Title:
Tendon Breakout Failures in Bridges
Author(s):
Dean Van Landuyt and John E. Breen
Publication:
Concrete International
Volume:
19
Issue:
11
Appears on pages(s):
41-46
Keywords:
concretes; curved beams; girders; lateral pressure; post-tensioning;
prestressing steels; pullout tests;
DOI:
Date:
11/1/1997
Abstract:
Lateral tendon forces can cause severe distress in the webs of curved concrete box girders. Four horizontally curved bridges in the United States are known to have failed during construction. The bridges were characterized by sharp horizontal curves, large internal tendon post-tensioning forces, and bundled tendons. Failure theories have been proposed and some design recommendations made by a variety of organizations, but none have ever been verified through testing. Four tests were conducted at the University of Texas to investigate the effect of duct arrangements. The experiments showed that failure is primarily a local shearing one and simple design recommendations are proposed.