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To cite this article: Z. Kamaitis & Z. Kamaitis (1996) THE CAUSES OF SHEAR CRACKING
IN PRESTRESSED CONCRETE BOX-GIRDER BRIDGES, Statyba, 2:8, 26-34, DOI:
10.1080/13921525.1996.10590169
Z. Kamaitis
1. Introduction
Bridges are considered in Civil Engineering as attention to the problem facing the ageing bridges in
the most complex and important structures having a many countries [3]. Our analysis of defects in
great significance for road transport system of every reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete bridge
country. The majority of bridges constructed in structures in Lithuania [4] shows that the main
Lithuania are of relatively short span with the range of damages are due to concrete cracking, deterioration of
6 to 40 m approximately. Superstructures are concrete, and reinforcement corrosion. Structural
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composed of simply supported reinforced or damages are caused by design errors, poor
prestressed T- type beams or various kinds of slabs. workmanship and maintenance, aggressiveness of
For spans over 40 m continuous prestressed box cross environment.
-section beam and frame bridges are used. Post- Any overloaded reinforced concrete structure can
tensioned precast concrete has been used for fail mainly in flexural or shear mode. Design flexural
cantilever system construction up to 100m. failure is most preferable because it proceeds by
The most obvious advantages of precast box excessive cracking and deflections, giving ample
cross-section superstructure are: high bending (for warning of collapse. Shear failure in most cases can be
positive and negative bending moments) and torsional of a brittle type and gives little warning of imminent
stiffness, maximum economy of materials, good collapse. The failures of structures in shear resulted
aesthetic appearance, the possibility to use the space primarily from the formation of shear cracks which are
inside the box girder. The box cross-section reinforced inclined approximately at an angle of 30-60 degrees to
concrete girders are widely used today in the world the longitudinal axis of the beams. Concrete cracking
for beam, frame, arch, cable-stayed and suspension is a widespread defect in concrete structures. In many
bridges. Probably the first cast-in-place box-girder post-tensioned bridges and viaducts built until1980 in
continuous prestressed bridge with two spans of 62.7 Lithuania as well as in the former USSR [5], an
m was built over the River Maas in 1948 [1 ]. The first intensive shear cracking of box girders was observed.
precast box-girder bridge in Europe was built in Due to concrete cracking the risk of bond or fatigue
France. The bridge Choisy-le-Roi over Seine has 3 failure as well as the corrosion of reinforcement occur.
spans 37.5+55+37.5 m. The Lievre River bridge in Cracks also change the behaviour of the original
Quebec was the first precast prestressed segmental monolithic structure under loading. It should be noted
bridge built in 1967 in North America. This was that cracks are not totally avoidable in prestressed
followed by segmental bridge (30.5 +61 + 30.5 m) near concrete structures, but their presence destroy the
Corpus Christ, Texas (US) in 1973 [2]. The first and integrity of the structure and influence the
the longest span (with centre span of 100m) precast serviceability and sometimes carrying capacity of the
segmental bridge in Lithuania over the River Neris in structure. Therefore, it is very important to know how
Vilnius was completed in 1969. to determine the structural significance of a crack and
In recent years, in many concrete bridges its effect on the serviceability or ultimate limit state of
intensive deterioration or damage was observed. the structure.
Dramatic failures of bridges in use have brought
• 26.
In this article the shear cracking and its causes width of cracks but also by intensity parameter of
for box-girder or frame post-tensioned segmental cracking:
prestressed concrete bridges are analysed. (1)
where ac, and lcr are width and length of a particular
2. Shear cracking of girders
crack, respectively; A - total area of cracked surface
Intensive shear cracking in the box-girder webs is of the element.
observed in many prestressed concrete bridges and From Fig. 3, a and b it can be seen that in spite
viaducts. Shear cracks normally manifest themselves of stabilisation of maximum crack width, the process
in a zone near supports, close to midspan or at of cracking continue to proceed with time. This
locations between. They are inclined at approximately analysis led us to the conclusion that the strengthening
a 45 degree angle. The shear cracks usually occur near of the structure became an absolute necessity.
the centroidal axis and extend to the junction of the Two web-shear different cracking mode seems to
web and the upper and lower slabs. The typical be closely related to the web reinforcement. The
examples of shear cracking are shown in Fig. 1 and 2. principal inclined crack appears and propagates
Special inspections of the bridges were made in rapidly in beams with insufficient amount of web
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order to study and evaluate the long-term cracking reinforcement. Where the effective stirrups were
process in structures. Two kinds of shear cracking provided to control concrete cracking, many fine
mechanism can be mentioned. In the Gelezinis Vilkas cracks appear. The location of the cracks in box
2bridge over the Neris River, for example, only one girders is influenced by such factors as the loading
diagonal crack in the box girder was found in the full- conditions, the cross-section parameters, and stress-
scale acceptance load testing (Fig. 2, a). Under service strain gradient.
loads the crack increased both in width and length. The consequences of observed cracking in the
New single diagonal cracks in both webs of opposite bridge structures can be estimated as follows:
girder appeared with time. During the last special
* serious reduction of the strength and safety
inspection it was found that cracks had opened up to
margin, which can lead to the failure of single
1 mm width or even more. The diagonal tension cracks
element or a bridge deck as a whole;
developed toward the top and bottom slabs of the
* progressive reduction of the stiffness of the
beams and crossed the concrete web width at the
structure leading to an increase in deformations
juncture of the webs with bottom and top slabs,
and redistribution of internal forces;
separating the slabs from the webs. The splitting
horizontal cracks continue to grow along the bottom * future reduction of safety of the structures due to
level of the upper slabs. The shapes of .the cracks corrosion of reinforcement crossing the cracks;
suggest that high shear force as well as the negative * reduction of serviceability of the bridge due to
moments at this section influenced the formation and poor circulation quality or increased vibration of
development of these cracks. structures and as a result the necessity of weight
In other bridges the girders show extensive or speed limitation of vehicles;
diagonal web cracking (Fig. 2, b). The length and * bad aesthetic appearance.
width of the main inclined cracks in the webs during a The cracking of the structure as shown in Fig. 2, a
certain period of time remain unchanged or leads to the detachment of parts of the box girders,
sometimes begin to decrease. Furthermore, new reduce the compressive zone of cross-section, the
inclined cracks begin to appear (Fig. 3, a). The process carrying capacity, and the rigidity of the beams.
of cracking should be reported not only by maximum
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a
" G'":::'mi•ar.'"..
j 1 acr
"'+*IIIIIT"'"•"'",
< 0.3 mm j
~~~~~l:'.'i'ifa
i i
Fig. 1. Bridge over the Neris River in Vilnius; a - bridge elevation and cross section;
b - web shear cracking in box girders A and D
a b
acr lx10.s
1.0 200
0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0 4 8 12 16 0 5 10 15
Years Years
Fig. 3. Crack width (a) and intensity parameter of web cracking (b) versus time
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In cracked reinforced concrete, corrosion of the It should be mentioned the following possible
reinforcement and freeze-thaw deterioration of the causes of web-shear cracking of prestressed concrete
concrete takes place. It is assumed that wider cracks precast segmental bridge structures:
would give easier access to aggressive substances. The * continually changing combinations of high shear
width of cracks in the reinforced concrete must be and flexural stresses which occur near the loads
controlled as a function of environmental and reactions (including overloading);
aggressiveness. Different codes prescribe limiting * additional torsional stresses in the webs due to
crack widths. For ordinary reinforced concrete bridge eccentrically applied live loads;
structures this limit is of 0.2 mm. For prestressed * high principal compressive stresses in the
concrete bridge structures no shear cracking is inclined sections due to external loads and
allowed. prestressing force;
Visual acceptance of the structure from the point * insufficient initial prestressing and long-term
of view of aesthetic appearance depends on bridge losses in the tendons due to shrinkage and creep
owner's requirements or public opinion. Location of a of concrete members or its joints as well as steel
bridge is an important factor of the aesthetic prestige relaxation which results in reduced compressive
of the structure. stresses in the webs;
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\ I
a ~
--o --. . .
1\
centre-line
compression
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tension
compression
tension
Fig. 4. Sectional forces acting on the cross-section of box girder (a), temperature stresses across
the section of the web (b), and critical element (c)
The shear crack occurs when the principal tensile Biaxial behaviour of concrete in tension. It can be seen
stresses due to the action of Qj, Oj. rq, and tt will from Eq. (2) that the structural member will not crack
exceed the tensile strength of the concrete. in inclined section if higher compressive stresses are
The torsion produces a shear flow around the applied. But it is true only up to a certain limit. Under
perimeter of box cross-section. This shear flow is biaxial tension-compression, the tensile strength of
related to the applied torque by the equilibrium concrete (ern~~) decreases almost approximately linearly
equation as the applied compressive stress ( crmc) is increased
(3) (Fig. 5, straight line 1). Thereby the excessive
T= 2Ao ttb
prestressing increases the principal compressive stress
which can be rearranged in the form: and as a result reduces the tensile strength of
tt = T/2A 0 b, (4) concrete.
where Ao is the area enclosed by the shear flow path. In recent bridge code specifications, stricter
Then, the shear stresses due to bending and requirements concerning influence of principal
torsion are given by: compressive stresses on the concrete tensile strength
are presented .
r= Tq + 'Z( = QS/Jb + T/2A 0 (5)
Prestress losses. In precast segmental bridge girders
The influence of additional torsional stresses on the total prestress losses:
the resistance to shear cracking of bridge structures
was introduced in the design code SN 2.05.03-84 later Oioss = O:.h + CTcr + o;. + OJ. (6)
(from 1984). where O:.h - loss due to concrete shrinkage; ac, - loss
due to creep of concrete; o;.- loss due to relaxation of
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Creep deformations of the glued bonds under long
term or cyclic compression are influenced by the
1.0~ 1 - SN 2.03.01 - 84 degree of stress, thickness of the glue joint as well as
0.8 2- SN 365-67
Orne $ 0.68 Rb, ser
composition and age of the glue. On the basis of these
3 - SN 2.05.03 - 84
results the following formula for the loss of
0.6 t---------1~0, prestressing due to creep in polymer grouted joints
~'y
lL!1
Orne $ 0.59 Rb, ser 1 was proposed:
04
· s4o
Rb, ser = 29.5 MPa I
(8)
0.2 Rbt, ser = 2.15 MPa 3 where dk - thickness of the joint; ab - compressive
I 0 mt I Rbt ser stress in concrete at centroid of prestressed tendon;
~~----~~----~~ Cb (t)- creep per unity of concrete stress at moment t.
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0
Creep increase factor for segmental structures
Fig. 5. Failure criteria for concrete B40 in plane stress state based on investigation [4]:
by various codes
f3 = 1 + 0.28 dk Ob / Rb, ser (9)
prestressing steel; a; - loss due to creep and shrinkage
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r~r,~
The temperature gradients in a bridge of
statically indeterminate concrete superstructure
(continuous beams, frames, box cross-sections) will
result in rotation distortions in longitudinal and
t RUSSIA
transverse direction producing stresses. It is known
that the thermal stresses and deformations have
damaged some post-tensioned box girder bridges [6].
Nevertheless, a wide variety of weather
conditions in various countries, the similar vertical
non-linear temperature distribution produced by
heating under the sun and cooling during the night
were obtained (Fig. 7). The temperature distribution
within a cross-section must vary with time. Thermal
gradients influenced by local meteorology conditions
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1'40"
16h/
30" ,~ 30°
28" ,Sh at= 12" at= 18"
........ 24"
21" ~- - 20"
30"
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Thermal expansion or contraction, as well as and z- in Eq. (1), affecting the cracking resistance of
bowing of beam is prevented by reactions at the box girder structures. Creep of concrete has a
supports which cause stresses aLit1 and rAt (Fig. 4, c) considerable influence on the thermal stresses and
in the vertical cross- section of the beam. The stresses deflections of heated elements.
in cross-section are calculated by assuming that the Web dimension parameters. It is known that in
thermal deformations first occur and then the prestressed concrete beams web-shear cracking
reactions are applied to bring the beam back to its usually occurs with thin webs. Statistical studies were
original length. Temperature induced stresses in the made to evaluate some geometric characteristics of
cross-section of bridge superstructures from Ref. [8] prestressed concrete of box cross-section bridge
may be as high as 2 MPa. It seems that there is a superstructures, leading to an assessment of shear
significant tension in the bottom zone of cross- Section cracking resistance of webs.
as a consequence of the thermal action. The In order to analyse the web dimensions three
temperature related stresses are often of the same parameters were determined: girder depth (hi), pier
magnitude as the service load stresses. to midspan girder depth ratio (h 21h 1), and the total
The bending moment ML11 required to restrain web area to the bridge width ratio (h 1bw I b). The
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the beam from bowing: analysis was made on the results of an extensive survey
ML11 = L1t aEI I h. (10) of segmental precast box girder bridges built until
1982 in the United States [2], France [7], and
This results in a shearing force QL11 and shearing stress
Lithuania. Statistical studies were conducted to
t'L11:
determine the correlation of parameters. A good
rL11: = L1t aEI I /1 (S 12/b), (11) correlation between constant girder depth as well as
where a - coefficient of thermal expansion of pier-to-midspan-depth ratios and span length for all
concrete; E - Young's modulus of concrete; L1t - investigated bridges are found. It is important to
temperature change. stress that the parameter h1bw I b for bridges built in
In transverse direction of a bridge, the box Lithuania is lower than that for US and France
sections are also indeterminate structures and the bridges especially for long span bridges. This indicates
thermal stresses occur when the cross-section is heated that for the same span length the Lithuanian bridges
on one side by the sun (Fig. 4, b). This is applicable to are of thinner webs.
the external beams of a bridge. Opposite temperature
gradients can also occur due to rapid cooling of 4. Conclusions
exposed concrete surface. The outside of the web is In many post-tensioned concrete bridges built in
subjected to an alternative higher and lower Lithuania until1982 an intensive shear cracking of box
temperatures. The webs of box girders are restrained girders is observed. It occurs when the principal
in the deck and bottom slabs. It can be assumed that tensile stresses due to combination of service loads
webs are free for length changes and fully restrained and restraint forces exceed the tensile strength of
against bowing. Due to restraint bowing, the colder concrete. The inclined cracks in the webs change the
surface is subjected to tensile, and the warmer surface behaviour of the original monolithic structure and a
to the compressive stresses. The web is subjected to new analysis has to be developed for existing cracked
an alternative compression-tension stresses D"Lit 2 (Fig. concrete structures.
4, band c). Prestressed concrete segmental box girder
The bowing moment depends on the depth of the superstructures are generally subjected to the
web: complex action due to bending, shear, torsion,
(12) thermal, creep, shrinkage, plastic yielding, interface
Finally, it its possible to conclude that thermal slipping effects which make the theoretical prediction
gradient and stresses occur in the indeterminate and interpretation of stress-strain state extremely
superstructures and are reflected on the stresses a.., oy, difficult. It is necessary therefore to provide these
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factors, many of them being time-dependent, in the 7. La technique francaise du beton precontraint // IX
congress international de Ia FIP. Stockholm: 1982, p.
design of prestressed concrete structures. Actually not 22-77.
all of them are introduced in the design codes. 8. Potgieter I.C., Camble W.L. Nonlinear Temperature
The significant stresses occur over the depth of a Distributions in Bridges at Different Locations in the
US// PCI Journal, 1989, Vol. 34, No 4, p. 80-103.
superstructure members due to temperature
gradients. It is important to perform the in-situ
Jteikta 1996 1114
measurements to determine the magnitude and
distributions of temperatures at various moments in IS ANKSTO fi'EMPTIJ GELZBETONINIQ TILTfJ
the bridge superstructures. The orientation of the DEZINR) PERDANGV lSTRIZVJV P.JiiVIV
PLEISE.JIMO PRIEZAS1YS
bridges relative to the north-south axis has to be taken
into account. Z.Kamaitis
It seems that a sufficient cracking resistance of
Santrauka
existing bridge superstructures can be achieved by
IS anksto itemptose tiltq dezinese surenkamosiose
increasing the dimensions of cross-section of box perdangose pastebimas intensyvus vertikaliq sieneliq
girder webs. pleisejimas jstrifuose pjfiviuose. Intensyviau pleiSeja
This investigation is the first attempt to analyse perdangq kra8tines sijos. Ply8iq atsiverimo plotis kartais
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