Thermal Cracking of Mass Concrete Bridge Footings in Coastal Environments
Publication: Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 29, Issue 6
Abstract
The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) identified several mass concrete footings in coastal bridges with cracking that needed to be assessed in the context of current North Carolina mass concrete specifications. Cracked concrete in coastal environments is of particular concern due to the higher potential for corrosion damage. Site visits were made to assess the extent of the cracking observed in mass concrete footings of three different bridges. A finite-element model was developed and used to analyze the footings and assess them for their early age thermal cracking potential. Finite-element model results showed that reasonably sized mass concrete footings that followed typical NCDOT control plans did not have a high likelihood of significant cracking from thermal stresses. However, a much larger mass concrete footing had a distinctly higher risk of significant cracking even when typical NCDOT control plans are followed. Further, cracking was even more likely when formwork was removed early. The model results correlated well with observations from the field. A comparison with temperature rise results from the Schmidt method, as implemented in the design of the mass concrete structural elements, shows the Schmidt method’s limitations in predicting temperature differences for very large mass concrete footings.
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Acknowledgments
The research presented here was sponsored by the North Carolina Department of Transportation under research grant RP2012-09 and by the Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering at North Carolina State University. Vahid Zanjani-Zadeh’s assistance with the Schmidt method calculations is gratefully acknowledged.
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Published In
Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities
Volume 29 • Issue 6 • December 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 27, 2014
Accepted: Jul 23, 2014
Published online: Sep 26, 2014
Discussion open until: Feb 26, 2015
Published in print: Dec 1, 2015
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