of the whole deck in the service condition, including the boundary conditions, connectors, and slab. Using damage functions, Strand7 software was used to conduct FE analysis coupled with the MATLAB application programming interface to update multiple physical parameters. Of the three different FE models used to simulate the behavior of the composite slab, the calculated MFD of the shell-solid FE model was almost identical to the test results, indicating that the performance of the tested composite structure could be accurately predicted by this type of FE model.