Experimental investigation on behavior of a spliced PSC girder with precast box segments

This paper presents full-scale laboratory tests on a monolithic and spliced simply supported precast box girder. The main objective of the paper is to investigate the static behavior of a prestressed concrete (PSC) girder that has been spliced with precast box segments. A 20 m full-scale spliced PSC girder was fabricated and tested to compare its static performance against a monolithically fabricated girder. The monolithic girder has the same geometric and material properties as the spliced girder. Static characteristics of the spliced girder are presented, including the internal strain, deflection, interface behavior, neutral axis position, and crack patterns. The results were compared to those obtained from a monolithic girder. It is shown that the spliced girder provides static performance comparable to that of a monolithic girder in the elastic range. No joint failure was observed in the spliced girder up to the final load stage.