Engineering Structures 57 (2013) 267275

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Engineering Structures
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/engstruct

Web design of box girders concrete bridges

Ricardo Gaspar a, Fernando Rebouas Stucchi b,
a
CECS at Federal University of ABC in Sao Paulo, Brazil
b
Dep. of Structural and Geotechnical Engineering, Polytechnic School of Sao Paulo University, Brazil

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new design approach including the Ultimate Limit State (ULS)
Received 16 April 2013 due to fatigue. Different criteria for the design of those webs are compared by means of shear-bending
Revised 5 September 2013 moment interaction diagrams, as an attempt to identify the most realistic one. An experimental investi-
Accepted 6 September 2013
gation was undertaken with the purpose of verifying the validity of the newly developed approach. The
Available online 23 October 2013
following failure modes were considered: excessive plastic deformation of the stirrups, crushing of the
compressed struts and failure of the stirrups due to fatigue. The experimental results showed good agree-
Keywords:
ment with the results of the proposed approach. Furthermore, the tests revealed new aspects of the fati-
Bridges
Concrete
gue behavior: the failure of the stirrups due to fatigue occurred in stages, one at a time in a gradual
Shear manner. In all cases, failure took place near the connection between the web and the bottom ange.
Transverse bending 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Fatigue

1. Introduction 2.1. Approach of reinforcement sum

The external loading of concrete box girder bridges submits This approach adopts, for simplication, the sum of reinforce-
their webs to high levels of positive and negative transverse bend- ment due to shear and transverse bending moment, which leads
ing moment, as shown in Fig. 1. to a conservative design for the stirrups.
This means that the webs are subjected not only to shear due to Although conservative in relation to the transverse reinforce-
shear force and torsion but also to transverse bending moment. ment, this approach is unsafe in relation to the compressive forces
The design of these webs should take into account the combination acting on the concrete struts because, in such situation, any inu-
of all these effects. ence of the transverse bending moment is neglected.
The modern trend is to build box girder bridges with only one
wide cell, which leads to a considerable increase in the transverse
2.2. Approach of reinforcement comparison
bending moment.
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new design approach
In order to reduce the amount of reinforcement, this approach
for the ULS of that combination and also the ULS due to fatigue,
suggests using only the largest reinforcement between shear force
which is an important tool for the design of those bridges.
and transverse bending moment. However, this approach, as the
In this study, different criteria for the design of those webs are
former, does not contemplate the concrete compression forces.
compared by means of shear-bending moment interaction dia-
grams as torsion can be transformed into an additional shear force.
2.3. Thrlimanns approach (1977)

2. Design criteria for Ultimate Limit State (ULS)
For more than thirty years, engineers have been confronted
with the problems of the design of concrete box girders webs
submitted to a combination of shear force and transverse bending
moments. Many criteria were used.
Corresponding author. Address: EGT Engenharia Ltda, Rua Fabia, 442,
V. Romana, So Paulo, SP CEP 05051-030, Brazil. Tel./fax: +55 11 38621236.
E-mail address: frstucchi@gmail.com (F.R. Stucchi).
This approach is based on the Static Theorem of Plasticity The-
ory (lower bound), which requires that the eld of internal forces
should satisfy at the same time the equilibrium conditions and
the limit states for both steel and concrete [1].
The plastic deformation capacity of the webs was proved by
experiments on concrete beams performed by Kaufmann and
Menn [2]. The results of that calculation model were in the safe
side, when compared with the results of the experiments.
The internal forces that are developed in the web are assumed
to be those given by the usual truss model as shown in Fig. 2.

0141-0296/$ - see front matter 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2013.09.012
268 R. Gaspar, F.R. Stucchi / Engineering Structures 57 (2013) 267275

Nomenclature

Ase area of the steel transverse reinforcement in each z lever arm

stirrup leg per unit length zt lever arm of the transverse bending moment
Asf area of the steel transverse reinforcement due to h angle, inclination of concrete struts
transverse bending moment per unit length / diameter
Asv area of the steel transverse reinforcement due to shear cc, cs, cf partial safety factors (1.4; 1.15; 1.35 for Dead Load; 1.5
per unit length for Live Load) As the paper is focused in comparing the-
C vertical component of the strut compression per unit oretical and experimental values, all c = 1.0
length r normal stress
T force in each stirrup leg per unit length s shear stress
V, M, R; P, F (F1 or F2) internal, exural moment, shear and sRw strength shear stress
general force; and external forces
b width Indices
bw web width R resistance
w
b distance between stirrup legs c concrete, compression
d effective depth e stirrup
e eccentricity f action, transversal exure
fc concrete compression strength d design
fy steel tensile strength i prestressing force introduction
m web transverse bending moment per unit length s steel; reinforcement bar
mmax1 maximum transverse bending moment supported by t tensile, transversal, torsion
strut eccentricity v shear
mmax2 maximum transverse bending moment w web
s spacing y yielding
y strut width

(a) Traffic loading on the cantilever (b) Traffic loading on the span

Fig. 1. Cross section with transverse bending moment. Fig. 3. Internal forces in the web Thrlimanns approach.

stress, i.e., with a strut eccentricity, without the need for additional
reinforcement (Fig. 3b).
Since the web is subjected to a shear force (Fig. 3b), the mini-
mum required strut width is governed by the shear stress resis-
tance, which means:
Vd
ymin 1
d  sRwd
and the maximum eccentricity is given by:
bw  ymin
emax 2
2
Then, the maximum transverse bending moment that can be sup-
ported by the strut eccentricity is:
Fig. 2. Internal forces in the web, M (Rcc, Rst, z) and V (Rch senh).
mmax1 C  emax 3
If the web is subjected to transverse moment exceeding mmax1
The vertical component of the strut compression per unit length
(Fig. 3c), it is assumed that the additional moment can be supported
is C = (V/z) tan h, therefore, the resulting force per unit length in w ), so that it transfers tension forces from one
using the lever arm (b
each of the stirrups legs is T = C/2 (Fig. 3a).
leg of stirrups to the other. In this case, the maximum bending mo-
When the web is submitted to both a shear force and a trans-
ment is:
verse bending moment, a new equilibrium state is reached, ini-
tially, with the translation of the eld of diagonal compression w
mmax2 mmax1 DT  b 4
 R. Gaspar, F.R. Stucchi / Engineering Structures 57 (2013) 267275
The rst part of Eq. (4) represents the moment due to the strut
eccentricity, while the second part represents the moment due to
the additional reinforcement Ase. In order to allow the forces in
the legs to vary along the web height, the development of trans-
verse struts is considered.
Even treating in a consistent way the combination of shear with
transverse bending moment, this approach does not verify the
maximum concrete compression stress due to bending.
2.4. Stucchis approach (1990)
This approach, very similar to Thrlimanns, proposes that the
struts in the webs of box girder should be designed for a transverse
bending moment coupled with a compression force due to shear
[3].
The maximum transverse bending moment (mmax1), which is
only resisted by the strut eccentricity, is identical to that of Thrli-
manns approach (Eq. (3)).
If a higher bending moment is applied, the opposite stirrup leg
adjacent to the strut will be subjected to an additional force DT,
which should be equilibrated by an increase of the compression
force in the strut (C + DT). With the increase of the resulting com-
pression force in the strut, it is necessary to limit the concrete com-
pression stress rc (Fig. 4).
In this approach, the width of the compressed strut is deter-
mined by shear strength sRwd or by the limitation of transverse
normal stress due to the combination of shear force and bending
moment acting in the strut. The maximum bending moment is ex-
pressed by the following equation:
!

b With the purpose of observing the general trends of each design
w
mmax2 mmax1 DT  emax
2 approach, three numerical examples are shown.
2.5. Other criteria
There are other consistent design criteria that could be men-
tioned, as for example Menns approach (1990) [6], according to
which the web is analyzed in two situations: (a) when there is a
predominance of shear force and (b) when there is predominance
of transverse bending moment. Another approach is the CEB-FIP
approach (1990) [8], which considers the web divided into three
layers working together. The external layers contribute to resist
the shear force and transverse bending moment, whereas the inner
layer allows the transfer of shear force between the outer layers.
The outer layers are designed for the shear and axial forces acting
on them. For another model see also [7].
2.6. Proposed design approach
This new approach assumes that the most realistic model is the
one which considers that the force increment DT, due to the trans-
verse bending moment, is balanced at the same time by an increase
Fig. 4. Internal forces in the web Stucchis approach.
269
of the concrete compression force DTc and a decrease of the tension
force DTt in the stirrup leg adjacent to the compression strut.
Therefore, DT = DTc + DTt. This proposal considers both ideas pro-
posed in Thrlimanns and in Stucchis approach. Fig. 5 shows
these ideas [4].
Similarly to Thrlimanns and Stucchis approach, this method
proposes that until a certain level of transverse bending moment
mmax1, the equilibrium is reached by the strut eccentricity alone,
whose width should be limited by the shear strength sRwd, without
the need for additional reinforcement.
For higher values of the transverse bending moment, this calcu-
lation model proposes that the force increment DT would increase
the compression force C and at the same time would reduce the
tension force T in the stirrup leg adjacent to the strut. According
to Fig. 5, the equation of the equilibrium of moments is given by:
!
w
b
mmax2 C  emax DT c  emax w
DT t  b 6
2
Comparing this Eq. (6) to Thrlimanns approach one can see that
DTc was neglected and when comparing to Stucchis approach DTt
was neglected. In reality none are negligible, their values depending
on the relation between the stiffness of strut and stirrups schemes.
This relation is probably variable depending on the web under
study (fck and amount of steel) or the level of internal forces. The
experimental results described in item 4 shown that a good relation
should be DTc = DTt = DT/2.
2.7. Examples
5
A box girder of a viaduct over the Ayrton Sena Highway, in S.
Paulo, with a web 0.3 m thick, 2.0 m high, executed with concrete
fck = 24 MPa and reinforced with CA50A (fyk > 500 MPa) steel
w 0:24 m and z = 1.74 m) was studied in 3 cases: Case 1 is just
(b
beside the support, Case 2 is at mid-span and Case 3 is an articial
case with too many stirrups.
With the pair of values (V, m) analyzed by each approach, it is
possible to construct interaction curves and then proceed to the
comparisons. Interaction curves for the 3 cases are presented:
 Case 1: specimen reinforced for the shear force that exhausts
the strut capacity, that is, with Asw = 20.4 cm2/m per face
(Fig. 6);
 Case 2: reinforcement to resist half the capacity of the strut,
that is, with Asw = 10.2 cm2/m per face (Fig. 7);
 Case 3: reinforcement to resist twice the capacity of the strut,
that is, with Asw = 40.8 cm2/m per face (Fig. 8).
Fig. 5. Internal forces in the web.
270 R. Gaspar, F.R. Stucchi / Engineering Structures 57 (2013) 267275

Interaction diagram (V,m)

As=20,4 cm 2/m
1,25

1,00
Sum
m/mmax

0,75 Compar.
Thrlim.
0,50 Stucchi
Prop.C.
0,25

0,00
0,00 0,50 1,00
Fig. 9. Fatigue criteria.
wd /Rwd

Fig. 6. Case 1 Interaction diagram (V, m) As = Asw = 20.4 cm2/m.

 With the proposed design approach, a higher value of the trans-
verse resisting moment can be achieved, with enough safety
margins.
Interaction diagram (V,m)
An experimental investigation, including fatigue tests, was car-
As=10,20 cm2/m
ried out in order to verify the validity of the developed approach.
1,00
These conclusions were experimentally veried in 3 series of
0,80 Sum models that tested: stirrups failure, strut failure, stirrup or strut
Compar. failure due to cyclic loading.
m/mmax

0,60
Thrlim.
The repetitive actions due to vehicle trafc on box girders
0,40 Stucchi
bridges induce stress uctuations in the steel reinforcement, which
Prop.C.
0,20 may fail due to fatigue.
If m 6 mmax1, the moment acting in the web is resisted by the
0,00
0,00 0,50 eccentricity of the strut, as in this level of forces it is more rigid
wd /Rwd than the group of stirrups. Thus, no signicant tensile stress uctu-
ations in the reinforcement take place. Consequently, the stirrups
Fig. 7. Case 2 Interaction diagram (V, m) As = Asw = 10.2 cm2/m.
fatigue will not occur, although there could be fatigue on the strut,
which was never observed in the tests.
If m > mmax1, the additional forces that exceed those resisted by
the eccentric strut produce tension increase in the stirrup leg oppo-
Interaction diagram (V,m) site to the strut. This tension uctuation, see Fig. 9, can cause fatigue.
As=40,8 cm2/m For fatigue verication of concrete or steel, loads should be cal-
1,25
culated in service, because fatigue is an ULS that results from dam-
1,00 age accumulation in service. The effect of those loads can be
Sum calculated in the elastic regime, neglecting the concrete tension
m/m max

0,75 Compar.
strength.
Thrlim.
0,50 For fatigue design of webs in concrete box girders bridges, the
Stucchi
Prop. C.
combination of shear force and transverse bending moments
0,25 should be taken into account. Thus,
0,00 DV
0,00 0,50 1,00 Under shear force Drsv 7
zAsv
wd /Rwd
DT w DV eq
Fig. 8. Case 3 Interaction diagram (V, m) As = Asw = 40.8 cm2/m. Under torsion Drst 8
bzAst zAsv

Dm
2.8. Discussion Under transverse bending moment Drsf 9
zf Asf

 The approach of reinforcement sum is more conservative in the
usual case of small transverse reinforcement, compared to the
limit, and transversal exure signicant Case 2.
 The approach of reinforcements comparison proved to be safe in
usual cases like Cases 1 and 2 for small transversal exure
usually applied to building slabs.
 Thrlimanns approach is less conservative only in some situa-
tions where the transverse bending moment is high, because it
does not contemplate the concrete compression stress limit.
 In these cases Stucchis approach is more conservative, because
the maximum concrete compression stress is checked and it
considers a smaller lever arm than the other criteria.
 The results of the proposed design approach lie between those
results obtained by Thrlimanns and Stucchis approach.
If all these effects combined induce lower tensile stress variation
than established by codes, fatigue verication is satised. In other
words,
DV Dm
Drs Drsv Drsf 6 Dradm 10
zAs zf A2s
Table 1 shows allowable stress range for reinforcement fatigue
design according to DIN 1045 1978 [9], CEB MC 1990 [8], NBR
6118:2007 [5], EUROCODE 1996 [10], and ACI 215 1997 [11]. These
stress ranges were chosen so the probability of fatigue failure were
sufciently small, under service loads, for 2  106 cycles.
In these fatigue design criteria for webs of concrete box girders
bridges, the total area of transverse reinforcement (Asw) is com-
posed by the superposition of four effects: shear force (Asv), torsion
 R. Gaspar, F.R. Stucchi / Engineering Structures 57 (2013) 267275 271

Table 1
Allowable stress range Drmax (MPa).

Material DIN 1045 1978a CEB MC 1990 Eurocode 1996 ACI 215 1997 NBR 6118 2007
Steel bar 180 180 (/ 6 16 mm) 157 161  0:33rs;min P 138 190 (/ 6 16 mm)
136 (/ > 16 mm) 185 (/ = 20 mm)
175 (/ = 25 mm)
Stirrups (/ 6 16 mm) 140 66 87 80  0:17rs;min P 69 85
a
Approach widely used in Brazil since 1967 till the publication of NBR6118:2007 [5].

(Ast), transverse bending moment (Asf) and introduction of pre-
stressing force (Asi), calculated by strut and tie model for example.
Two limit states should be veried:
(a) ULS (As1) of static capacity. For two legs stirrups, As1 is given
by:
Asv Ast Asi
As1 Asf
2 2 2
(b) ULS of fatigue (As2). For two legs stirrups, As2 is given by:
As v Ast
As2 kf v  kft  kff  Asf
2 2
kfv, kft, kff are the fatigue coefcients for shear force, torsion and
transverse bending moment, respectively. It is important to notice
that in Eq. (12) the term As1/2 does not appear, because the pre-
stressing forces are not variable loads.
Finally, the reinforcement required is the larger of As1 and As2.
3. Experimental program
The experimental program consisted of an investigation in four
specimens of concrete beams, subjected to shear force and trans-
verse bending moments, where the following failure modes were
considered: excessive plastic deformation of the stirrups, crushing
of the compressed struts and failure of the stirrups due to fatigue.
The longitudinal and transverse reinforcements of each beam
were carefully chosen so that the desired failure mode would oc-
cur. Fig. 10 illustrates the beam cross sections used in the tests.
Geometric characteristics, concrete properties and reinforcement
of each beam are shown in Table 2.
The longitudinal reinforcement had a hook at each end with a
radius of 3 rebar diameter.
The cover was 0.015 m.
As in this experimental program all theoretical values will be
compared to experimental ones, no partial safety factors are used
in all calculations, including the resistance internal forces shown
in Table 2.
The chosen structural model is a simple supported I beam, sub-
mitted to a concentrated load (P) in the mid-span and a self-bal-
ancing load (F) on the edges in one side of the anges to
generate transverse bending in the webs.
Fig. 11 shows photos of a testing setup and how forces P, F1 and
F2 were applied.
It was assumed that the distribution of transverse loadings ap-
11 plied to the anges spreads along them in the direction of the web
at an angle of 45, as usual.
It should be noticed that with the simultaneous application of
these transverse loading (F1 and F2), it is possible to analyze the
behavior of the web in two symmetrical places of the beam, which
12
is equivalent to performing two tests in only one specimen.
In all tests, the beams were initially loaded with the vertical
load (P) until shear cracks opened in the web. By doing so, one
guarantees a strut and tie beam behavior. The transverse bending
force (F) was applied just after the vertical load was reduced to a
predened level.
Furthermore, Whler curve was obtained by fatigue testing of /
6.3 mm steel bars (naked bar), according to BS code 4449/88 [12].
The limit stress range, named fatigue strength, for which the num-
ber of cycles N grew indenitely is Drlim = 265 MPa. This curve
(Fig. 12) had been used to predict the number of cycles until the
failure of the bar. Of course, for simplication, it was considered
that the behavior of the naked bar is similar to that of a steel bar
immersed in concrete crossed by a crack.
3.1. Static tests
Two static tests were performed with the following failure
modes: crushing of the compressed concrete struts brittle
failure (Beam 1) and excessive plastic deformation of the stirrups
(Beam 2).
3.1.1. Brittle failure test (Beam 1)
The purpose of this test was to verify the concrete strut com-
pression strength. The transverse reinforcement was composed

Fig. 10. Scheme of testing setup (m). Where a = 0.6 m for Beam1 and 0.7 m for Beams 24.
272 R. Gaspar, F.R. Stucchi / Engineering Structures 57 (2013) 267275

Table 2
Beams characteristics and strength. (MR bending limit, VRC strut limit, VRT stirrups limit).

Beam Span L (m) fc (MPa) Asw (cm2/m) Stirrups fyw (MPa) Asl (cm2) fy (MPa) MR kN m VRc kN VRt kN
1 2.35 18.9 16.0 /10c/10-2R 540 33.4 620 656 250 975
2 3.50 36.5 4.6 /6.3c/13.5-2R 630 35.5 620 868 445 554
3 3.50 51.7 4.2 /6.3c/15-2R 630 35.5 620 868 582 542
4 3.50 52.5 2.6 /6.3c/24-2R 630 35.5 620 868 591 387

Fig. 11. Photo of testing setup.

After the transverse bending load was applied, stirrups on the

Whlers Curve # 6.3mm (1/4) compressed side of the web started losing tension and were even-
450
tually compressed (Fig. 13a).
The ultimate state limit was detected by a discontinuity ob-
400 served in some transducers installed on the stirrups at the com-
pressed or tensioned side of the web (Fig. 13b) when transverse
Stress (MPa)

350 load reached F  130 kN. The mean value of the transverse bending
moment resulted in mULS,test = 23.3 kN m/m.
The beam had a very good behavior post-ULS, with great capac-
300
ity of plastic adaptation and even an increase of its strength capac-
ity. The discontinuity suggests, however, an internal change of the
250 resistant mechanism, identied as post-ULS behavior. Lets say, the
brittle failure was not so brittle as expected.
Shear force demanded the whole width of the web. Therefore,
200
the strut could not contribute to equilibrate the transverse bending
1e+005 1e+006 1e+007 1e+008
moment, because it had no margin to support eccentricity. There-
N (cycles) fore, emax = 0 and mmax1 = C  emax = 0. Then, it was considered that
Fig. 12. Whlers Curve for / 6.3 mm steel naked bar.
DTc = 0, because the concrete was very close to rupture. However,
the beam had more shear reinforcement than necessary. The extra
by stirrups with Asw = 16 cm2/m. The steel yielding stress was reinforcement was able to resist bending moment by transferring
fy = 540 MPa. tension forces from one leg of stirrups to the other.
The concrete strength in the test was fc = 18.9 MPa and the Appling the Proposed Model, the transverse bending moment
beam span was 2.35 m. resulted in mULS,calc = 21.2 kN m/m, 9% smaller than the moments
As the amount of stirrups is high, a strut inclination angle of 45 obtained experimentally in the tests. This result is considered good
was adopted for the design of Beam 1. for design criteria, where being conservative is important.
In this test, the vertical load (P) was applied (part a of the g-
ures) and then kept constant at 692 kN. Subsequently the trans- 3.1.2. Ductile failure test (Beam 2)
verse bending load was applied (part b of the gures) until the The purpose of this test was to verify the transverse reinforce-
rupture by crushing of the concrete. When presented part c repre- ment strength. The beam was set up with a transverse reinforce-
sents unloading. ment Asw = 4.6 cm2/m, with yielding stress fy = 630 MPa. The

ae4 ad10
200 300
150
F (kN)
F (kN)

200
100 b c
ULS 100
50
a b
0 0
-3 -2 -1 0 1 2 0,0 1,0 a 2,0 3,0
strain () ULS
strain ()

(a) (b)
Fig. 13. Stain in the compression leg (a) and tension leg (b) of the stirrup as a function of load F.
 R. Gaspar, F.R. Stucchi / Engineering Structures 57 (2013) 267275 273

LVDT1(mm)
ULS
500
400
P (kN)

300 b
a
200
c
100
0
0 5 10 15 20 25
displacement (mm)

Fig. 14. Vertical displacements of the beam at midi span as a function of load P.

concrete strength in the test was 36.5 MPa and the beam span was
3.50 m. A strut inclination angle h = 30 was adopted for the design
of the Beams 2, 3 and 4, as they have a small amount of stirrups.
This was conrmed by the tests.
In this test, the vertical load (P) was kept constant at 392 kN.
Subsequently, a transverse bending load was applied until the
transducers indicated excessive stirrup deformation and the ten-
sioned side of the web presented excessive crack openings. After-
wards, the transverse load was kept constant and the vertical
load (P) was applied until concrete crushing.
Transducer diagrams that best indicate the beam behavior are
shown below. Fig. 14 illustrates the diagram vertical load (P)  dis-
placement of the beam.
In this diagram, the vertical displacements of the beam evi-
dence the three stages of the test. It should be noticed that the ver-
tical displacements continued to increase with the transverse
bending load application (part b), indicating decrease of the beam
stiffness.
The transducers installed at the stirrups of the tensioned side of
the web also evidence three stages (Fig. 15a). The rst stage, with
tension increments due to vertical load (P), the second, with less
accentuated tension increments in the beginning showing that
the transverse load was equilibrated by the strut eccentricity,
without additional reinforcement and very accentuated in the
end, representing ULS (F  150 kN), when the stirrups deforma-
tions and the crack openings were already excessive.
The last stage is a post-ULS behavior that shows great capacity
of adaptation of the structure and an increase of transverse bend-
ing capacity that should not be used.
A growing tensile deformation due to shear force was initially
observed at the compressed side of the web. Afterwards, deforma-
tions decrease due to the application of the transverse bending
load until ULS (F  150 kN). The post-ULS behavior was also no-
ticed in those transducers (Fig. 15b).
It was considered as ULS (conventional) the average loading
corresponding to the yielding of the transverse reinforcement in-
stalled at the tensioned side, generating the transverse bending
moment mULS,test = 20.4 kN m/m. Applying the Proposed Model, it
results in mULS,calc = 18.5 kN m/m, 9.3% smaller than the experi-
mental value. This difference is considered small for a complex
behavior like this.
Fig. 16. Proposed design criteria.
Furthermore, the result complies with safety.
For a better understanding of this phenomenon, as well as for
design purposes of box girders bridges, a tri-linear diagram is pro-
posed for the relation transverse force F to stirrup strain e (Fig. 16).
The initial deformations in the stirrups are due only to shear
force. After the transverse bending load application, the internal
equilibrium is satised, initially, by the eccentric strut, without
tensioning the stirrups (constant deformations). After reaching
F(mmax1), the balance is satised by a tension increase in the stirrup
leg opposite to the strut, compression increase in the concrete DTc
and decrease of the tensile force DTt in the stirrups leg beside the
strut. In the diagram, (F) represents the transverse bending load.
For the experimental determination of DTc and DTt, simulta-
neous behavior of strain gages installed in the same web cross sec-
tion was analyzed. The values of DTt and DT were obtained
graphically. The value of DTc was determined according to the
expression DTc = DT  DTt.
When the webs had their usual shear reinforcement, as in the
case of Beam 2, (DTc) is larger than DT/2. In the case of Beam 1,
whose web had more shear reinforcement than usual; (DTc) is
smaller than DT/2.
Considering all the tests, the experimental results for usual de-
sign conditions, including fatigue ULS, the best relationship ap-
pears to be DTt = DTc = DT/2.
3.2. Fatigue tests
As in the static tests, the rst stage consisted of a vertical load
(P) application with the purpose of opening cracks in the beam,
which guarantees a strut and tie beam behavior. This procedure
represents the possible situation in which the dead load of the
bridge and vehicles loads passing on the bridge deck induces shear
force, able to open cracks in the beam web.
In the second stage, the vertical load (P) was reduced to the re-
quired load level, and then maintained constant; afterwards, the
cyclical transverse bending load was applied. This procedure is
similar to the vehicles crossing the bridge, which represents, in

250 250
200 200
F (kN)

F (kN)

150 150
100
b2 ULS c
100
b1 c ULS b
50 50
a a
0 0
0,0 2,0 4,0 6,0 8,0 10,0 12,0 0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 4,0 5,0 6,0
strain () ad11 strain ()
ae1

(a) (b)
Fig. 15. Stain in the tension leg (a) and compression leg (b) of the stirrup as a function of load F.
274 R. Gaspar, F.R. Stucchi / Engineering Structures 57 (2013) 267275
the majority of the cases, no signicant changes in shear force,
inducing, however, a cyclical transverse bending load in the web.
This loading condition may induce fatigue in the stirrups, which
should be evaluated.
Initially, the service load was applied to the beam, let say, the
frequent value was assumed to be equal to the characteristic one.
This load was evaluated according to the beam characteristics.
However, very small stress uctuation in the stirrups was ob-
served, because most of the cyclical forces were equilibrated by
the oscillating strut.
Therefore, it was necessary to minimize the shear force level to
increase the transverse bending load uctuation, so that the result-
ing bending moment was higher than the bending moment equil-
ibrated by the strut eccentricity (mmax1).
3.2.1. Fatigue test Beam 3
The purpose of this test was to verify the transverse reinforce-
ment strength to fatigue designed according to NBR 6118:2007
[5]. The beam used in this fatigue test was very similar to Beam
2, with transverse reinforcement Asw = 4.2 cm2/m, having yielding
stress fy = 630 MPa. The measured concrete strength in the test
was fc = 51.7 MPa, and the beam span was 3.50 m. The cyclic trans-
verse bending load ranged from mmin = 1.0 kN m/m to
mmax = 13.16 kN m/m, with a 2 Hz frequency.
When the relative displacements among the anges increased
about 78% compared to the elastic one and the crack openings in
the tensioned side of the web reached about 4 mm, the test was
stopped. 455,907 cycles were applied to the beam.
Failure in 12 stirrups was observed (Fig. 17). The data analyses
indicate that the stirrup failures due to fatigue occurred in stages,
one at a time in a gradual manner. Failures happened systemati-
cally near the connection between the web and the bottom ange.
The maximum bending moment equilibrated by the strut
eccentricity calculated with the Proposed Fatigue Model (consider-
ing DTt = DTc = DT/2) was mmax1 = 3.43 kN m/m, leading to
Drs = 481 MPa between mmax1 and mmax = 13.16 kN m/m. This
stress level uctuation corresponds to failure with N = 177,000
cycles, according to Whler diagram.
Finally, data tests indicated that the rst failure due to fatigue
happened after 171,562 cycles, validating the Proposed Fatigue
Model.
3.2.2. Fatigue test Beam 4
The purpose of this test was to verify the transverse reinforce-
ment strength to fatigue with a small rate of transverse reinforce-
ment. The beam used in this fatigue test was set up with transverse
reinforcement Asw = 2.6 cm2/m, having yielding stress fy = 630 MPa.
The measured concrete strength in the test was fc = 52.5 MPa, and
Fig. 17. Fatigue failure of the stirrups.
Fig. 18. Fatigue failure of the stirrups details.
the beam span was 3.50 m. The cyclic transverse bending load ran-
ged from mmin = 0.89 kN m/m to mmax = 11.49 kN m/m, with a 3 Hz
frequency.
The test was stopped when it was noted that crack openings
due to the transverse bending moment became higher ( 4 mm)
and the relative displacements among the anges increased about
90% compared to the elastic one. Until that moment, 1,598,667
cycles were applied to the beam. At the end of the test, failure
was noted in 3 stirrups (Fig. 18); it also happened in stages and
near the connection between the web and the bottom ange.
The maximum moment resisted by the strut eccentricity was
mmax1 = 1.84 kN m/m, leading to Drs = 310 MPa, between mmax1
and mmax = 11.49 kN m/m.
Even though the cyclic load was applied as shown in Fig. 10, the
transverse load spread at each half span even to the complete
beam because the anges were able to do that as they were much
more rigid than the web, which was damaged by crack openings.
Finally, transducers indicated that the rst failure due to fatigue
happened after 724,800 cycles, more than expected.
The rst failure would happen with less than 554,000 cycles,
using the Proposed Fatigue Model, even assuming that the trans-
verse load spread to the whole beam. This validates conservatively
the Proposed Fatigue Model.
4. Conclusions
Based on the results of this experimental investigation, the fol-
lowing conclusions can be drawn:
Static tests
1. The Proposed Model predicted conservatively the experimental
results. Moreover, in the presence of transversal bending forces,
the phenomenon of strut eccentricity was observed experimen-
tally in the webs.
2. It was experimentally proven that in the presence of transverse
bending moment, the equilibrium state is reached, initially,
with the translation of the diagonal compressed stress elds,
i.e. with strut eccentricity, without the need for additional
reinforcement.
3. A bending moment higher than the corresponding to the max-
imum strut eccentricity was resisted by an increase DT in the
reinforcement of the tension side of the web. This increase DT
is equilibrated by an increase of the concrete compression DTc
and a decrease of the tension DTt in the other stirrup side.
4. A good combination for usual design conditions, including ULS
of fatigue, was DTc = DTt = DT/2. The results were always con-
servative. A post-ULS behavior was very impressive.
 R. Gaspar, F.R. Stucchi / Engineering Structures 57 (2013) 267275
5. It was noticed that the vertical displacements continued to
increase with the transverse bending load application, even
though the shear force was kept constant, indicating decrease
of the beam stiffness.
Fatigue tests
6. The phenomenon of the oscillating strut that balances the cyclic
transverse bending loads was proven experimentally. In the
tests, no sign of fatigue failure of the concrete strut was
observed.
7. As regards the stirrups in the web, it was observed that fatigue
failure is gradual, thus not brittle. Fatigue failure occurred sys-
tematically near the connection between the web and the bot-
tom ange, away from the stirrups hooks corner. Thus, the
fatigue of stirrups could be veried as if they were straight.
8. The failure previsions according to the Proposed Fatigue Criteria
were considered safety issues, conrming the Proposed Model.
9. The fatigue failure was only observed for stress uctuations
articially higher than usual bridges loads as the frequent load
was assumed to be equal to the characteristic one.
10. The limitations imposed on the verication of the fatigue in
stirrups demand a considerable increase of the area of the
transverse reinforcement. The fatigue approach proposed
can lead to a more economical design, without disregarding
its preponderant role in bridges safety.
275
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank FAPESP (Research Support
Foundation of S. Paulo State) for their nancial support to carrying
out this research program.
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