Title: Lateral capacity and repair of corrosion-damaged pile bents, part 1: Design and testing considerations
Date Published: March - April 2025
Volume: 70
Issue: 2
Page Numbers: 56 - 75
Authors: Gray Mullins, Rajan Sen, Andrew Goulish, and Danny Winters
https://doi.org/10.15554/pcij70.2-02

Abstract

The effects of corrosion damage in prestressed piles are difficult to quantify because the amounts of steel loss are unknown. An experimental study was conducted to investigate the lateral capacity of corroded pile bents compared with that of an identical uncorroded pile bent. Based on field surveys of damaged pile bents, investigators constructed five-pile bent specimens (one-third scale) and laterally loaded them to failure. Corrosion damage in the model piles represented steel losses of 10%, 30%, and 50%. The three corroded pile bents experienced 1%, 24%, and 30% ultimate capacity reduction, respectively. Ductility was more affected at high levels of corrosion, where the failure displacement was reduced by 42% and 62% for the 30% and 50% pile bents, respectively. Both the control pile bent and the pile bent with 10% steel loss withstood the full lateral movement of the tests, whereas the specimens with 30% and 50% steel losses experienced catastrophic failures. This paper, which is the first in a three-part series highlighting the test methodologies and effects of corrosion damage on bridge pile bents, provides the basis of comparison for two subsequent papers. Part 2 will address the design of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) repairs for corroded piles, and part 3 will present test results for a severely corroded pile bent where full lateral capacity was restored using CFRP repairs.