Flexural Behavior of Ultra-High Performance Concrete (UHPC) Deck with Joints subjected to an Improved Steel Wire Mesh (SWM) Treatment

Prefabricated Ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) decks are often connected using UHPC wet joints to create the overall deck structure. The UHPC deck is, nevertheless, made weak by the fiber discontinuity at the contact interface. In this study, the fiber at the interface was made to serve as a bridge using an embedded steel wire mesh, and experiments were utilized to determine how the contact between the fiber and the steel bar affects the flexural behavior. The results show that the fiber significantly affects the ductility and flexural strength without reinforcement. The combined action of the fiber and reinforcement of the reinforced specimen somewhat increases the flexural capacity and ductility. The flexural capacity of decks with joints was finally calculated using three different ways, and it was found that the method that simplifies the tension and compression zones into rectangles is the most appropriate.