Shear strength of dry joints of concrete panels with and without steel fibres: Application to precast segmental bridges

This work presents a study of the behavior of segmental bridges, focussing on the response of dry castellated joints under shear, in service and ultimate limit states. Tests have been performed on panels with different levels of prestressing, evaluating the behavior of castellated dry joints under direct shear. The possible benefit of using steel fiber reinforced concrete (SFRC) is also evaluated, casting and testing reinforced and SFRC panels. The results obtained in these tests, as well as those found in the literature, have been compared with several design formulae for assessing the load-carrying capacity of dry interlocked joints without epoxy, identifying the formula that gives the best predictions.