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Virginia Tech

Interface Shear Strength in Lightweight Concrete Bridge Girders

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Precast girders and cast-in-place decks are a typical type of concrete bridge construction. A key part of this type of construction is developing composite action between the girder and deck. In order to develop composite action, adequate horizontal shear resistance must be provided at the interface. As lightweight concrete is increasingly being used in bridge designs, it is important to understand the horizontal shear behavior of lightweight concrete. The current AASHTO LRFD Specification provides design equations for horizontal shear strength of both lightweight and normal weight concrete. Thirty-six push-off tests were performed to determine if the current code equations accurately predict the horizontal shear strength of precast girders and cast-in-place decks for both normal weight and lightweight concrete. The different test series investigated effects from lightweight and normal weight concrete used for the girder/slab combination and the quantity of shear reinforcement provided across the interface. The test results were compared to the results predicted by current design equations. A structural reliability analysis was performed and the test-to-predicted statistics were used to define LRFD resistance factors and quantify the probability of failure. The current design equations were found to be conservative and more conservative for lightweight concrete than for normal weight concrete.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Civil Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Civil Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2010

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Scott, Jana
Chairs dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Roberts-Wollmann, Carin L.
  • Cousins, Thomas E.
Committee member dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Moen, Cristopher D.

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
etd-07072010-112155
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/33922

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Scott, Jana. Interface Shear Strength in Lightweight Concrete Bridge Girders. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/33922