Mechanical Properties of Prestressed Concrete Trough Girder: Full-Scale Experiment and Nonlinear FE Analysis

A full-scale experimental study on the mechanical properties of a 35 m prestressed concrete trough girder was carried out under simply supported supports. The load-displacement curve and cracking load of the test girder were obtained. In order to study the transverse crack resistance of single-line trough girder, a nonlinear finite element model was established by using ABAQUS. The accuracy of the finite element model was verified by comparing with the experimental results. The verified finite element model was used to study the crack resistance of the trough girder under different transverse prestressed reinforcement schemes, and then the reasonable reinforcement form of transverse prestress of the trough girder was discussed. The results show that for the test girder, the model without transverse prestressed reinforcement does not meet the requirements of Chinese code. It is very necessary for single-line trough girder to install transverse prestressed reinforcement, and the spacing of transverse prestressed reinforcement can be reduced from 2 m to 1.25 m.