FINITE-ELEMENT INVESTIGATION OF FIBER-REINFORCED CONCRETE DECK SLABS WITHOUT INTERNAL STEEL REINFORCEMENT

Experimental tests on half-scale models have demonstrated that polypropylene-fibre-reinforced concrete (PFRC) bridge deck slabs completely devoid of conventional steel reinforcement will fail by punching shear under concentrated loads considerably greater than those specified for design, provided the top flanges of the supporting girders are adequately restrained from moving laterally. Similar models were analyzed using nonlinear finite element techniques in order to reproduce experimentally observed load-deflection behaviours and failure loads. Commonly available concrete failure criteria for plain concrete was incorporated into the material model used for the PFRC deck slab. Results of the finite element analyses are presented. It is shown that while predicted load-deflection paths were less than satisfactory, accurate predictions of failure loads were achieved, but only after considerable tuning of various modelling parameters.