Experimental and Numerical Study on Three-Edge Bearing Test for Reinforced Concrete Pipe
Abstract
Reinforced Concrete Pipe (RCP) is widely used in storm and wastewater management owing to its resiliency and reliability. The century old Three-Edge Bearing Test (TEBT) is currently used to classify RCP strength. The test relies on the skill and experience of the operator for capturing the occurrence of a 0.3-mm-wide crack using a leaf-gauge, which induces subjectivity and error. Studies have also indicated the TEBT crack bears little structural significance.
This thesis aims at improving the TEBT by replacing the arbitrary crack-width with rational capacity-driven criteria. A wide range of full-scale RCP were instrumented and subjected to the modified TEBT to obtain load vs. deflection curves. Two rational criteria were developed to replace the arbitrary crack-width measurement, vastly improving the reliability of the TEBT. Parametric analysis was conducted on finite-element models (FEMs) to investigate the effect of RCP reinforcement area, yield strength, cover, and positioning on the proposed criteria.