Partial Factors for Safety Assessment of T-Girder of RC Bridges Subjected to Chloride-Induced Corrosion Against Shear Limit State

Abstract

The health assessment of bridge is becoming increasingly important in the view of the life extension programs. The main focus of this study is to develop a reliability-based procedure to carry out safety assessment against the shear limit state for a typical T-Girder bridge. Chloride-induced corrosion of reinforcement is considered to be the primary reason for deterioration of shear capacity with time. The girder is modeled by series connection of elements in the shear critical region. The shear capacity is determined by mechanical behavior (brittle or ductile) of each element depending on degree of corrosion in each element. Using the time-variant shear capacity obtained from the stochastic analysis, an attempt has been made to determine the partial factors using first-order reliability method (FORM). These partial factors can be used for safety assessment of similar T-Girder bridges located in marine environment and subjected to similar traffic loading.