Behavior of Half-Joints: Design and Simulation of Laboratory Tests

Abstract

European countries are characterized by an extensive infrastructural network, mainly built around the 1960s and 1970s. In that period prefabrication processes were starting to gain ground, and one of the most spread and studied typologies of bridges was constituted by reinforced or prestressed concrete decks. Those structures have gone through years of service, which caused the inevitable degradation of the materials and relevant deterioration of structural elements. Moreover, the design and construction processes of that period have soon become obsolete, and the knowledge relative to the influence of detailing increased significantly. One particular element that has been commonly used has been the half-joint, which is easy to prefabricate and has a strategic impact. However, in recent years this solution is showing critical aptitudes in resisting structural degradation and material decay. In addition, structural health monitoring (SHM) strategies are gaining attention since they are a very useful tool for gathering information on the current state of the structure and then for evaluating intervention plans to improve safety. Indeed, existing bridges, despite their working age, are still crucial to the development and sustainability of community life, and their decommissioning would be an act of critical impact on the communities (e.g., economy, logistics, sustainability). This contribution presents the design and the simulation of laboratory tests on half-joints of reinforced concrete beams that will be developed at the Politecnico di Torino in a subsequent step of the present research. They are designed to test and compare different monitoring techniques along with different steel reinforcement configurations. Specifically, the first part of the manuscript focuses on a review of the literature regarding the design, strengthening, and monitoring of half-joints. Subsequently, the laboratory setup to test half-joints is presented along with the numerical simulation to support the experimental design. Laboratory tests will involve the use of monitoring systems to detect the local response of the system and also to propose new solutions specifically for this type of connection using emerging technologies. Numerical collapse simulations show the effect of different reinforcement configurations and the collapse behavior.