2015 Volume 71 Issue 1 Pages 86-96
For steel deck slabs subjected to fatigue loads, a strengthening method by both spraying a HPFRCC onto their undersurface from below and filling mortar into U-shaped ribs was developed. When applied to an existing bridge, this reinforcing method minimizes adverse effects on the traffic in comparison with conventional methods applied to top surfaces. The authors investigated the applicability of this method using mock-up bridge decks by both spraying a HPFRCC from the underside and filling mortar into U-shaped ribs. Fatigue tests under moving wheel loads were also conducted on specimens constructed similarly to actual bridges. As a result, soffit reinforcement by this method was found to mitigate the stress of deck slabs, and this effect was also confirmed by FEM analysis. Fatigue evaluation based on the test results also revealed a possibility that fatigue cracking be restrained during the service life of an actual bridge to which this method is to be applied.
