Open Access

ARTICLE

Constitutive Behavior of the Interface between UHPC and Steel Plate without Shear Connector: From Experimental to Numerical Study

by Zihan Wang¹, Boshan Zhang², Hui Wang^1,*, Qing Ai¹, Xingchun Huang¹

1 School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, 200240, China
2 Department of Bridge Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

* Corresponding Author: Hui Wang. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Computer-Aided Uncertainty Modeling and Reliability Evaluation for Complex Engineering Structures)

Computer Modeling in Engineering & Sciences 2024, 140(2), 1863-1888. https://doi.org/10.32604/cmes.2024.048217

Received 01 December 2023; Accepted 21 February 2024; Issue published 20 May 2024

Abstract

The application of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) as a covering layer for steel bridge decks has gained widespread popularity. By employing a connection without a shear connector between the steel plate and UHPC, namely, the sandblasted interface and the epoxy adhesive with sprinkled basalt aggregate interface, the installation cannot only be simplified but also the stress concentration resulting from the welded shear connectors can be eliminated. This study develops constitutive models for these two interfaces without shear connectors, based on the interfacial pull-off and push-out tests. For validation, three-point bending tests on the steel-UHPC composite plates are conducted. The results indicated that the proposed bilinear traction-separation model for the sandblasted interface and the trapezoidal traction-separation model for the epoxy adhesive with sprinkled basalt aggregate interface can generally calibrate the interfacial behavior. However, the utilization of the experimentally determined pure shear strength underestimates the load-carrying capacity of the composite plates in the case of three-point bending tests. By recalling the Mohr-Coulomb criterion, this underestimation is attributed to the enhancement of the interface shear strength by the presence of normal stress.

---

Keywords

---