Date of Award

5-2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Civil Engineering (MCE)

Department

Civil Engineering

Committee Chair/Advisor

Brandon Ross

Committee Member

Thomas Cousins

Committee Member

Michael Stoner

Abstract

This thesis discusses flexural and cyclic load testing of two potential retrofits for pre-cast slab bridges. These slabs came from South Carolina Department of Transportation (SCDOT) decommissioned bridges as a part of an ongoing project with SCDOT. The first is a Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plate (CFRP) retrofit where four CFRP plates were adhesively bonded to the bottom of a slab. The second is a steel plate that was mechanically attached to the bottom of a slab using bolted connections. The bolts were cast into grouted holes in the slab. To better understand the failure mode of these retrofits and their viability as a retrofit option, several tests were conducted on each. First, to better understand baseline behavior of each, several unstrengthened slabs were tested to failure. Then, a cyclic test was done to a million cycles at service load and a post cyclic flexural strength test was conducted. For the CFRP slab only, after the failure of the CFRP, the strips were removed and then the slab loaded to failure again. The CFRP retrofit exhibited a flexural strength increase of 21% over baseline slab. The steel plate exhibited a 21% increase in flexural strength over the average baseline slab. Neither retrofit experienced significant deterioration as a result of cyclic loading. The CFRP slab had a displacement ductility that was 44% of the baseline slabs, while the steel retrofit maintained similar ductility to the average baseline. The residual strength of the CFRP (after CFRP was removed) was still greater than the calculated strength of the slab.

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