Analytical and experimental study on the behavior of elastically supported reinforced concrete decks

Current design specifications prescribe that the upper and lower reinforcement mat is required in the same amount to resist negative and positive moment in bridge decks. This design concept is primarily based on the unrealistic assumption that the girder plays a role of rigid support against deck deflection. In reality, however, girders are flexible and the deflection of girders affect the behavior of deck slabs. In the present study, an analytical method was developed to take the effect of the girder flexibility on the deck behavior into account. The method was formulated based on the slope-deflection equations of plates and harmonic analysis. Unlike the conventional finite element analysis, the input and output schemes are simple and convenient. The validity of the presented study was verified by a series of comparative studies with finite element analyses and experimental tests. It was shown from the analyses that the negative transverse moments of decks were significantly reduced in many cases when the girder flexibility were appropriately taken into consideration whereas the positive moments tend to increase. This poses a strong need to improve the conventional design concept of decks on rigid girders to those on flexible girders.