Behavior and Temporal-Based Effects of Sustainable Self-Consolidating Concrete in Bridge Structure

The main objective of this study was to investigate the performance of sustainable self-consolidating concrete (SCC) for highway bridge structures. Two types of concrete were utilized in this study: high volume fly ash-self consolidating concrete (HVFA-SCC) and high strength-self consolidating concrete (HS-SCC). This dissertation consists of two major parts: a laboratory study developing and investigating the overall performance of HVFA-SCC and a field study of time-dependent¬¬ field-based behavior of HS-SCC in Bridge A7957 MO, USA. In the first part, an experimental program was conducted to develop a new class of SCC incorporating up to 70% cement replacement with fly ash. Three replacement levels (50%, 60%, and 70%) by weight were selected to quantify the effect of cement replacement on the structural performance of HVFA-SCC. Shear behavior and bond performance of HVFA-SCC were investigated in the laboratory. The shear behavior program consisted of twelve full-scale beams, and the bond performance program consisted of twelve full-scale splice test specimens. Analysis of the HVFA-SCC data indicated that concrete with up to 70% cement replacement can be considered for the production of sustainable SCC. The second part of this dissertation presents the total prestress losses and thermal behavior of Bridge A7957 constructed with HS-SCC. A health monitoring system was established on this bridge to monitor the time-dependent behavior of bridge girders using VWSGs and a data acquisition system. HS-SCC girders were monitored for more than two years' worth of field-based data. Both measured prestress losses and thermal data (uniform temperature and thermal gradients) were compared to the current design specifications. Results showed that the investigated specifications require some modifications to accommodate the material composition of HS-SCC.