Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Influence of RPC grouting materials on shear behavior of wet joints in

PCSBs with confining stress
Jiahui Feng a, Zebin Hu a, Haibo Jiang a,⇑, Jiahao Hu a, Yitao Qiu a
a
School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, Guangzhou 510006, China

h i g h l i g h t s

Shear performance of RPC-filled wet joints in precast concrete segmental beams.

Effect of primary parameters on the shear behavior of RPC- filled wet joints.

A simplified formula was proposed for the shear capacity of RPC-filled wet joints.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Reactive power concrete (RPC), an advanced cement-based material, has excellent mechanical properties.
Received 13 January 2021 The cast-in-place wet joints are located in the middle of precast concrete segmental beams (PCSBs) which
Received in revised form 11 June 2021 could eliminate the errors caused by the assembly of the precast concrete segments. Due to the discon-
Accepted 13 June 2021
tinuity of the reinforcements and complicated stress conditions, those wet joints are the weak parts in the
Available online 23 June 2021
PCSBs. Pouring RPC grouting materials in wet joints could effectively improve the cracking resistance.
This research not only puts emphasis on the influence of the geometry of wet joints, including shear
Keywords:
key depth (25 mm, 35 mm, and 45 mm), but also reveals the influence of confining stress (0.5 MPa
Wet joints
Confining stress
and 2.0 MPa), different concrete type (PRC with and without steel fibers), and different volume fractions
Reactive power concrete (RPC) of steel fibers (0.5% and 2.0%) on shear behavior. The results showed that higher shear capacity of RPC
Shear behavior joints could be obtained by exerting a higher confining stress on the specimens, or using a concrete with
Precast concrete segmental beams (PCSBs) higher tensile strength. Shear capacity of RPC joint with 2.0% steel fibers in volume fraction increased by
67.87% than that with 0.5% steel fibers in volume fraction. The AASHTO 2003 formula overestimated the
shear capacity of the wet joints, showing an average ratio of calculated results to the experimental ones
of 1.69, with a standard deviation of 0.53. A simplified formula was proposed to calculate the shear capac-
ity of RPC joints based on tensile strength of concrete and Mohr’s circle. The results from the simplified
formula were found to agree well with the experimental values, inferred from an average ratio of the pre-
dicted values to experimental results of 1.10, with a standard deviation of 0.12.
Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction without vibrating and maintain non-segregation and uniformity,

1.1. Background
Reactive powder concrete (RPC), a cement-based composite
material developed by Richard in the 1990’s [1], is considered as
an innovated concrete with the wide application prospects in
bridge construction. Compared with the normal strength concrete
(NSC), RPC refers to the concrete mixture that can be constructed
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: jhfeng@mail2.gdut.edu.cn (J. Feng), 812676058@qq.com
(Z. Hu), hbjiang@gdut.edu.cn (H. Jiang), 605026997@qq.com (J. Hu),
1697137832@qq.com (Y. Qiu).
thus RPC could achieve full consolidation and obtain the best fluid-
ity, compressive performance, and durability.
By improving the fineness, eliminating coarse aggregate and
adding active components [2,3], the internal defects of the material
(i.e. porosity and micro-cracks) could be minimized. Mixing the
steel fibers into RPC could achieve excellent tensile strength, com-
pressive strength, crack resistance, wear resistance, corrosion
resistance, frost resistance and impermeability resistance ability.
Therefore, the application of RPC to precast concrete segmental
beams (PCSBs) can not only make the construction more simpli-
fied, but also improve the overall stress states under a heavy traffic
[4–6]. In addition, the significance of RPC with steel fibers reflects
in the remarkable enhancement for concrete mechanical

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2021.123993
0950-0618/Ó 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al.
properties, lighter-weight construction, as well as the contribution
of lower carbon emission [7–9].
PCSBs are widely constructed by means of the balanced can-
tilever method by assembling the precast deck segments with sub-
sequent prestressing [10,11]. In the system of PSCBs, shear keys are
distributed along the joints between precast segments to transmit
the shear stresses and compressive stresses effectively [12,13]. Dry
joints and cast-in-place wet joints are two representative splice
regions between the segments. Dry joints are connected by geom-
etry matching, while wet joints are commonly located around the
mid-span location between the last two adjacent segments, as
shown in Fig. 1. A gap whose width ranges from 100 mm to
200 mm is usually provided around the mid-span location between
the adjacent segments to facilitate erection [14]. The width of wet
joints at the mid-span is narrow, thus it is relatively difficult to
arrange reinforcements. According to Muller [15], it is unnecessary
to set longitudinal reinforcements for the wet joints whose width
is less than 250 mm. Consequently, the stiffness of wet joints is
lower than that of adjacent sections, which results in the weakness
of PCSBs.
1.2. Literature review
From previous studies, dry and epoxy joints in PCSBs had been
extensively studied by various researchers [16–23]. Due to the
widespread application of PCSBs, the United States and the Euro-
pean Union had successively issued relevant regulations on joints.
In order to verify the formulae for calculating the shear capacity of
the joints, Williams [24] carried out a test on 11 large-scale push-
off specimens, and the results showed that shear-friction design
formulae from ACI 314-14 and Euro-code 2 underestimated the
shear strength of all push-through specimens, but the AASHTO
LRFD 2014 design formulae provided the accurate prediction. Zhou
[25] reported the experimental results of plane joint, single-keyed
joint and three-keyed joints, with experimental parameters of con-
fining stress and thickness of epoxy resin coating. The first crack
appeared at the bottom of the joint and extended along the angle
of 45° to the horizontal line. AASHTO design formulae underesti-
mated the shear capacity of single-keyed dry joint, but overesti-
mated that of multi-keyed dry joint. For obtaining the calculation
formula on shear capacity of multi-keyed dry joint, Jiang [26] con-
ducted the experiments and found that the shear failure of multi-
Fig. 1. Balanced cantilever method and wet joint at the mid-span.
2
Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993
keyed dry joints took place sequentially from the inferior key to the
superior one. The coefficient of 0.7 was recommended for the shear
strength of three-keyed dry joints to improve the AASHTO
formulae.
With the development of concrete materials, steel fiber-
reinforced concrete (SFRC) has attracted more and more attention
due to its excellent mechanical properties. Thus, it had been
applied to the joints in PCSBs. Jiang [27] conducted a research on
dry joints of SFRC to evaluate shear strength. The research indi-
cated that AASHTO formula could accurately predict the shear
capacity of the three-keyed SFRC dry joints. Liu [28] performed
tests on 26 joints with experimental parameters of confining
stress, concrete type, joint type, joint shape, number of keys, and
arrangement of steel reinforcements. The results revealed that a
higher shear strength of ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC)
joints could be achieved with a higher confining stress. The shear
capacity of large-keyed joints showed a minor increase compared
with three-keyed joints.
In summary, previous studies focused on the failure mechanism
and shear performance of dry joints and epoxy joints, which were
fabricated by the match-casting short line method. However, few
tests are available to investigate the influence of RPC materials
and geometry size on wet joints. Consequently, the shear failure
mechanism of wet joints in PCSBs was not well understood.
Leung [14] tested 26 specimens of NSC wet joints. The main
parameters included the stitch type, stitch width and the confining
stress. Two coefficients were proposed to modify the AASHTO for-
mula for calculating the shear capacity of the wet joints, including
the value of depth/width rate of specimens and the stress concen-
trate coefficients of 0.65. Kim [29] carried out a research on UHPC
dry joints and wet joints. The tested results were compared with
the equations of JSCE recommendations and AASHTO formula,
and a coefficient of 0.4 was proposed to calibrate the shear
strength formula. These formulae to predict the shear capacity of
wet joints only adapted the coefficients to calibrate the existing
formulae which were proposed for dry joints. Nevertheless, the
shear mechanism of wet joints is quite different from that of dry
joints. It is irrelevant to calculate the shear strength of wet joints
using those shear formulae for dry joints. In this paper, the reason-
able shear mechanism of wet joints filled with RPC was analyzed,
and a simplified formula based on Mohr’s circle was proposed
accordingly.
2. Research significance
A narrow gap of wet joints results in concrete compacting diffi-
culty, but the application of RPC could properly address this prob-
lem due to its high fluidity. This research puts emphasis on the
shear behavior of RPC grouting materials in the wet joints in PCSBs.
Main parameters are concrete type, confining stress, shear key
depth and steel fibers in volume fraction. This research aims to
explore the failure pattern and influence of different parameters
on wet joints. The tested data of the shear capacity are compared
with the AASHTO 2003 formula. A method considered tensile
strength of concrete and based on Mohr’s circle was proposed to
predict the shear capacity of RPC joints. The applicability of the
simplified formula was verified with the experimental shear capac-
ity of RPC joints.
3. Experimental program
3.1. Test specimens
In this study, a joint specimen consisted of two side segments
constructed by high-strength concrete (HSC) and a wet joint
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al.
grouted by RPC, as illustrated in Fig. 2. All specimens had a thick-
ness of 100 mm. To prevent the premature failure of side segments
prior to the wet joint, 12-mm-diameter and 16-mm-diameter rein-
forcements were placed in the side segments. The configurations of
the rebars were shown in Fig. 2. The main parameters included
confining stress (0.5 MPa and 2.0 MPa), shear key depth (25 mm,
35 mm, and 45 mm), concrete type (RPC with and without steel
fibers) and steel fibers in volume fraction (0.5% and 2.0%), as listed
in Table 1. The fabricating procedures were shown in Fig. 3. The
side segments were cast separately in an L-shape formwork. After
7-day curing, the side segments were demolded and moved into a
rectangular formwork. Two side segments were assembled oppo-
sitely to create a formwork with a key-shape gap, where was cast
with RPC.
The following nomenclature system was adopted for the speci-
mens. Twelve specimens were referred to as Ri-k-Dm-n, where R
represented RPC concrete; i indicated the cylinder compressive
Fig. 2. Dimensions and configurations for tested specimens (in millimeters): (a) Modeling of wet joints. (b) Configurations for reinforcements. (c) Dimensions of wet joints,
where D represents the shear key depth (D = 25 mm, 35 mm, and 45 mm).
3
Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993
strength; k represented the concrete type, which can be replaced
by N, S1, and S2. N represented the RPC without steel fibers, and
the S1 and S2 represented the RPC with 0.5% and 2.0% steel fibers
in volume fraction, respectively; Dm represented the shear key
depth; n pointed out the confining stress. For example, R100-N-
D25-0.5 indicated the specimen which wet joint was made of
RPC without steel fibers with cylinder compressive strength of
100 MPa, whose shear key depth was 25 mm, and the confining
stress was 0.5 MPa.
3.2. Materials properties
Five concrete mix proportions were divided into three groups
(A, B, and C) as listed in Table 2. The first mix proportion of A0
was designed to get a target cylinder compressive strength of
65 MPa after 28 days. The mix proportion of B1 was designed to
get an expected cylinder compressive strength of 100 MPa, which
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al. Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993

Table 1
Parameters of specimens.

Specimens Shear key depth Strength of side segment Strength of wet joints Wet joints width Confining stress
R100-N-D25-0.5 25 mm C70(HSC) C100(RPC) 50 mm 0.5 MPa
R100-N-D25-2.0 25 mm C70(HSC) C100(RPC) 50 mm 2.0 MPa
R100-N-D35-0.5 35 mm C70(HSC) C100(RPC) 50 mm 0.5 MPa
R100-N-D35-2.0 35 mm C70(HSC) C100(RPC) 50 mm 2.0 MPa
R100-N-D45-0.5 45 mm C70(HSC) C100(RPC) 50 mm 0.5 MPa
R100-N-D45-2.0 45 mm C70(HSC) C100(RPC) 50 mm 2.0 MPa
R110-N-D35-0.5 35 mm C70(HSC) C110(RPC) 50 mm 0.5 MPa
R110-N-D35-2.0 35 mm C70(HSC) C110(RPC) 50 mm 2.0 MPa
R110-S1-D35-0.5 35 mm C70(HSC) C110(RPC) 50 mm 0.5 MPa
R110-S1-D35-2.0 35 mm C70(HSC) C110(RPC) 50 mm 2.0 MPa
R120-S2-D35-0.5 35 mm C70(HSC) C120(RPC) 50 mm 0.5 MPa
R120-S2-D35-2.0 35 mm C70(HSC) C120(RPC) 50 mm 2.0 MPa

NOTE: where ‘‘S1” represents 0.5% steel fibers in volume fraction; while ‘‘S2” represents 2.0% steel fibers in volume fraction.

Fig. 3. Manufacturing process of specimens.

added fly ash from local power plant and silica fume from smelting
metal silicon plant. The mix proportion of B2 was similar to Matrix
B1, but with a lower water/cement ratio of 0.25.
The mix proportion of C3 was designed to get an expected cylin-
der compressive strength of 110 MPa, with 0.5% steel fibers in vol-
ume fraction, while steel fibers in volume fraction of 2.0% were
added into the mix proportion of C4.
4
All side segments of specimens were fabricated with mixture
A0, while mixtures B1, B2, C3, and C4 were used in the wet joints,
respectively. Compressive strength, splitting tensile strength, mod-
ulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio of each concrete mixtures
were tested by 150 mm  300 mm standard cylinders. The test
methods for material properties were based on ASTM codes [30–
32], and the tested results of concrete properties were the average
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al. Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993

Table 2
Design mix proportions of concrete.

Material Target compressive strength Water Cement Fine Coarse Fly Silica Super- Defoamer Steel
symbol (MPa) aggregate aggregate ash fume plasticizer fibers
A0 65 160 395 595 1105 105 – 10.0 – –
B1 100 166 389 592 590 171 62 8.0 – –
B2 110 166 420 555 576 185 67 12.5 – –
C3 110 259 1000 800 – – 110 3.3 2 0.5%
C4 120 259 1000 800 – – 110 3.3 2 2.0%

Note: Material quantities in kg/m3.

Table 3
Mechanical properties of concrete.

Material symbol Compressive strength (MPa) Splitting tensile strength (MPa) Modulus of elasticity (MPa) Poisson’s ratio
A0 65 4.77 34,837 0.204
B1 100 5.06 37,570 0.236
B2 110 4.13 37,004 0.219
C3 110 7.23 36,895 0.233
C4 120 12.14 35,974 0.224

value of three specimens in each group at 28 days, as listed in two failure modes of the crack distribution were depicted in
Table 3. Figs. 6-7, respectively.

4.1. First mode of crack pattern

3.3. Testing setup and instrumentation

Fig. 6 illustrated the crack patterns of RPC joints without steel

A push-off test setup as illustrated in Fig. 4 was adopted to
fibers, which was defined as the first mode of crack pattern. Almost
study the shear behavior of wet joints. In practice, the actual joint
all the joint zones mainly included two curved cracks, forming a
in bridges is constrained by lateral displacements. To simulate the
bottle shape. As a result, the joints performed as a bottle-shape
practical situation, a confined steel frame with large stiffness is
strut. Eventually, the joint was separated along one of the curved
needed. In addition, precast segmental bridge keeps its continuity
cracks or between the two.
via the tendons along the span direction.
Taking the specimen R100-N-D35-2.0 (Fig. 6c) for example, it
For convenience, a horizontal hydraulic jack within a steel
involved two initial cracks of the RPC joints, which simultaneously
frame to apply the confining stress was adopted in this test. There-
generated from the lower left corner and upper right corner of the
fore, the setup provides the specimen with a large stiffness, and in
shear keys, respectively. With the load increasing, two initial
this way, various range of confining force (namely the confining
cracks propagated along the curved paths and the width of the ini-
stress) could be applied by the hydraulic jack, which was approx-
tial cracks reached 1.0 mm. The aggregate interlock of the wet
imately analogous to the different working conditions of the pre-
joints without cracking part continued to bear the shear load.
stressing tendons in real bridges.
When the load reached approximately 63.30 kN (88.7% of the ulti-
As shown in Fig. 4, the confining stress was applied by a jack
mate load), however, a new crack formed suddenly in the left bot-
driven by a hydraulic pump. Two steel plates were placed at each
tom, propagated along the diagonal direction and became the
side of the lateral surface of side segments, and another two steel
critical crack rapidly. When the load reached the ultimate load,
plates were placed at the top and bottom of the specimen respec-
the critical crack run through the RPC joint, so that the RPC joint
tively, which enabled the applied load to act on the center section
was separated into two parts. The ratio of the cracking load to
during testing. The test was carried out using a displacement-
the ultimate shear load was 0.89. It indicated that the specimen
controlled scheme at a displacement rate of 0.05 mm/min. The lay-
failed suddenly, which belonged to brittle failure. After failure,
out of the measured points was shown in Fig. 5. Three linear vari-
shear capacity was provided by the friction between the side seg-
able displacement transducers (LVDTs) were used to monitor the
ments and the RPC joints, which was defined as the residual
relative vertical movement between the two side segments, as well
strength.
as the dilation of the specimen. In addition, experimental data
obtained during the test included the vertical force and confining
force which were acquired by the force sensors. 4.2. Second mode of crack pattern

Fig. 7 illustrated the crack patterns of RPC joints with steel

4. Crack patterns
In total, eight RPC joints without steel fiber and four RPC joints
with 0.5% or 2.0% steel fibers in volume fraction were tested. Each
specimen was tested under the combination of different parame-
ters, including confining stress, shear key depth, concrete type,
steel fibers content. Test results of cracking load, ultimate load,
vertical displacement, confining stress, and the angle between ini-
tial cracks and horizontal line were shown in Table 4. It is vital to
distinguish failure modes for RPC joints with or without steel
fibers. The joints could be reinforced by steel fibers and behaved
quite different, showing a strengthened shear performance. The
5
fibers, which was defined as the second mode of crack pattern.
Regarding to the RPC joints with steel fibers, only one diagonal
crack distributed in the joint zone. The joints were reinforced by
steel fibers. Consequently, it caused the higher stress concentra-
tion, resulting in that the concrete at the corner of the side seg-
ments crushed.
Different from the first mode, in the second mode, the critical
crack of the RPC joint was developed from the initial cracks as
the load increased. Taking the specimen R110-S1-D35-2.0
(Fig. 7b) for example, when the shear load increased to 52.61 kN,
which was approximately 43% of the ultimate shear load, an initial
crack with an angle of about 25.01° to the horizontal line appeared
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al.
Fig. 4. Typical experimental setup for RPC joints: (a) photo of direct shear setup; (b)
sketch of direct shear setup.
at the upper right corner of the RPC joint. As the shear load contin-
ued to increase up to 93.96 kN (about 72.26% of the ultimate load),
the initial crack extended to the bottom. The width of the crack
was 0.3 mm at this load level. When the load reached 115.01 kN
(about 88.44% of the ultimate load), the width of upper right crack
was broadened to 0.7 mm. Meanwhile, the lower left cracks
appeared with the width of 0.3 mm. Then lower left crack extended
to the upper right corner of the RPC joint as the result of the
increased load. When the load reached ultimate load (130.04 kN),
the maximum width of the crack was 1.0 mm, following by the fail-
ure of the RPC joint, as well as concrete crushing at the upper right
corner of the side segment.
5. The lateral dilation behavior of RPC joints
The lateral displacement and lateral stress (namely confining
stress) of the specimens were recorded. Fig. 5 showed the mea-
sured points and the arrangement of displacement sensors, and
6
Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993
the curves of lateral displacement and confining stress versus ver-
tical load were depicted in Fig. 8 and Fig. 9, respectively. Because of
the breakdown of the test device during testing, the lateral dis-
placements of the specimens R100-N-D25-2.0 and R110-N-D35-
2.0 were not measured.
Before cracking: as shown in Fig. 8, the lateral displacements of
the specimens showed a relative low value varying from 0.01 mm
to 0.27 mm under an initial confining stress of 0.5 MPa, and lateral
displacement could not be detected under an initial confining
stress of 2.0 MPa. It indicated that the lateral displacement was
well constrained before cracking by applying a higher initial con-
fining stress. As shown in Fig. 9, it is significant that, before crack-
ing, the increments of lateral stress of the specimen under 2.0 MPa
were obviously lower than those under 0.5 MPa. Specifically, the
increments of the lateral stress of specimens under an initial con-
fining stress of 0.5 MPa and 2.0 MPa were less than 0.67 MPa and
0.36 MPa, respectively. Overall, it could be concluded that a higher
initial confining stress could remarkably constrain both the lateral
displacement and lateral stress before cracking.
After cracking: a large lateral displacement could be observed in
Fig. 8 following the appearance of the crack. Almost all the speci-
men without fibers showed a low displacement less than
1.0 mm. Nevertheless, those with fibers presented a more ductile
behavior, showing a high displacement exceeding 1.2 mm, and
higher fiber content resulted in a larger lateral displacement. It is
noted that a significant lateral displacement was observed after
cracking. That is because the lateral stress increased remarkably
after cracking, as shown in Fig. 9.
6. Results and analysis
To compare and analyze the effect of different parameters on
the RPC joints, and the vertical load-vertical displacement (V-D)
curves were presented graphically in Fig. 10. The ordinate repre-
sented the vertical load with the unit of kN, and the abscissa was
the vertical displacement with the unit of mm.
6.1. Vertical load-vertical displacement curves of RPC joints without
steel fibers
V-D curves of RPC joints without steel fibers under 0.5 MPa and
2.0 MPa confining stress were plotted in Fig. 10(a-d). It can be seen
that the V-D curves of RPC joints can be divided into four stages. At
the beginning of the stage I, the linear relationship between verti-
cal load and vertical displacement was observed. When the initial
cracks occurred, the V-D curves entered to the stage II. In the stage
II, the stress redistributed at the RPC joints. Thus, the slope of the
V-D curves decreased. A slight drop of vertical load was defined
as stage III. The initial cracks extended rapidly, and the stiffness
of the specimen decreased significantly in the drop stage of the
V-D curves. However, for the RPC joints under 0.5 MPa confining
stress, the V-D curve did not go through a drop stage, and the ver-
tical load kept rising until reaching the peak load.
For the RPC joints which were under 2.0 MPa confining stress,
after stage III, as the crack width increased further, the lateral dis-
placement greatly increased, which was reflected in the increased
horizontal force. Due to the constraints provided by the horizontal
device, the RPC joints continued to bear the load. Therefore, the V-
D curves kept rising until reaching the ultimate load, this stage was
defined as stage IV. After the load reached the peak points, the crit-
ical cracks extended throughout the RPC joints and led to the
failure.
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al. Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993

Fig. 5. Layout of measuring points.

Table 4
Summary of experimental results for RPC joints.

Specimens Cylinder compressive Cracking Ultimate load V cr /V u Ultimate relative vertical Confining Angle between initial crack
0
strength f c (MPa) loadV cr (kN) V u (kN) displacement(mm) force (kN) and horizontal line (°)

R100-N-D25-0.5 100.97 24.51 59.76 41% 2.244 9.57 28.30

R100-N-D25-2.0 100.97 42.50 78.87 53% 0.919 39.28 21.80
R100-N-D35-0.5 100.97 30.64 53.81 56.9% 1.226 9.89 27.47
R100-N-D35-2.0 100.97 56.55 71.33 79.2% 1.302 40.10 19.65
R100-N-D45-0.5 100.97 25.14 52.83 47% 0.936 9.910 35.86
R100-N-D45-2.0 100.97 55.2 82.75 66% 1.156 40.02 20.55
R110-N-D35-0.5 107.48 35.36 77.10 46% 2.083 9.47 35.53
R110-N-D35-2.0 107.48 57.25 82.40 69% 0.637 40.13 26.56
R110-S1-D35-0.5 114.74 41.37 102.30 40% 1.591 10.00 27.54
R110-S1-D35-2.0 114.74 52.61 130.01 43% 2.147 40.08 25.01
R120-S2-D35-0.5 125.28 46.91 145.2 32% 2.13 10.06 35.01
R120-S2-D35-2.0 125.28 91.18 218.3 42% 3.74 38.55 21.80

6.2. Vertical load-vertical displacement curves of RPC joints with steel
fibers
V-D curves of RPC joints with steel fibers were plotted in Fig. 10
(e and f). Similar to the RPC joints without steel fibers, the V-D
curve of RPC joint with steel fibers also went through the stage I
and stage II. However, different from the RPC joints without steel
fibers, the development of the cracks was hindered by the bond
between the steel fibers and the concrete matrix. Therefore, the
stiffness of the RPC joint with steel fibers did not drop significantly
with the increased load. After stage I, the slope of the curve
decreased gradually before it reached the peak load. A smooth
curve in the graph of V-D without a dropping stage was observed.
Compared with RPC joints without steel fibers, those joints with
steel fibers performed a higher vertical load and a larger vertical
displacement.
6.3. Effect of confining stress
In this study, the confining stress exerted on the RPC joints was
taken into consideration. In Fig. 10(b), after the stage II, the slope of
7
the R100-N-D35-2.0 was greatly larger than that of the R100-N-
D35-0.5. In Fig. 10(e), before reaching the ultimate load, the slope
of R110-S1-D35-2.0 was also greatly larger than that of R110-S1-
D35-0.5. It indicated that the stiffness of RPC joints was enhanced
as the result of the increased confining stress.
The effect of confining stress on ultimate load was plotted
in Fig. 11, showing a positive correlation between them. As
shown in Fig. 11, according to the results of specimens
R100-N-D35-0.5 and R100-N-D35-2.0, when confining stress
increased from 0.5 MPa to 2.0 MPa, the ultimate load of RPC
joints without steel fibers increased by 33.8%. With regards
to RPC joints with 0.5%-volume-fraction steel fibers, it is
pointed out that the ultimate load was enhanced by 27.1%
because of the higher confining stress, while RPC joints with
2.0%-volume-fraction steel fibers achieved a higher enhance-
ment (46%) in the ultimate load. These results indicated that
the ultimate loads of RPC joints could be significantly strength-
ened by the increased confining stress. The higher confining
stress would provide a larger stiffness for RPC joints and
strengthen the constraint, thus resulting in a higher shear
capacity.
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al.
Fig. 6. First mode of cracking pattern.
6.4. Effect of concrete type
In this study, the RPC with or without steel fibers in the wet
joints was taken into consideration, RPC joints with 0.5%-
volume-fraction steel fibers (R110-S1-D35-0.5 and R110-S1-D35-
2.0) and those joints without steel fibers (R110-N-D35-0.5 and
R110-N-D35-2.0) were compared and analyzed. The histogram of
ultimate load of four specimens was plotted in Fig. 12.
8
Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993
Comparing with the ultimate load of R110-N-D35-0.5 and
R110-N-D35-2.0, the ultimate load of R110-S1-D35-0.5 and
R110-S1-D35-2.0 increased by 35.65% and 57.81%, respectively.
In terms of RPC joints without steel fibers, it could be conducted
that after the initial cracks occurred, the shear resistance was
provided mainly by the aggregate interlock action, and the stiff-
ness dropped as the cracks extended significantly. However, for
RPC joints with steel fibers, the shear resistance was provided
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al. Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993

Fig. 6 (continued)

by the bond between the steel fibers and concrete matrix. Fur-
thermore, the stiffness of the specimens did not decrease rapidly
as the steel fibers hindered the extension of cracks. Thus, the
results indicated that the ultimate load of RPC joints with steel
fibers was significantly higher than that of RPC joints without
steel fibers.
6.5. Effect of shear key depth
In this section, the shear key depth of wet joints was taken into
consideration, ranging from 25 mm to 35 mm. The first group
included specimens R100-N-D25-0.5, R100-N-D35-0.5, and
R100-N-D45-0.5, and the another group composed of specimens

9
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al.
Fig. 6 (continued)
R100-N-D25-2.0, R100-N-D35-2.0, and R100-N-D45-2.0. The V-D
curves of these specimens were shown in Fig. 13.
As shown in Fig. 13, the curves of all specimens were similar,
irrespective of different shear key depths. All specimens under
the confining stress of 0.5 MPa performed a large displacement
and a low stiffness. Conversely, those under the confining stress
of 2.0 MPa behaved a relatively small displacement and a high
stiffness. In terms of ultimate loads, the specimen with a 25-
mm-depth shear key behaved the maximum one (59.76 kN) under
the confining stress of 0.5 MPa among the three kinds of depth, but
under the confining stress of 2.0 MPa, the specimen with a 45-mm-
depth shear key obtained the maximum ultimate load (82.75 kN).
It indicated that ultimate loads varied irregularly as lengthening
the shear key depth under different levels of confining stress. Nev-
ertheless, only a small number of specimens with different shear
key depths were tested, thus the effect of shear key depth on shear
behavior of RPC joints needs further investigation.
6.6. Effect of steel fiber in volume fraction
In this study, different steel fibers contents of RPC joints were
taken into consideration, including specimens R110-S1-D35-0.5,
R120-S2-D35-0.5, R110-S1-D35-2.0, and R120-S2-D35-2.0. The
mechanical properties of tensile strength and compressive
strength of two matrices (C3 and C4) were tested and shown in
10
Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993
Fig. 14, and the confining stress-ultimate load curves of the speci-
mens were plotted in Fig. 11. Adding steel fibers strengthened both
mechanical properties and the ultimate load of RPC joints. For
instance, as shown in Fig. 11, the ultimate load of RPC joints with
2.0% steel fibers in volume fraction was 41.9% higher than that
with 0.5% steel fibers in volume fraction under the confining stress
of 0.5 MPa, while it increased by 67.8% under the confining stress
of 2.0 MPa.
Although the compressive strengths of C3 and C4 were approx-
imately similar, the tensile strength of the concretes was signifi-
cantly different (the compressive strength of C4 was 9.6% higher
than that of C3 and the tensile strength of C4 was 67.9% higher
than that of C3). Thus, the reason for the significantly enhanced
ultimate load due to higher steel fiber content was its higher con-
crete tensile strength. The RPC joints were more likely to reach the
ultimate load and fail when the principal tensile stress exceeded
the concrete tensile strength. The quantitative relationship
between the ultimate loads and tensile strengths was discussed
in the next section.
7. AASHTO design formula calculating shear capacity of wet
joints
AASHTO 2003 design formula [33] is extensively used to esti-
mate the shear capacity of joints in precast concrete segmental
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al. Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993

Fig. 7. Second mode of cracking pattern.

11
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al. Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993

Fig. 8. Vertical load-lateral displacement curves of the specimens.

12
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al. Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993

Fig. 9. Confining stress-vertical load curves of the specimens.

13
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al. Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993

Fig. 10. Vertical load-vertical displacement curves of RPC joints.

14
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al. Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993

Fig. 14. Mechanical properties of RPC joints with different steel fiber contents: (a)
Fig. 11. Effect of confining stress on ultimate load. compressive strength; (b) tensile strength.

bridges. The shear resistance of the base area of the joints and fric-
tion resistance of the concrete surfaces are contained in this for-
mula, which can be obtained as follows:
qffiffiffiffi
f c ð0:9961 þ 0:2048rn Þ þ 0:6Asm rn
0
V a ¼ Ak ð1Þ

Where Va is shear capacity of wet joints (N); Ak is the area of the

base of all keys along the failure plane (m2); rn is average compres-
0
sive stress across the joint (MPa); f c is cylinder compressive
strength of concrete (MPa), and Asm is the area of contact between
smooth surfaces at the failure plane (m2).
The shear capacities from the experiments Vtest and those calcu-
lated by AASHTO formula Va were compared in Table 5, and the
average ratio of the test value to the predicted one was 1.69 with
a standard deviation of 0.53. It can be seen that the value of Va/Vtest
was greater than 1.0. Therefore, the AASHTO 2003 formula overes-
timated the shear capacity of RPC joints.
According to the AASHTO 2003 provisions, the applicable con-
crete strength in the formula ranges from 27.58 MPa to
55.16 MPa, while the applicable confining stress are in the range
Fig. 12. Effect of steel fibers on ultimate load.
of 0.69 MPa to 6.89 MPa. However, the concrete compressive

Fig. 13. Effect of shear key depth on shear performance.

15
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al. Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993

Table 5 stress f t . From the Mohr’s circle, the geometric relation can be
Comparison of calculated values of AASHTO 2003 formula with the experimental
obtained:
results.
rx þ ry 2
rx  ry 2
Specimens V a (kN) predictions V test (kN) experimental V a /V test ðf t þ Þ ¼ð Þ þs ð2Þ
by AASHTO 2003 results 2 2
R100-N-D25-0.5 112.6 59.76 1.88 Where f t is the tensile strength of the PRC (MPa); rx is the normal
R100-N-D25-2.0 112.6 78.87 1.43 stress of the RPC joints (MPa); ry is the vertical stress of the RPC
R100-N-D35-0.5 125.8 53.81 2.34
R100-N-D35-2.0 125.8 71.33 1.76
joints (MPa); and s is the shear stress (MPa).
R100-N-D45-0.5 152.2 52.83 2.88 The stress area of the RPC joints is also shown in Fig. 15. b is the
R100-N-D45-2.0 152.2 82.75 1.84 thickness of the specimen; V is the vertical force; w is the width of
R110-N-D35-0.5 116.1 77.10 1.51 the vertical stress area, and h is the height of the shear stress area.
Thus, the vertical stress ry ¼ V=bw and the shear stress
R110-N-D35-2.0 156.7 82.40 1.90
R110-S1-D35-0.5 119.8 102.30 1.17
R110-S1-D35-2.0 161.6 130.01 1.24 s ¼ V=bh are deduced. The angle h is calculated as follow:
R120-S2-D35-0.5 170.2 145.2 1.17
h
R120-S2-D35-2.0 239.3 218.3 1.10 tanh ¼ ð3Þ
For all specimens, Average: 1.69, SD: 0.53 wþm
Where m is the width of the wet joints, as shown in Fig. 15.
Taking ry ¼ V=bw and s ¼ V=bh into Eq. (4), and the rela-
strength of the RPC specimens ranged from 100 MPa to 120 MPa in tionship between ry and s can be expressed as:
this experiment. Thus, the AASHTO 2003 formula was not suitable
h V h
for calculating shear capacity of the RPC joints. A new formula to ry ¼  ¼  s ¼ ls ð4Þ
w þ m bh w
predict the shear capacity should be proposed.
h
l ¼ ¼ tanh ð5Þ
wþm
8. Simplified formula for shear capacity of RPC joints
Taking Eq. (4) into Eq. (2) and simplifying Eq. (2), similar to the
The RPC joints in the test were not reinforced by steel rebars, method from Yuan [34], s can be expressed as:
when the cracks occurred, the specimen quickly reached the ulti-  qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1
mate load. In the strength evaluation model, for a conservative s ¼ lðrx þ f t Þ þ ð4 þ l2 Þf 2t þ ð4 þ 2l2 Þf t rx þ l2 r2x ð6Þ
2
estimation purpose, it is assumed that the joint failed when the
stress reached the tensile strength of concrete, corresponding to In Eq. (6), s is determined by the f t and rx , but this form of the
the appearance of the crack. It is reasonable to assume the failure formula is too complex for calculation. Referred to the calculation
criterion which the principle tensile stress reaches the tensile form of the AASHTO 2003 [33], the equation could take the form
strength of concrete. The deviation of the calculated shear strength as:
and the experimental one could be eliminated by a modified factor.
s ¼ C 1 f t þ C 2 f t  rx ð7Þ
According to the tested result, the confining stress, shear area of
wet joints and tensile strength of concrete are the primary factors C 1 is the coefficient of shear capacity without the confining
on the shear capacity of the RPC joints. Thus, these factors are stress; C 2 is the increment coefficient of shear capacity caused by
taken into consideration in the proposed formula. the confining stress.
As shown in Fig. 15, there are vertical and normal force acting at
the side segments and the RPC joints, namely they are under biax- 8.1. Calculation of the value of C 1
ial stress state. Thus, the Mohr’s circle can be used to explain the
stress state. It is assumed that the shear failure of the RPC joints According to Table 4, it can be observed that the angle of initial
occurred when the maximum stress r1 reached the uniaxial tensile cracks in the RPC joints ranged from of 19.65° to 35.86°, and the

Fig. 15. Computational model of the simplified formula of RPC joints.

16
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al. Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993

mean value h ¼ 27.09° is taken for calculation, thus s  C1  f t

C2 ¼
tanh ¼ l  0:51. Taking l ¼ 0:51 into Eq. (6), the shear stress f t  rx
can be obtained as: qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
0:26  rx þ 0:5  4:25f t þ 4:5f t  rx þ 0:25r2x  1:03f t
2
 qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi
1 ¼
s ¼ 0:51  ðrx þ f t Þ þ 4:25f 2t þ 4:5f t  rx þ 0:25r2x ð8Þ f t  rx
2
ð11Þ
Substituting rx ¼ 0 into Eq. (7) and Eq. (8), the coefficient C1 is
The values of C2 obtained by mathematical analysis
determined as follow:
qffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffiffi underf t = 3 MPa to 15 MPa are shown in Fig. 16. The value of C2
s ¼ 0:26f t þ 0:5 4:25f t ¼ C 1 f t ð9Þ is influenced by the confining stress and tensile strength of con-
crete. When the tensile strength of concrete reaches the 15 MPa,
the variation of the value of C2 is relatively small in spite of increas-
C 1 ¼ 1:29 ð10Þ
ing the confining stress. And the calculating value of the shear
capacity of wet joints is increased as a higher value of C2 is adapted.
8.2. Calculation of the value of C2 Thus, in order to conservatively estimate the shear capacity of RPC
joints, the value of C2 takes the minimum value of each grade of
From Eq. (7) and Eq. (9), the calculation of C2 can be expressed tensile strength of concrete. Moreover, the value of C2 is adopted
as follow: as 0.050 if the C2 is higher than 15 MPa. The value of C2 is listed
in Table 6.

8.3. Simplified formula for shear capacity of RPC joints

According to the above-mention, the expression for the shear

strength of PRC joints is therefore:

V s ¼ As ð1:29f t þ C 2 f t  rx Þ ð12Þ

Where V s is the shear strength of RPC joints in a region of shear (N);

As is the base area of RPC joints (mm); C 2 can be obtained by linear
interpolation according to the adjacent values in Table 6.
As shown in Fig. 15, the friction between side segments and RPC
joint also provides shear resistance as a result of slippage between
smooth concrete surfaces. Shear friction is a function of the area in
contacting area, the normal stress and the coefficient of friction.
Coefficient of 0.6 is recommended by the ACI Building Code [35].
Thus, the shear capacity of the wet joints with RPC grouting mate-
rials can be obtained as follow:

Fig. 16. Calculated values of C2. V ¼ As ð1:29f t þ C 2 f t  rx Þ þ 0:6  rx  Asm ð13Þ

Where V is the shear capacity of RPC joints specimen.

The calculated results are shown in the Table 7. Comparing with
the calculated result (V cal ) and the value of test (V test ), the average
Table 6
ratio of V cal =V test is 1.10 with the standard deviation of 0.12. Fig. 17
Calculated value of C 2
shows the degree of dispersion between the relative ratio of the
f t (MPa) 5 7 9 11 13 >15 tested values and the calculated values. It is indicated that the sim-
C2 0.125 0.095 0.085 0.061 0.054 0.050 plified formula agreed well with the shear capacity of the RPC
joints.

Table 7
Using simplified formula to calculate the shear capacity of the RPC joints

Specimens rx (MPa) f t (MPa) As (mm) C1 C2 Asm (mm) V cal (kN) V test (kN) V cal =V test

R100-N-D25-0.5 0.48 4.13 10,000 1.29 0.19 20,000 62.85 59.76 1.05
R100-N-D25-2.0 1.96 4.13 10,000 1.29 0.18 20,000 91.84 78.87 1.16
R100-N-D35-0.5 0.49 4.13 10,000 1.29 0.19 20,000 63.16 53.81 1.17
R100-N-D35-2.0 2.01 4.13 10,000 1.29 0.18 20,000 92.63 71.33 1.30
R100-N-D45-0.5 0.50 4.13 10,000 1.29 0.19 20,000 63.18 52.83 1.20
R100-N-D45-2.0 2.00 4.13 10,000 1.29 0.18 20,000 92.56 82.75 1.12
R110-N-D35-0.5 0.47 5.06 10,000 1.29 0.16 20,000 74.76 77.10 0.97
R110-N-D35-2.0 2.01 5.06 10,000 1.29 0.15 20,000 104.80 82.40 1.27
R110-S1-D35-0.5 0.50 7.23 10,000 1.29 0.11 20,000 103.31 102.30 1.01
R110-S1-D35-2.0 2.00 7.23 10,000 1.29 0.11 20,000 132.96 130.01 1.02
R120-S2-D35-0.5 0.50 12.14 10,000 1.29 0.07 20,000 166.77 145.21 1.15
R120-S2-D35-2.0 1.93 12.14 10,000 1.29 0.07 20,000 195.04 218.30 0.89
For all specimens, Average: 1.10, SD: 0.12

17
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al.
Fig. 17. Calculated results of the simplified formula.
9. Conclusions
In this study, twelve specimens of PRC joints in PCSBs with dif-
ferent parameters were tested. The effect of different confining
stresses, concrete types, volume fractions of steel fibers and shear
key depth were investigated. The experimental results were com-
pared with the calculations by AASHTO 2003 formula. In addition,
a calculation method for the shear capacity of RPC joints base on
Mohr’s circle and the tensile strength of RPC was established in this
study. The conclusions can be drawn as follow:
(1) Two modes of crack pattern were distinguished from RPC
joints with or without steel fibers. Two curved cracks forming a
bottle shape were observed in RPC joints without steel fibers, sep-
arating the joint zone into two parts along one of the curved cracks
or between the two. Nevertheless, only one diagonal crack dis-
tributed in the RPC joints with steel fibers, and concrete crushing
phenomenon was observed at the corner of the side segments.
(2) Shear capacity of RPC joints could be strengthened by exert-
ing a higher confining stress because of a larger stiffness and a
strengthened constraint on the specimens. Adding steel fibers
effectively improved the shear capacity of RPC joints, inferred from
that the ultimate load of RPC joints with steel fibers was signifi-
cantly higher than that of RPC joints without steel fibers. In addi-
tion, RPC joints with higher steel fiber content achieved a higher
shear capacity due to its higher concrete tensile strength.
(3) The AASHTO 2003 formula overestimated the shear capacity
of RPC joints, showing an average ratio of the calculated results to
the experimental ones of 1.69 with the standard deviation of 0.53.
However, the simplified formula based on Mohr’s circle and tensile
strength of RPC provided a more accurate prediction on shear
capacity, obtaining an average ratio of the calculated results to
the experimental ones of 1.10 with a standard deviation of 0.12.
Due to the limitation of the number of tested specimens, it is worth
to further explore whether the simplified formula of RPC joints in
PCSBs can be applied in the case of higher confining stress.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Jiahui Feng: Investigation, Visualization, Writing - review &
editing. Zebin Hu: Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing - origi-
nal draft. Haibo Jiang: Supervision, Visualization, Writing - review
& editing. Jiahao Hu: Investigation. Yitao Qiu: Investigation.
18
Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared
to influence the work reported in this paper.
Acknowledgments
The research presented was sponsored by National Natural
Science Foundation of China [51778150, 51808133]; Natural
Science Foundation of Guangdong Province in China
[2016A030313699]; Science and Technology Planning Project of
Guangzhou city in China [201804010422]; and Special Funds for
the Cultivation of Guangdong College Students’ Scientific and Tech-
nological Innovation (‘‘Climbing Program” Special Funds)
[pdjh2020b0179].
References:
[1] P. Richard, M. Cheyrezy, Composition of reactive powder concretes, Cem.
Concr. Res. 25 (7) (1995) 1501–1511.
[2] A. Mirmiran, P.Z. Amir, Pedram, Behavior of ultrahigh-performance concrete
confined by steel, J. Mater. Civ. Eng. 28 (10) (2016) 04016113.
[3] S. Rahman, T. Molyneaux, I. Patnaikuni, Ultra high performance concrete:
recent applications and research, Aust. J. Civil Eng. 2 (1) (2005) 13–20.
[4] J. Dugat, N. Roux, G. Bernier, Mechanical properties of reactive powder
concrete, Mater. Struct. 29 (4) (1996) 233–240.
[5] Y.Z. Ju, D.X. Yu, A sudy of the partially prestressed tendons RPC concrete pole
connection design, Appl. Mech. Mater. 166-169 (2012) 534–537.
[6] H. Yazıcı, M. Yardımcı, H. Yiğiter, S. Aydın, S. Türkel, Mechanical properties of
reactive powder concrete containing high volumes of ground granulated blast
furnace slag, Cem. Concr. Compos. 32 (8) (2010) 639–648.
[7] S. Grzeszczyk, G. Janus, Reactive powder concrete with lightweight aggregates,
Constr. Build. Mater. 263 (2020) 120–164.
[8] Y.Z. Peng, J. Zhang, J.Y. Liu, J. Ke, F.Z. Wang, Properties and microstructure of
reactive powder concrete having a high content of phosphorous slag powder
and silica fume, Constr. Build. Mater. 101 (2015) 482–487.
[9] Y.R. Alharbi, A.A. Abadel, O.A. Mayhoub, M. Kohail, Effect of using available
metakaoline and nano materials on the behavior of reactive powder concrete,
Constr. Build. Mater. 269 (2021) 121344.
[10] Y.L. Voo, S.J. Foster, C.C. Voo, Ultrahigh-performance concrete segmental
bridge technology: toward sustainable bridge construction, J. Bridge Eng. 20
(8) (2015) B5014001.
[11] C.W. Taylor, K.F. Montoya, D.V. Jáuregui, C.M. Newtson, B.D. Weldon,
Feasibility analysis of using UHPC in prestressed bridge girders, Struct.
Congress (2011) 203–214.
[12] O. Buyukozturk, M.M. Bakhoum, S. Michael Beattie, Shear behavior of joints in
precast concrete segmental bridges, J. Struct. Eng. 116 (12) (1990) 3380–3401.
[13] H.B. Jiang, Y. Chen, A.R. Liu, T.L. Wang, Z.C. Fang, Effect of high-strength
concrete on shear behavior of dry joints in precast concrete segmental bridges,
Steel Compos. Struct. 22 (5) (2016) 1019–1038.
[14] C.C.Y. Leung, F. Au, Behavior of in-situ concrete stitches in segmental
prestressed concrete bridges. Proceedings of the 2nd International
Postgraduate Conference on Infrastructure and Environment, IPCIE (2010)
256-262.
[15] J. Muller, Jean, Construction of long key bridge, PCI J. 25 (6) (1980) 97–111.
[16] J. Turmo, G. Ramos, A.C. Aparicio, Shear strength of dry joints of concrete
panels with and without steel fibres: Application to precast segmental bridges,
Eng. Struct. 28 (1) (2006) 23–33.
[17] Z.Y. Bu, W.Y. Wu, Inter shear transfer of unbonded prestressing precast
segmental bridge column dry joints, Eng. Struct. 154 (1) (2017) 52–65.
[18] G.H. Ahmed, O.Q. Aziz, Influence of intensity & eccentricity of posttensioning
force and concrete strength on shear behavior of epoxied joints in segmental
box girder bridges, Constr. Build. Mater. 197 (10) (2019) 117–129.
[19] H.B. Jiang, J.H. Feng, A.R. Liu, T.L. Liang, Effect of specimen thickness and coarse
aggregate size on shear strength of single-keyed dry joints in precast concrete
segmental bridges, Struct. Concr. 20 (3) (2019) 955–970.
[20] A.M. Yuan, A. C. Yang, J.W. Wang, L.K. Chen, R.W. Lu, Shear behavior of epoxy
resin joints in precast concrete segmental bridges, J. Bridge Eng. 24(4) 2019
04019009.1-04019009.13.
[21] H.H. Husam, M.S. Shad, P.S. Eric, Experimental validation of optimized ultra-
high-performance concrete shear key shape for precast pre-stressed adjacent
box girder bridges, Constr. Build. Mater. 190 (2018) 178–190.
[22] Z.Y. Bu, Z. Xu, H.H. Ye, Interface shear transfer of precast concrete dry joints in
segmental columns, Eng. Struct. 175 (2018) 257–272.
[23] G.H. Ahmed, O.Q. Aziz, Shear behavior of dry and epoxied joints in precast
concrete segmental box girder bridges under direct shear loading, Eng. Struct.
182 (3) (2019) 89–100.
[24] C.S. Williams, J.B. Massey, O. Bayrak, J.O. Jirsa, Investigation of interface shear
transfer using push- through tests, ACI Struct. J. 114 (1) (2017) 173–185.
J. Feng, Z. Hu, H. Jiang et al.
[25] X. Zhou, N. Mickleborough, Z. Li, Shear strength of joints in precast concrete
segmental bridges, ACI Struct. J. 102 (2005) 3–11.
[26] H.B. Jiang, L. Chen, Z.J. Ma, W. Feng, Shear behavior of dry joints with [31]
castellated keys in precast concrete segmental bridges, J. Bridge Eng. 20 (2)
(2015) 04014062, https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0000649.
[27] H.B. Jiang, R.B. Wei, Z.J. Ma, Y.H. Li, Y. Jing, Shear strength of steel fiber- [32]
reinforced concrete dry joints in precast segmental bridges, J. Bridge Eng. 21
(11) (2016) 04016085, https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)BE.1943-5592.0000968.
[28] T.X. Liu, Z. Wang, J. Guo, J.Q. Wang, Shear strength of dry joints in precast UHPC [33]
segmental bridges: experimental and theoretical research, J. Bridge Eng. 24 (1)
(2018) 04018100.
[29] Y.J. Kim, W.J. Chin, S.J. Jeon, Interface shear strength at joints of ultra-high [34]
performance concrete structures, Int. J. Concr. Struct. Mater. 12 (6) (2018)
767–780.
[30] American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Standard practice for use [35]
of unbond caps in determination of compressive strength of hardened
19
Construction and Building Materials 299 (2021) 123993
cylindrical concrete specimens. (ASTM C1231/C1231M-15). West
Conshohocken, PA, US: ASTM, (2015).
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Standard test method for
splitting tensile strength of cylindrical concrete specimens. (ASTM C496/
C496M-11). West Conshohocken, PA, US: ASTM, (2011).
American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM). Standard test method for
static modulus of elasticity and Poisson’s ratio of concrete in compression.
(ASTM C469/C469M-14). West Conshohocken, PA, US: ASTM, (2014).
AASHTO Guide specifications for design and construction of segmental
concrete bridges: 2003 interim revisions. 2nd ed. Washington, DC: AASHTO,
2003.
A.M. Yuan, X. Zhao, R. Lu, Experimental investigation on shear performance of
fiber-reinforced high-strength concrete dry joints, Eng. Struct. 223 (2020)
111159.
ACI 318-14 Building code requirements for structural concrete and
commentary, Farmington Hills, Mich: ACI, 2014.