Study of direct shear of the adhesion connectors steel-concrete

Abstract

Throughout the world, several bridges need to be repaired, including replacing the concrete deck or the entire superstructure. Conventional decks are cast on site which involves closing down roads and / or deviating traffic and making detours which causes a lot of problems for road users over long periods of time. Using precast concrete slabs is a good alternative to the above, because the road closing time would be significantly reduced because slabs are fabricated in precast plant instead of on site. In this context a new type of steel-concrete shear connection is developed, known as connections by adherence, whose resistance is due to friction between various interfaces. The role of these connections is to minimize erection time considerably, and can consequently be used, for example, when replacing existing bridge decks, where the duration of on-site works has a significant influence on costs and traffic perturbations. The main objective of the paper is to verify this new connection, by developing a numerical model that explains the experimental results of a research carried out in the EPFL Steel Structures Laboratory (ICOM) in the interface formed by the cement grouts and the steel. To achieve this objective, in the beginning, we have conserved the same calculation hypotheses already studied by the laboratory, such as; the geometrical specifications and the mechanical characteristics of the embossed Steel and the Cement. Then, we changed the characteristics of the cement to verify the effect of the material on this connection.