Title: Long-term effects due to creep and shrinkage on prestressed concrete bridge girders using SCC

Authors: J. Karthikeyan, V.F. Praveen

Addresses: National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu 620015, India. ' National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu 620015, India

Abstract: Prestressed concrete structures are sensitive to long-term deformations due to creep and shrinkage. Over estimation of the camber due to these effects lead to inefficient designs and improper utilisation of the material strength. In this contrast this study aims at analysing the long-term behaviour of self-compacting concrete (SCC) in prestressed concrete bridge girders. The SCC mix is designed and the hardened properties are tested. Design strength of 71 MPa is obtained at 28 days of curing. A suitable model is selected from various available models presented in the literature to estimate the creep and shrinkage characteristics of the design mix of SCC. The study is furthered to predict the camber deformations in prestressed concrete Bridge girders. A case study of the Alabama Bridge is selected, for which the measured results of camber deformations are available. An incremental time step procedure is followed, incorporating the creep and shrinkage characteristics of the design mix. The outcome of the study predicts lower camber deformations for the design mix of concrete in the bridge girders.

Keywords: self-compacting concrete; SCC; design strength; camber deformation; creep; prestressed concrete; shrinkage; incremental time step procedure; structural engineering; concrete bridge girders.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSTRUCTE.2011.042902

International Journal of Structural Engineering, 2011 Vol.2 No.4, pp.390 - 403

Published online: 30 Sep 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article