Development of a Novel Apparatus to Determine Multiaxial Tensile Failure Criteria of Bridge Repair Materials

• Published in: Applied sciences Vol. 13; no. 18; p. 10207
• Main Authors: Looney, Trevor, Volz, Jeffery
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01-09-2023
• Subjects: Aluminum; Analysis; Bridge construction; Bridge failures; bridge repair; Bridges; Computer software industry; Concrete; Design; failure surface; Maintenance and repair; Mechanical properties; multiaxial stress; multiaxial tensile stress; Proprietary; Reinforced concrete; Stress concentration; Tensile strength; triaxial tension; ultra-high performance concrete; United States; United States
• ISSN: 2076-3417; 2076-3417
• DOI: 10.3390/app131810207

Aging infrastructure is increasingly costing taxpayers due to increased repair and replacement costs. Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) has recently been recognized as a viable material for both the repair of concrete and steel infrastructure as well as a replacement material for new structures due to its enhanced mechanical and durability properties. Such uses require a much better understanding of the multiaxial tensile properties of UHPC to utilize the material more efficiently. This study focused on developing a novel apparatus capable of subjecting specimens to tensile forces in each of the three principal directions simultaneously. Such an apparatus could collect data for a portion of the failure surface that currently only has a small dataset to establish trends. The “Looney Bin” was designed to test 50-mm cube specimens in triaxial tension, biaxial tension, tension-compression, and tension-tension-compression stress states. Once the apparatus and fixtures were designed and fabricated, trial tests were conducted on a non-proprietary UHPC without steel fibers to establish a test method for each of the stress states evaluated. Data were then collected for different stress states using the established procedures and plotted against previously published failure models for UHPC to verify that the collected data were reasonable.