Splitting stresses in concrete flanges of edge girders in bridge decks

Since the literature does not seem to report a direct method of calculating transverse tensile, or splitting, stresses in concrete flanges of composite beams, many design codes require the calculation of the shear strength of the flanges at their junction with the web. By using elementary concepts of the strength of materials, a direct method has been developed for calculating the splitting stresses. The validity of the proposed method has been established with the help of finite element results, as well as those obtained from a test on a physical model.

L. G. Jaeger, PhD, DSc, FRSE, FCSCE, PEng JMBT Structures Research Inc., Halifax, Canada
B. Bakht, DSc, FCSCE, PEng
JMBT Structures Research Inc., Toronto, Canada