Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Structures
journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/structures
a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 29 June 2014
Received in revised form 5 December 2014
Accepted 15 December 2014
Available online 20 December 2014
Keywords:
Reinforced concrete deterioration
Rebar corrosion
Deck delamination
Composite steel girder bridges
Nonlinear nite element analysis (NLFEA)
a b s t r a c t
In-service composite steel girder bridges typically experience a variety of deterioration mechanisms during their
service lives, ranging from cracking, spalls, and delaminations in the reinforced concrete deck to corrosion in the
steel girders. To date, several inspection techniques and novel technologies have been widely implemented to
identify and measure different sources of defects associated with bridge systems, especially within the concrete
deck. Despite successful implementation of these evaluation methodologies, what transportation agencies still
lack is a fundamental understanding of the system-level behavior and the potential impact of the identied
deterioration conditions on the overall performance of these bridges.
In this paper, the impact of corrosion-induced subsurface deck delamination on the overall behavior and
performance of steelconcrete composite bridges is investigated using nite element simulation and analysis.
The accuracy and validity of the modeling approaches were assessed through a comparison to experimental
data available in literature. A sensitivity study was performed to investigate the inuence of deck deterioration
on the system-level performance, load distribution behavior, and failure characteristics of two representative
composite steel girder bridges. One of the selected structures is a full-scale laboratory bridge model, while the
other one is an actual in-service structure with geometrical characteristics that represents typical features of
steel girder bridges in Virginia.
The selected damage scenarios included variations in different geometrical characteristics such as location and
depth of damage, as well as degradation in material properties at the corresponding damaged areas. In addition
to the bridge system behavior, the impact of rebar corrosion and subsurface delamination on the behavior of
individual deck systems was investigated; while its implication on the current design methodologies for
reinforced concrete decks was evaluated. Results from this investigation demonstrate that the deck deterioration
has minimal impact on the overall system behavior and the path to failure of the selected structures, but may
impact the failure characteristics in the form of reductions in the ultimate load-carrying capacity and system
ductility.
2014 The Institution of Structural Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
1.1. State of practice
Bridges represent one of the most critical components within the
U.S. transportation network. Generally, the occurrence of bridge failures
is somewhat rare, and most often it is related to unforeseen natural and
man-made hazards such as impacts, re or ooding [1]. However, it is
the condition states of aging in-service bridges that plague the health
of the national infrastructure in the United States. Considering the
various operational conditions, in-service bridges are subjected to
temporal damage and deterioration mechanisms once they are put
into service. According to the national bridge inventory [2], almost
10% of over 600,000 bridges in-service in the United States are
Corresponding author. Tel: +1 906 370 4557; fax: +1 434 982 2951.
E-mail address: agheitasi@virginia.edu (A. Gheitasi).
categorized as structurally decient. While it is not feasible to immediately repair all of the decient in-service bridges, this deteriorating
condition does underscore the importance of quality inspection and
performance assessment mechanisms to prioritize the repair efforts.
1.2. Challenges for composite steel girder bridges
The main types of deterioration that composite steel girder bridges
experience have been well documented in recent years [3] with
challenges observed in both the primary load-bearing girders and the
deck. Much of the degradation manifests in the steel girders as corrosion
and section loss, which is often caused by exposure to chemical-laden
solutions resulting from leaking expansion joints or roadway spray.
Furthermore, reinforced concrete decks suffer from a variety of
deteriorating conditions associated with cracking due to the low tensile
resistance of concrete. These cracks would provide direct pathway for
chloride and moisture penetration and allow for accelerated exposure,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.istruc.2014.12.001
2352-0124/ 2014 The Institution of Structural Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
10
2. Method of study
The investigation approach used in this study was initiated with the
development of a numerical model for a representative intact bridge
superstructure. The intended outcome of this modeling effort was to
establish a fundamental understanding of the system-level behavior,
nonlinear characteristics, and the corresponding failure mechanism of
the simulated bridge system. Due to the limited experimental data
that exists on the behavior and ultimate capacity of bridge superstructures with accumulated damages, the development of modeling strategies for integrating damage at the element-level domain provides a
suitable alternative. Thus, the second goal of this study was aimed to
establish a numerical modeling approach to study the impact of deck
delamination on the behavior of a representative reinforced concrete
slab.
The commercial nite element (FE) computer package, ANSYS [34],
was used to generate the numerical models within both element-level
and system-level domains. The accuracy and validity of the FE simulation and analysis were investigated through comparison of the results
to available experimental data. Once the damage modeling approach
was validated, it could be integrated into the validated bridge model
to investigate the inuence of delamination in RC slabs on the overall
bridge system-level behavior. Accordingly, a sensitivity study was
performed to determine the impact of variations in different geometrical and material characteristics of the damage conguration on the
overall behavior of the selected system and its susceptibility to failure.
Upon calibration, the proposed modeling approach was implemented
to study the behavior of an actual in-service structure under the effect
of deck deterioration.
11
Fig. 2. Nebraska laboratory test (a) bridge cross section, (b) bridge plan, and (c) proposed FE model.
Fig. 3. Assumed material behavior and corresponding failure criteria: (a) concrete, (b) steel.
12
4. Sensitivity analysis
Using the proposed numerical modeling approach for damage
integration, a sensitivity analysis was performed to investigate the
inuence of variations in different damage parameters described in
Fig. 8, including geometrical and material characteristics, on the nonlinear behavior, ultimate capacity and system ductility of the selected
bridge superstructure. Table 1 summarizes fteen cases of analyses
representing different damage scenarios. It should be noted that the
corresponding values for the selected damage parameters are ideal representations of actual quantities and were selected to demonstrate the
applicability of the proposed modeling approach. With improvement
in the non-destructive inspection techniques, more accurate values for
these parameters can be provided and integrated in the corresponding
numerical analysis, but this was beyond the scope of this investigation.
4.1. Area of delamination
Cases 1 through 4 were selected to investigate the effect of damage
shape and its extent level (as depicted in Fig. 8a) on the overall system
behavior. As illustrated in Fig. 9, four different generic delamination
patterns were selected to update the intact bridge model. With the
maximum positive exural moment induced at the mid-span of the
selected simply-supported structure under the applied loads, the
chosen delamination patterns would cause the worst case damage
effects on the performance of the system. In all of these cases, it was
assumed that the delamination occurred at the depth of 75 mm (3 in.)
from the top surface of the slab, as a result of corrosion in the top
layer of the deck reinforcement (see Fig. 8c), and the corresponding
Fig. 5. Reinforced concrete slab with overlay: (a) elevation, (b) plan, and (c) proposed FE model.
13
where f D
y and fy are the rebar yield stresses with damaged and intact
congurations, Apit is the area of the pit, and Astnom is the nominal
cross section area of the intact rebar. Although occurrence of pitting
corrosion is not common in the actual in-service structures, in this
study analysis cases 11 and 12 were attributed to investigate the impact
of rebar material degradation on the behavior of the selected bridge
superstructure with a delaminated deck. Corresponding pit areas were
assumed as 10% and 50% of the intact rebar cross section, which result
in 5% and 25% reduction in the yield stress of the corroded rebar,
respectively.
4.5. Concrete material degradation
Internal pressure developed from the expansion of the corrosion
products would result in the formation of cracks in the surrounding
concrete. Cracks can be developed at the top or bottom layers of
concrete; however, the top cover of the deck would most likely exhibit
a reduction in performance compared to undamaged concrete as it is
subjected to the compressive stresses under the externally applied
loads. As illustrated in Fig. 8f, a reduction in the compressive strength
of the cracked concrete depends on the average tensile strains induced
by internal pressure and can be ideally integrated into the numerical
model of the damaged concrete using Eq. (2) [43]:
fc
D
fc
1:00:1 1
0
where f D
c and fc are the concrete compressive strengths with damaged
and intact congurations, 0 is the intact concrete strain at the
peak strength, and 1 is corrosion-induced tensile strain in transverse
direction which is a function of number of corroded rebars, volumetric
expansion of the rust products, and average corrosion attack penetration. The proposed equation was calibrated for a series of articially
corroded beams tested in the lab [26], where an exact measure of the
transverse tensile strains was available. However, this measurement is
not common in current eld inspection practices of in-service bridges.
Therefore, results from the experimental investigation were used in
this study to incorporate the effect of concrete material degradation
on the behavior of damaged bridge system. Accordingly, the bridge
model was updated with 30%, 50%, and 65% reduction in the compressive strength of the top concrete cover (cases 1315), representing the
14
Table 1
Effect of material and geometrical renements on the behavior of damaged models.
Model
Intact
Case (1)
Case (2)
Case (3)
Case (4)
Case (5)
Case (6)
Case (7)
Case (8)
Case (9)
Case (10)
Case (11)
Case (12)
Case (13)
Case (14)
Case (15)
a
b
c
d
e
f
Damage patterna
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(b)
(b)
(b)
(b)
(b)
(b)
(b)
(b)
(b)
(b)
(b)
Fracture Planeb
asym./top
asym./top
asym./top
asym./top
asym./bot
sym.
asym./top
asym./bot
sym.
asym./top
asym./top
asym./top
asym./top
asym./top
asym./top
Depth (mm)c
75
75
75
75
75
75
150
150
150
75
75
75
75
75
75
Steel
Conc.
fyd
areae
fcf
5%
25%
5%
10%
50%
30%
50%
65%
Capacity (kN)
5235
5144
4915
4806
4774
5113
4522
5218
5229
5207
4911
4605
4341
4838
4257
3732
Ductility (u/y)
3.6
3.0
2.6
2.1
1.7
3.0
1.8
3.2
3.3
3.1
2.3
1.9
1.6
2.3
1.6
1.3
Relative reduction
Capacity
Ductility
1.7%
6.1%
8.2%
8.8%
2.3%
13.6%
0.3%
0.1%
0.5%
6.2%
12.0%
17.1%
7.6%
18.7%
28.7%
16.2%
27.4%
41.3%
52.5%
16.2%
50.8%
10.6%
7.8%
13.4%
35.8%
46.9%
55.3%
35.8%
55.3%
63.7%
15
Fig. 10. Effect of damage on system behavior: (a) measured behavior (b) damage pattern, (c) fracture plane, (d) damage depth, (e) steel material degradation and (f) concrete material
degradation.
16
assuming perfect debonding between the delaminated layers of concrete, interlayer shear stresses cannot be transferred through the fracture plane. This would cause a loss in composite action between the
layers of the concrete deck, which in turn results in localized failure
mechanism (i.e. crushing) on the top surface of the deck at the margins
of the delaminated areas. This premature failure mechanism adversely
affects the ultimate capacity and overall ductility (ratio of maximum
deection to the deection at rst yield in the girders) of the system.
Table 1 summarizes the relative reduction caused by these simulated
damage mechanisms with respect to the corresponding values of the
intact system. The ultimate capacity of the system decreases as the
area of delamination increases over the surface of the slab (cases 14).
This increase also signicantly reduces the overall ductility of the
system. For the top layer of reinforcement, modeling the fracture plane
in an asymmetric fashion (cases 2 and 5) has less impact on both the
capacity and ductility of the system compared to the symmetric
modeling (case 6). However, the system capacity and ductility are less
sensitive to the relative location of the fracture plane when the delamination was modeled as a result of corrosion in the bottom layer of
reinforcements (cases 79). Uniform corrosion in the steel rebars with
no effect on the material yield stress (case 10) has low and moderate
impacts on the system capacity and ductility, respectively. Under more
severe corrosive attack (cases 11 and 12), pitting would degrade not
only the material resistance of the rebars, but also signicantly decrease
the capacity and ductility of the system. Material degradation in the
cracked concrete cover due to the rust expansion (cases 1315) would
have a major impact on the ultimate capacity and also dramatically
decreases the overall system ductility.
All of the numerical models including the intact system demonstrated
additional reserve capacity over the AASHTO LRFD element-level
nominal design capacity. This would conrm high levels of inherent
redundancy, which can be attributed to the complex interaction
between structural members in the simulated bridge superstructure.
It would also demonstrate a margin of safety for the serviceability of
the selected structure, considering the facts that the service loads are
usually below the design capacity; and the integrated damage scenarios
have negligible effect of the behavior of the system within this limit of
the applied loads.
Comparing the behavior of damaged and intact systems (see Fig. 10)
demonstrates the fact that the overall performance of the bridge system
is governed by the behavior of the main load-carrying elements
(i.e. girders); while the concrete deck is primarily responsible for
17
Fig. 13. Impact of damage on deck behavior: (a) damage pattern, (b) damage depth, and (c) fracture plane.
18
Fig. 14. Selected in-service bridge: (a) superstructure geometry, (b) generated FE model.
uniform crack width of 0.7 mm. Given the lack of quantitative inspection data, rebar cross section and its material properties were
assumed intact. However, the compressive strength of the concrete
cover in the delaminated areas was reduced by 30% to capture deterioration in the concrete material due to existence of micro cracks resulted
from expansion of the corrosion products. An ideal case of debonding
between delaminated layers of concrete deck was also assumed in the
analysis.
Pin-roller boundary conditions were assumed for the simulated
bridge model with both intact and damaged congurations. Similar to
the lab test bridge, the steel girders were extracted from the numerical
model of the selected actual structure to study the impact of deck
deterioration on the individual behavior of the deck system. All the
models were loaded with two side-by-side AASHTO HS-20 trucks
located in a specic longitudinal position to cause maximum exural
moment at the mid-span of the structure. The total load vs. maximum
deection response (see Fig. 15d) was collected from the performed
nonlinear analysis of the both bridge and deck models. As depicted in
Fig. 15e, the assumed damage scenarios have negligible effects on the
Fig. 15. Damage integration: (ac) damage scenarios, (d) measured behavior, (e) impact on system behavior, and (f) impact on deck behavior.
nonlinear behavior of the system and evolution of material nonlinearities. However, the premature crushing failure in concrete cover
would adversely affect the ultimate capacity and overall ductility of
the system.
Table 2 summarized the relative reduction of these parameters with
respect to the corresponding values of the intact system. As given,
detrimental effects of the deck delamination on both system capacity
and system ductility are elevated by increases in the damage area.
With the same area of damage, scattered patterns would result in
more severe degradation in the overall performance of the system. For
the slab models, on the other hand, only damage scenarios with the
concentrated patterns would inuence the behavior of the deck system
under the assumed loading scenario (see Fig. 15f). Results of this
investigation demonstrate that the implemented methodology can be
extrapolated to assess the safety and functionality of other in-service
bridges with different geometrical and damage characteristics [37].
7. Summary and conclusions
The main objective of this investigation was to characterize the
impact of subsurface deck delamination on the behavior and overall
performance of steel-concrete composite bridge superstructures.
Upon validation of the numerical modeling approach via available experimental data in the literature, the proposed methodology was
implemented to study the behavior of a laboratory bridge model and
an actual in-service structure. Based on the results obtained from the
corresponding sensitivity study, it can be concluded that:
The assumed damage scenarios had negligible effects on the nonlinear
system behavior and evolution of material nonlinearities in the
selected bridge structures. However, loss of composite action between
layers of concrete within the delaminated areas causes signicant
reduction in the capacity and ductility of the system, due to local
premature crushing failures occurred in the reinforced concrete deck.
The nonlinear behavior of the selected bridges and their corresponding deck systems demonstrated the existence of an additional reserve
capacity over the nominal capacities dened based on the AASHTO
LRFD design methodology. This can be attributed to high levels of
inherent redundancy, system-level interaction and two-way action
of the slab, which are generally neglected in current design practices.
Given the fact that signicant resources are being invested each year
to maintain and repair the aging infrastructure within the U.S., the
proposed approach has the potential to help the preservation community to reinforce their maintenance decisions. In current rehabilitation
practices, repair decisions are typically conservative and often based
on experience and engineering judgments; however, implementing
the proposed numerical modeling approach can help engineers gain
a comprehensive understanding of the impact of detected damage
scenarios on the overall performance of in-service structures. This
fundamental understanding would provide decision makers with
the foundation for behavior-driven repair alternatives or even the
condence for risk-based do nothing alternative, as opposed to the
Table 2
Impact of delamination on the behavior of the selected in-service structure.
Model
Capacity (kN)
Ductility (u/y)
Intact
5%a
5%b
10%a
10%b
15%a
15%b
9472
9215
7727
8763
7088
8746
7050
3.8
3.3
1.7
2.7
1.4
2.3
1.3
a
b
Concentrated pattern.
Scattered pattern.
Relative reduction
Capacity
Ductility
2.7%
18.4%
7.5%
25.2%
7.7%
25.6%
13.2%
55.3%
28.9%
63.2%
39.5%
65.8%
19
more typical deck replacement solution. In addition, this behaviorbased strategy has great potential to help reduce the costs associated
with deck maintenance decisions.
Acknowledgment
The authors would like to thank Michael Brown of the Virginia
Center for Transportation Innovation and Research (VCTIR) and Prasad
Nallapaneni of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) for
providing the data and details of the selected in-service structure. The
work presented herein reects the views of the authors and does not
represent the views of the Virginia Department of Transportation
References
[1] Wardhana K, Hadipriono F. Analysis of recent bridge failures in the United States. J
Perform Constr Facil 2003;17(3):14450.
[2] Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). National bridge inventory database.
Washington, D.C: Federal Highway Administration; 2013.
[3] Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Bridge inspector's reference manual
(BIRM). Washington, D.C: Highway Administration; 2012.
[4] Strategic Highway Research Program, S.. Nondestructive testing to identify concrete
bridge deck deterioration. Transportation Research Board, Report S2-R06A-RR-1; 2013.
[5] Lynch JP, Loh KJ. A summary review of wireless sensors and sensor networks for
structural health monitoring. Shock Vib Dig 2006;32(8):91128.
[6] Pakzad SN, Fenves GL, Kim S, Culler DE. Design and implementation of scalable
wireless sensor network for structural monitoring. J Infrastruct Syst 2008;14(1):
89101.
[7] Vaghe K, Oats R, Harris D, Ahlborn T, Brooks C, Endsley K, et al. Evaluation of
commercially available remote sensors for highway bridge condition assessment. J
Bridg Eng 2012;17(6):88695.
[8] Vaghe K, Ahlborn T, Harris D, Brooks C. Combined imaging technologies for
concrete bridge deck condition assessment. J Perform Constr Facil 2014:04014102.
[9] American Concrete Institute (ACI). Cement and concrete terminology, manual
of concrete practice, part 1. Committee 116R-00 Farmington Hills, MI: American
Concrete Institute; 2003.
[10] Beaton JL, Stratfull RF. Environmental inuence on the corrosion of reinforcing steel
in concrete bridge substructures. Sacramento, CA: California Department of
Highways; 1973.
[11] Baant ZP. Physical model for steel corrosion in concrete sea structures theory and
application. J Struct Div 1979;105(6):113766.
[12] Pantazopoulou S, Papoulia K. Modeling cover-cracking due to reinforcement
corrosion in RC structures. J Eng Mech 2001;127(4):34251.
[13] Li C, Zheng J, Lawanwisut W, Melchers R. Concrete delamination caused by steel
reinforcement corrosion. J Mater Civ Eng 2007;19(7):591600.
[14] Baant ZP, Wittmann FH. Mathematical modeling of creep and shrinkage of
concrete. New York, N.Y: John Wiley & Sons, Inc; 1982. p. 163256.
[15] Onate E. Reliability analysis of concrete structures. Numerical and experimental
studiesSeminar CIAS (Centro Intemazionale di Aggiomamento Sperimentale e
Scientijico), Evoluzione nella sperimentazione per Ie costruzioni, Merano, Italy;
1994. p. 12546.
[16] Kachanov LM. Introduction to continuum damage mechanics. The Netherlands:
Martinus Nijhoff Publishers; 1986.
[17] Faria R, Oliver J. A rate dependent plastic-damage constitutive model for large scale
computation in concrete structures. No. 17, Centro Internacional de Mtodos
Numericos en Ingeniero, Barcelona, Spain; 1993.
[18] Faria R, Oliver J, Cervera M. A strain-based plastic viscous-damage model for massive
concrete structures. Int J Solids Struct 1998;35(14):153358.
[19] Saetta A, Scotta R, Vitaliani R. Mechanical behavior of concrete under physical
chemical attacks. J Eng Mech 1998;124(10):11009.
[20] Saetta A, Scotta R, Vitaliani R. Coupled environmentalmechanical damage model of
RC structures. J Eng Mech 1999;125(8):93040.
[21] Berto L, Simioni Paola, Saetta Anna. Numerical modelling of bond behaviour in RC
structures affected by reinforcement corrosion. Eng Struct 2008;30(5):137585.
[22] Molina FJ, Alonso C, Andrade C. Cover cracking as a function of rebar corrosion: part
2numerical model. Mater Struct 1993;26(9):53248.
[23] Zhou K, Martin-Prez B, Lounis Z. Finite element analysis of corrosion-induced
cracking, spalling and delamination of RC bridge decks. 1st Canadian Conference
on Effective Design of Structures; 2005, July 1013. p. 18796 [Hamilton, Ont.].
[24] Chen D, Mahadevan S. Chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion and concrete
cracking simulation. Cem Concr Compos 2008;30(3):22738.
[25] Coronelli D, Gambarova P. Structural assessment of corroded reinforced concrete
beams: modeling guidelines. J Struct Eng 2004;130(8):121424.
[26] Kallias AN, Raq MI. Finite element investigation of the structural response of
corroded RC beams. Eng Struct 2010;32(9):298494.
[27] Barth KE, Wu H. Efcient nonlinear nite element modeling of slab on steel stringer
bridges. Finite Elem Anal Des 2006;42(1415):130413.
[28] Gheitasi A, Harris D. Overload exural distribution behavior of composite steel
girder bridges. J Bridg Eng 2014:04014076.
20
[40] Alonso C, Andrade C, Rodriguez J, Diez JM. Factors controlling cracking of concrete
affected by reinforcement corrosion. Mater Struct 1998;31(7):43541.
[41] Roberts MB, Atkins C, Hogg V, Middleton C. A proposed empirical corrosion model
for reinforced concrete. Proceedings of the ICE Structures and Buildings, Volume
140, Issue 1; 2000, 01.
[42] Cairns J, P.G., Du Y, Law DW, Franzoni C. Mechanical properties of corrosiondamaged reinforcement. ACI Mater J 2005;102(4):25664.
[43] Stewart MG. Mechanical behaviour of pitting corrosion of exural and shear
reinforcement and its effect on structural reliability of corroding RC beams. Struct
Saf 2009;31(1):1930.
[44] Rodriguez J, Ortega L, Garcia A. Corrosion of reinforcing bars and service life of R/C
structures: corrosion and bond deterioration. Proc., Int. Conf. on Concrete across
Borders, 2; 1994. p. 31526.
[45] Harajli MH, Hamad BS, Rteil AA. Effect of connement on bond strength between
steel bars and concrete. ACI Struct J 2004;101(5):595603.
[46] Maaddawy TE, Soudki K, Topper T. Analytical model to predict nonlinear exural
behavior of corroded reinforced concrete beams. ACI Struct J 2002;102(4):5509.
[47] Vu KAT, Stewart MG. Spatial variability of structural deterioration and service life
prediction of reinforced concrete bridges. Proc., Int. Conf. on Bridge Maintenance,
Safety, and Management, Barcelona, Spain; 2002.
[48] Torres-Acosta A, Mart'nez-Madrid M. Residual life of corroding reinforced concrete
structures in marine environment. J Mater Civ Eng 2003;15(4):34453.
[49] Fang I, Worley J, Burns N, Klingner R. Behavior of isotropic R/C bridge decks on steel
girders. J Struct Eng 1990;116(3):65978.
[50] Hewitt BE, deV Batchelor B. Punching shear strength of restraint slabs. J Struct Div
1975;101(ST9):183753.