Experimental Performance of Steel Fiber Reinforced Concrete Bridge Deck

Abstract

A full-scale steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) bridge deck was tested to investigate the behavior under two-way action. The deck was designed to reduce the amount of traditional reinforcing bars in a design controlled by service-limit criteria. The SFRC is intended to reduce the strains in the steel at service limits. Loads were applied to simulate the single and tandem loads in the continuous spans of the bridge deck and a single tandem load in the overhang. A companion test program tested slab strips to establish the one-way flexural response with and without reinforcing bars. One-way strength was used in a yield-line analysis to predict the experimental capacity of the specimens. Theoretical capacities were significantly less than the experimental strength for interior loads where significant multiple-cracking effects were observed from the SFRC. In the overhang where membrane action and load redistribution were not possible, yield-line analysis predicted the experimental capacity.