Abstract
Effective prestressing increases the strength of existing composite steel-concrete bridges. Investigators have determined the static strength of prestressed composite girders, but without addressing fatigue strength—an important design factor in highway bridges. In this paper, 11 prestressed composite beams with a cover plate welded to the tension flange were prestressed with two seven-wire strands. In fatigue tests to failure, cracks initiated in the flange at the cover-plate ends. Stress ranges in the strands and at the base of the shear studs were too small to initiate cracks. Prestressing of the steel beam so that the stress in the tension flange alternates between tension and compression under cyclic loading raised the fatigue strength of the welded cover plates by one category, from D to C.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 1850-1856 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Journal of Structural Engineering (United States) |
| Volume | 121 |
| Issue number | 12 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Dec 1995 |
| Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Civil and Structural Engineering
- Building and Construction
- General Materials Science
- Mechanics of Materials
- Mechanical Engineering