Study on the transfer and anchorage length of steel strand in ultra high performance concrete material

Abstract

Ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) material, a new type of cement-based composite material, is usually employed in the bridge engineering. The transfer and anchorage length of steel strand in UHPC material is different from that in ordinary concrete; nevertheless, few design standards are found that how to anchor the transfer and anchoring length of steel strand in UHPC material under normal curing. Through central pull-out test under the different conditions of protective layer thickness and embedded length, the load-slip curves, failure modes, and bond strength of 36 UHPC material specimens under normal curing were studied. The experimental results showed that the ultimate bond stress between UHPC material and steel strand under natural curing conditions is 7.01∼11.68 MPa. When the compressive strength of cube was 157 MPa; the bond strength under natural curing was smaller than that under thermal curing; when the thickness of the protective layer of steel strand with a diameter of 15.2 mm is greater than 30 mm, it had a little influence on bond strength. The regression analysis of the test results based on the experimental results proves that the recommended formulas for the design of transfer length and anchorage length of steel strand in UHPC material were in great agreement with the results of published studies.