Cracking simulation and analysis of the mortise-and-tenon wet joints in Precast reinforced concrete ribbed girder Bridges

Flexural tests were conducted on the normal section of two different forms of specimens with wet joints to study the damage and cracks of mortise-and-tenon wet joints. Simulations were performed to analyze the mortise-and-tenon joint specimens. The extent of damage and development of cracks of specimens with straight joints and mortise-and-tenon joints are similar. The interface cracking of the specimens with mortise-and-tenon joints is often caused by concrete cracking at the root. Different tenon sizes have a negligible effect on the cracking load and overall bearing capacity of specimens. Therefore, the tenon end and depth sizes are considered 25–37.5% of the joint width, and the transition zone of the joint interface is selected to be 100–150 mm. According to the calculation formula of the flexural bearing capacity at the wet joint position and reduction factor of straight joints φ_f, the correction coefficient of mortise-and-tenon joints φ_s was proposed to be 1.03. © 2023 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group on behalf of the Architectural Institute of Japan, Architectural Institute of Korea and Architectural Society of China.