Parametric Study on Mixed Torsional Behavior of U-Shaped Thin-Walled RC Girders

Nowadays, U-shaped thin-walled concrete girders have been widely applied in the urban construction of rail viaducts in China as well as worldwide. However, the mixed torsional behaviors of these structures are not well understood. In this paper, the mixed torsional behaviors of the U-shaped thin-walled RC girders are theoretically analyzed, and a method predicting failure modes and ultimate torques is proposed. Nonlinear FE models based on ABAQUS to simulate the mixed torsional behaviors are built and calibrated with the test results. Parametric studies considering three crucial parameters (boundary condition, span length-section height ratio, and ratio of longitudinal bars to stirrups) are conducted based on both the above suggested calculating method and the FE modeling. The calculated and the simulated results agree well with each other and with the test results. It is found that the failure modes of the U-shaped thin-walled RC girders under torsion are influenced by all the three parameters. Three kinds of failure modes are observed: flexural failures dominated by warping moment, shear failures caused by warping torque and circulatory torque, and flexural-shear failures in the cases where flexural failure and shear failure appear almost at the same time.

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