Abstract
Concrete bridges in extremely aggressive environments deteriorate mainly from corrosion of carbon steel prestressing strands and rebars. In prestressed concrete girders, corrosion might occur in the transverse reinforcement, which results in a decrease in shear resistance. Corrosion-free glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) rebars and corrosion-resistant stainless steel rebars are promising solutions to address corrosion. However, GFRP rebars have lower ultimate strain, elastic modulus, and transverse shear capacity than stainless steel rebars. Two full-scale 12.8-m (42-ft) long AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) Type II girders with a deck slab on top of them were tested in shear at both ends. One girder was reinforced with duplex stainless steel Grade 520 (75) stirrups, and the other was reinforced with GFRP stirrups. Both girders had 11 carbon steel prestressing strands, each initially stressed to 75% of the strand’s ultimate stress. The girders were composite with a deck slab and had a smooth interface between the girder and slab. The objective was to experimentally assess the structural behavior of the girders. The girder reinforced with stainless steel stirrups failed in flexural shear while the girder reinforced with GFRP stirrups failed in interface shear due to the lower transverse shear capacity of GFRP rebars and smooth interface between the girder and slab. The experimental shear force at the failure of the girder reinforced with stainless steel stirrups was 9.1% greater than that reinforced with GFRP stirrups. Also, the direct replacement of stainless steel confinement reinforcement with GFRP resulted in strand slippage. It was found that the current AASHTO LRFD shear design provisions are conservative in predicting the vertical shear resistance of a girder reinforced with stainless steel stirrups or GFRP stirrups. The research findings will be helpful in the development of design guide specifications for prestressed concrete girders reinforced with GFRP stirrups.
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Acknowledgments
The authors express their gratitude and sincere appreciation to the Florida Department of Transportation for funding this study. The authors are grateful to Steve Nolan for reviewing and providing thoughtful comments on this paper. Special thanks are extended to Sam Fallaha, Will Potter, and Vickie Young for their technical guidance. Also, the authors thank Steve Eudy, Justin Robertson, Paul Tighe, Ben Allen, Miguel Ramirez, and Michael Waters at the Florida Department of Transportation Structures Research Center for their assistance in testing specimens; the work was enjoyable and well-executed because of their expertise and enthusiasm. The opinions, findings, and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Florida Department of Transportation or the U.S. Department of Transportation.
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Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 27 • Issue 7 • July 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 5, 2021
Accepted: Mar 22, 2022
Published online: May 16, 2022
Published in print: Jul 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Oct 16, 2022
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