Shear or bending? Experimental results on large t-shaped prestressed conrete beams

Experimental results of four shear tests on two large prestressed concrete beams are compared to nonlinear analysis and design code calculations. The beams have a length of 12 m and a depth of 1.3 m and are reinforced with stirrups and pre-tensioning. The four tests consist of a single point load at a distance of 2.7d from the support. A priori...

Applying Experimental Results to the Shear Assessment Method for Solid Slab Bridges

The combination of increased live loads and a more conservative shear capacity in the recently implemented Eurocodes, resulted in a large number of existing solid slab bridges in the Netherlands being shear-critical upon assessment. However, an enhancement of the shear capacity can occur in slabs under concentrated wheel loads due to transverse...

Prolonging the service life of existing reinforced concrete slab bridges through experimental studies on the shear capacity

A large number of existing reinforced concrete slab bridges are found to be insufficient for shear when calculated according to the governing codes. Seeking improved methods, for example, based on new experimental evidence, to assess the residual shear capacity and prolonging their service life can avoid large economic, environmental and social...

Shear capacity of slabs under a combination of loads

Existing solid slab bridges under a combination of wheel loads and distributed traffic loads sometimes do not fulfil the code requirements for shear. However, reinforced concrete slabs loaded close to the support are subjected to shear stresses which might result in a failure mode of combined punching and shear. This behaviour is studied in a...