ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT: The purpose of the present study is to investigate the crack width of transversely post-tensioned concrete decks in PSC box girder bridges. Full-scale box girder members were fabricated and tested. Major test variables include the magnitude of precompressive stresses and prestressing steel ratios. The crack widths and deflections of deck slabs were measured automatically according to the increase of applied loads. The strains of prestressing steels and nonprestressed rebars were also measured during the loading process. The bond characteristics of post-tensioned prestressing steels were identified from the relation between prestressing steel strains and nonprestressed ordinary rebar strains under the same loading conditions. The bond effectiveness of prestressing steel was then obtained from these test data. The proposed formula is compared with the present test data and design code equations.
