Title: Shear Strength of Top Slab of Reinforced Concrete Box Culverts

Author(s): Masoud Ghahremannejad, Ali Abolmaali, and Maziar Mahdavi

Publication: Structural Journal

Volume: 116

Issue: 6

Appears on pages(s): 63-74

Keywords: box culverts; displacement control; framework; shear behavior; uniformly distributed load

DOI: 10.14359/51716800

Date: 11/1/2019

Abstract:
An increase in the fill height of buried box culverts leads to an increase in the thickness of the slab and wall, as well as in the number or size of longitudinal slab reinforcements required to resist flexure. This geometrical configuration imposes a shear behavioral mode. This study focuses on determining the shear strength of reinforced concrete (RC) box culverts with uniformly distributed load at the top slab. A framework, consisting of several subframes, was designed to convert the single displacement applied at the top of the framework to the equivalent uniformly distributed forces at the top slab of the culvert, allowing a displacement control analysis algorithm to be performed. To validate the loading mechanism, using the proposed framework, the load was applied on the top of an RC beam in the laboratory, and numerical studies were conducted. After validation, two sizes of RC box culverts were experimentally and numerically investigated. The results from the experimental program and verified numerical models differed from ACI 318-14 formulation for the shear strength of top slabs of RC box culverts.