Field monitoring of shrinkage cracking potential in a high-performance bridge deck

Over the past decade many state engineers throughout New Jersey have reported cracking on High Performance Concrete (HPC) bridge decks at early ages. The presence of cracking early in the life of a high performance deck offsets the benefits gained in using the material as the potential for corrosion begins at the onset of cracking. While many factors apply to bridge deck cracking, the shrinkage of the concrete’s mass is a primary concern. Because of shear studs and boundary conditions, among other causes that act in restraining the deck itself, it is important to understand the mechanics of concrete under restraint. The AASHTO Passive Ring Test (PP 34-06) is seeing an increase in use in studies analyzing restrained shrinkage. The test simulates a concrete member of infinite length and allows researchers to study the effects of various parameters on restrained shrinkage. This thesis presents the results of a study that analyzed the ring test’s ability to simulate restrained shrinkage on HPC bridge decks. The investigation incorporated an instrumented, simply supported composite bridge deck with laboratory samples taken on the day of the pour as well as a finite element analysis. The results suggest the AASHTO Passive Ring Test simulates the restrained shrinkage of simply supported HPC decks reasonably well. Fewer than 1% of all cracking present on the ring specimens saw complete penetration through the sample with 80-90% of all cracking considered to be micro cracking. While the presence of several cracks along the bridge deck itself showed no correlation with the shrinkage ring specimens, finite element analysis suggests these cracks are a result of adjacent live load. Also, the findings of this study highlight the importance of following design in the field as well as the effect of live load on staged construction of HPC bridge decks.M.S.Includes bibliographical referencesby Tim Walkowic