A Study Of Effective Moment of Inertia Models for Full-Scale Reinforced Concrete T-Beams Subjected to a Tandem-Axle Load Configuration

Abstract

This thesis is a product of the U.S. Army Corp of Engineer's desire to develop a more accurate procedure for estimating the load capacity of an in-service T-beam bridge. A bridge type that is a stumbling block for U.S. Army field engineers due to the unknown amount and placement of the flexural reinforcement in the T-beam girder cross-sections. Personnel from the U.S. Army Corp of Engineer's Waterways Experiment Station in cooperation with personnel from Virginia Tech conceived a procedure that is potentially more accurate, can be quickly executed in the field, and is relatively easy to use by field engineers. In general, the procedure provides a method for transition between the quantity of flexural reinforcement in a reinforced concrete T-beam and the member's actual moment of inertia. Specifically, the goal of this thesis is to evaluate the accuracy of selected, effective moment of inertia models as a component in the proposed analysis procedure. The accuracy of the selected models is evaluated with test data generated from a testing program detailed herein, which load tested full-scale reinforced concrete T-beams. The test specimens were subjected to a closely-spaced, tandem-axle load configuration, a load configuration typical of military equipment.