Structural Design of High-Performance Concrete Bridge Beams

Recently high-performance concrete (HPC) has been used in highway bridges and has gained popularity for its short-term and prospective long-term performances. Benefits of using HPC include fewer girder lines required, longer span capacity of girders, reduced creep and shrinkage deformation, less prestress losses, longer life cycle, and less maintenance of bridges. Research has been conducted on several issues of structural design of HPC bridge beams. The topics discussed include the effects of section properties of prestressed concrete girders, allowable tensile and compressive stresses, creep and shrinkage deformations of HPC, and prediction of prestress losses with HPC. The results from a parametric study have shown that a section that can have a large number of strands placed in its bottom flange is more suitable for HPC applications. The use of 15-mm-diameter prestressing strands allows the higher prestressing force applied on sections and can provide more efficiency in HPC bridges. The research results also indicate that the allowable compressive strength of HPC has a major effect on the structural design of bridges, whereas the allowable tensile stress has a minor effect on the design. Equations for predicting prestress losses based on the experimental and analytical results are recommended. The recommended equations consider the effects of lower creep and shrinkage deformations of HPC.