Experimental and analytical behavior of a prestressed U-shaped girder bridge

This paper presents an experimental and analytical investigation on the behavior of a U-shaped girder subjected to operation, cracking and ultimate loads. A full-scale destructive test was conducted on a U-shaped girder to study the cracking process, load-carrying capacity, failure mechanism and load-deformation relationships. Accordingly, the tested U-shaped girder was modeled using ANSYS and a non-linear element analysis was conducted. The investigation shows that the U-shaped girder meets the specified requirements of vertical stiffness, cracking and ultimate load capacity. Unfavorable torsional effect is tolerable during operation. However, compared with box girders, the U-shaped girder has a more transverse mechanical effect and longitudinal cracks are apt to occur in the bottom slab.