Ultimate Flexural Strength Evaluation of Construction Joints in PSC Bridge Girders

PSC 교량 부재의 시공이음부의 극한 휨강도 평가

Prestressed concrete(PSC) bridge structures with a number of continuous spans has been segmentally built in many countries. These methods include incremental launching method, movable scaffolding method, full staging method and balanced cantilever method. In these segmentally constructed prestressed concrete bridges, many construction joints exist and these construction joints are weak points in PSC bridges. The prestress force can be introduced prestress force continuously through the construction joints of PSC bridge superstructure using tendon couplers. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the structural behavior and ultimate flexural strength of construction joints in PSC girder bridge members. To this end, a comprehensive experimental program has been set up and a series of full-scale tests have been performed. Ultimate flexural strength of construction joint in PSC members with tendon couplers is decreased by approximately 10% for non-coupled members.