Flexural Performance of Steel–Normal Concrete–Ultra-High-Performance Concrete Composite Slabs with Steel Ribs

Abstract

For steel–concrete composite bridges, the cracking of concrete in the tensile zone influences the serviceability of bridges and decreases their durability. UHPC, as a high-tensile and -durability material, is used to replace a part of the concrete to enhance the tensile performance. Thus, the steel–normal concrete–UHPC composite slab, as a new composite structure, is formed. This paper investigates the flexural behaviours of steel–normal concrete–UHPC composite slabs through a full-scale experiment, numerical simulation, and theoretical analysis. The research results indicate that (1) UHPC enhances the flexural performance of the tensile zone and delays the development of cracks. The initial cracking force of concrete increases from 44 kN to 91 kN. (2) UHPC effectively enhances the carrying capacity of composite slabs. A 50 mm UHPC layer makes the flexural bearing capacity of steel–concrete composite slabs increase by 13.51%. (3) The construction methods influence the initial cracking force of composite slabs. For full-span scaffolding construction, the initial cracking force decreases from 91 kN to 69 kN compared with construction without brackets. (4) The theoretical model considering the tensile contribution of cracking UHPC can accurately predict the bearing capacity of the composite slabs. And the theoretical values of the bearing capacity are lower than the experimental values, which makes the composite slabs safer in service.