Cyclic bending performance of joint on precast composite hollow RC for submerged floating tunnels

Abstract

In case of a submerged floating tunnel (SFT), which is difficult to cast in-site underwater con-struction, it is modularized on land and then assembled them in the field. Therefore, it is influ-ential to investigate the structural performance of the joints between the modules. A concept of the steel-concrete composite hollow in the SFT, which stably maintains the joints, has been proposed by applying prestressing method to resist various external loads. In this study, the bending behavior of module joints was experimentally analyzed to evaluate the safety for the bending deformation that is dominant in SFT. Test results show that there is a difference at the module joint portion in the performance depending on whether or not the inner steel tube is connected. The bending stiffness of the module joints in the SFT was very similar but there was a difference in strength. The maximum strength was increased from 700 kN to 1200 kN when the inner tube was connected, and the residual displacement was increased from 15 mm to 40 mm. As a result, in the design of the module joint, depending on the purpose of SFT, it is possible to consider both methods which is allowing the ductility behavior of internal tube and controlling the tight connection. Moreover, the failure criterion of the bending behavior of the module joint can be selected as the maximum load or deformation limit.