Shear Behavior of Epoxy Resin Joints in Precast Concrete Segmental Bridges

Abstract

Epoxy resin joints for precast concrete segmental bridges protect internal posttensioned tendons from corrosion, compensate for irregularities between joint interfaces, and act as a joint lubricant. The shear strength, shear behavior, and crack pattern of the epoxy resin joints with castellated keys were investigated for 25 full-depth male–female shear key specimens match cast with a variety of key geometries, distances, numbers, and angles, internal tendon layouts and reinforcing bars. It was found that these design parameters not only effected joint shear strength but also changed epoxy resin joint failure modes and ductility. Several previous datasets were collected to evaluate six analytical expressions for epoxy resin joint shear strength, and recommendations for their use are presented. An improved analytical expression is proposed to predict the shear strength of epoxy resin joints with reinforced keys.