Anchorage Capacity of Concrete Bridge Barriers Reinforced with GFRP Bars with Headed Ends

Abstract

An experimental program was conducted to investigate the application of headed glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) ribbed bars at the barrier wall-deck anchorage. Six full-scale barrier models of 1,200 mm in length were erected and tested under static monotonic loading to determine their ultimate load-carrying capacities and failure modes with respect to the barrier wall-deck anchorage. Four PL-2 barrier specimens were cast: two of them were of tapered face and the other two specimens were of parapet type with constant thickness. Each set had a steel-reinforced specimen as the control model and a GFRP-reinforced specimen. In addition, two PL-3 GFRP-reinforced specimens were erected with different spacing of GFRP bars. Each specimen was loaded laterally until collapse. This paper presents the results from these tests in the form of crack pattern, deflection history, and ultimate load-carrying capacity. Experimental results were compared with the design values specified in the Canadian bridge code for barrier anchorage into the deck slabs, showing a large margin of safety for the proposed GFRP-reinforced barriers. In addition, a parametric study was undertaken using finite-element analysis to investigate the applicability of resultant design loads prescribed by the Canadian bridge code for the design of the barrier wall-deck anchorage. The key parameters considered in this study were deck overhang length and thickness and barrier length. The data generated from this parametric study were used to develop set of empirical expressions for the factored applied moment at the barrier-deck interface, as well as the factored tensile force required to design the deck slab cantilever.