Experimental and numerical study on tensile capacity of composite cable-girder anchorage joint

Cable-girder anchorage joint is the critical part of cable-supported bridges. Tensile-plate anchorage (TPA) is one of the most commonly used types of cable-girder anchorage joints in steel girder cable-supported bridges. In recent years, it has been proposed by bridge designers to apply TPA to concrete girder cable-supported bridges to form composite cable-girder anchorage joint (CCGAJ). In this paper, the mechanical performance of CCGAJ under tensile force is studied through experimental and numerical analyses. Firstly, the effects of the external prestressing (EP) and the bearing plate (BP) on the mechanical performance of CCGAJ were investigated through three tests. Then, finite element model was established for parametrical study, and was verified by the experimental results. Then, the effects of shear connector forms, EP, BP, vertical rebar rate, and perforated rebar rate on the tensile capacity of CCGAJ were investigated through numerical analyses. The results show that the tensile capacity of CCGAJ depends on the first row of PR. The failure mode of CCGAJ using headed stud connectors is to form a shear failure surface at the end of the studs while the failure mode using PBLs is similar to the bending of a deep girder. Finally, based on the strut-and-tie model (STM), a calculation method for CCGAJ tensile capacity was proposed, which has a high accuracy and can be used to calculate the tensile capacity of CCGAJ.