As traffic demand on bridges increases, loading cycles on critical components will increase, reducing their service life. Modular bridge expansion joints, which are imperative to allowing the bridge superstructure to move, are susceptible to fatigue damage at their field splice. These splices are used to connect segments of the total joint, during staged construction. Current splice designs are either bolted or welded connections, which allow stress concentrations to induce pre-mature fatigue failure. This thesis examines the use of a hybrid FRP/steel design under fatigue loading for use as a splice detail. The splice detail consists of steel plates bolted to steel beam webs and CFRP pultruded plates adhesively bonded to the underside of the steel beam flanges. Two different moduli of CFRP were examined: Normal Modulus and Ultra High Modulus. Two beams of each modulus were tested under static conditions and six under constant amplitude fatigue loading. A testing rig was used to simulate similar bending moments experienced in bridge joints. In the static tests, slippage of the web plates caused considerable stiffness loss and the slippage load varied drastically between CFRP moduli. For the fatigue tests, the intention was to reach two million cycles at the different constant load ranges. Stiffness degradation was noticed during the fatigue process, and was likely due to bolt pre-tension loss and/or plastic deformation of the adhesive. Specimens that reached two million cycles were monotonically loaded to failure. Once the CFRP had failed, a secondary mechanism was observed for reserve load capacity. Simple beam mechanics were used to create prediction models for the initial spliced beam stiffness and peak CFRP load. Flexural and shear deformations of the spliced system were considered for beam stiffness. For the CFRP failure load prediction, a design peak strain in the CFRP was used to account for shear lag effects in the material and variability of the splice detail. While the model was inaccurate for beam stiffness, it provided a good approximate of the peak CFRP load. Based on the presented test data, the Normal Modulus CFRP hybrid splice detail showed better fatigue performance than conventional steel connection details. / Thesis (Master, Civil Engineering) -- Queen's University, 2013-07-24 11:28:19.728

Studien syftar till att ta fram rekommenderade livscykelplaner för övergångskonstruktioner för att i framtiden möjliggöra säkrare livscykelkostnadsanalyser. Nedbrytningen av övergångskonstruktioner kan grovt delas upp i två kategorier, användarrelaterad nedbrytning samt nedbrytning associerat med rådande klimatförhållanden. I studien har årsdygnstrafiken och klimatzonernas påverkan på övergångskonstruktionen studerats genom utvärdering av historiskt utförda åtgärder kopplade till Trafikverkets broförvaltningssystem BaTMan. Regressionsanalyser och överlevnadsanalyser utfördes för de vanligaste åtgärderna. Resultaten visar att utbyte av tätprofil samt övergångskonstruktion är de åtgärder som förekommer allra mest och sker i genomsnitt efter 25 respektive 33 år. Från analyserna kunde utläsas att trafikintensiteten är en faktor som direkt påverkar nedbrytningen och således reparation och utbyte av övergångskonstruktion, troligt är även att tung trafik står för en stor del av nedbrytningen. Även klimatet verkar ha en påverkan på både övergångskonstruktionens och tätprofilens livslängd. Baserat på resultaten rekommenderas tre livscykelplaner, livscykelplanerna kan användas som underlag i framtida livscykelberäkningar. De kan även användas som stöd för förvaltare vid uppbyggnad av strategier under förvaltningsfasen. / This study aims to develop recommended Life-Cycle Plans for bridge expansion joints which in the future can be used for Life-Cycle Cost analysis to achieve a higher degree of certainty. The degradation of expansion joints can be roughly divided into two categories, user-related degradation and degradation due to climatic conditions. In the study, the influence of annual average daily traffic and climate zones on the expansion joint will be studied by evaluating historically conducted maintenance actions related to the Swedish Transport Administrations (Trafikverket) bridge management system BaTMan. Regression analysis and survival analyzes were performed for the most common actions. The results show that replacement of the strip seal and the expansion joint is the most commonly performed maintenance measures and occurs on average after 25 and 33 years. From the analyzes it was deduced that the traffic intensity is a factor that directly affects the degradation and therefore also the repair and replacement of the expansion joint, likely is also that a large part of the degradation is due to the wear of heavy vehicles. The climate also seems to have an impact on the lifetime of the expansion joint as well as the strip seal. Based on the results, three Life-Cycle Plans was recommended. These Life-Cycle Plans can be used for future Life-Cycle Cost calculations but also to support bridge managers when comparing different maintenance strategies during the operational phase.

This diploma thesis deals with the development of constructive technology project od local road in Žďár nad Sázavou. Specifically, there is a solution prestressed reinforced concrete construction of the bridge over the Sázava river according to the extent of the diploma work.