SHEAR ASSESSMENT OF CONCRETE BEAM-AND-SLAB BRIDGES

A three-dimensional upper-bound plasticity solution to the problem of shear assessment of existing concrete bridges is presented. A review o f present shear assessment methods for concrete bridges is provided, a nd shortcomings highlighted. A series of tests on concrete beam-and-sl ab bridges is described. Results from these tests form the basis of an upper-bound three-dimensional plasticity solution. It is concluded th at the test results provide important qualitative information for the practical shear assessment of concrete bridges. Furthermore, the three -dimensional shear assessment technique is shown to provide relatively accurate capacity predictions within certain bounds (which ensure suf ficient ductility of collapse).