Repair of steel beam/girder ends with ultra high-strength concrete - phase II.

SPR-2295
A novel repair method has been developed at the University of Connecticut for corroded steel bridge girder
ends. The repair method consists of encasing the corroded steel area with UHPC. The UHPC panel is bonded
to the steel girder using headed shear studs welded to the uncorroded portions of the web and flange. The
repair provides a secondary load path to restore the bearing and shear strength of the girder which was
reduced due to corroded section loss. This research project investigates the application and performance of
this repair for field implementation. Full-scale experimental tests will be conducted on plate girders with
reduced steel sections to simulate corrosion damage. The plate girder specimens will be repaired using
various repair geometries. Small-scale push-off tests will be conducted on shear studs welded to the web of a
girder when embedded in UHPC. These tests are conducted to analyze the behavior of the shear studs in
UHPC and to develop a formulation for the stud capacities. In addition to experimental strength tests, durability
test will be conducted on the full-scale plate girders and push-off specimens to determine various field
requirements and constraints for the repair. The results of both the large-scale and small-scale test will be
used to develop and calibrate finite element models which will be used to test and evaluate the performance of
the repair for a variety of different existing conditions and repair geometries for full-scale bridges in need of
girder end repairs. A design guide will be developed to allow engineers to develop and implement this repair
method for different designs. Collaboration is ongoing to assist CTDOT in a field implementation of the repair
for a bridge with extensive corrosion of steel girder ends.