Project Objectives
In order to capitalize on the knowledge and methodology developed from ongoing research on new improved load rating procedures for deteriorated unstiffened steel beam ends, the structure of the proposed project will be designed accordingly. The research will identify and quantify the most common beam-end corrosion topologies across states in New England. The goal of this work is to enhance load rating methods for assessing corroded unstiffened beam ends to avoid overly conservative bridge posting recommendations. The new developed methods from ongoing research in the state of Massachusetts calculate more accurately the load carrying capacity. However, the wide application of the new procedures needs to be validated with experiments including several different configurations, beam sizes, corrosion shapes, and support conditions. Laboratory testing will validate and enrich the new procedures while providing valuable insight into the failure mechanisms that control these scenarios. Finally, finite element computational calculations will be calibrated using the produced experimental data from full-scale testing of the corroded beams.
Technical Committee Members
- TC Chair, Alex Bardow: Massachusetts Department of Transportation
- Greg Funk, Connecticut Department of Transportation
- Alan Farrington, Maine Department of Transportation
- Nicholas Goulas, New Hampshire Department of Transportation
- Join Poisson, New Hampshire Department of Transportation
- Andrew Lemieux, Vermont Agency of Transportation
AC Liaison: Nicholas Zavolas, Massachusetts Department of Transportation
Project Coordinator, Kirsten Seeber, CTC & Associates