Structural analysis and design of reinforced concrete bridge corbels

Post-installed systems for the anchorage of safety barriers to bridge corbels are widely used today thanks to their flexibility and easiness of installation. Because of commonly found in situ boundary constraints, however, the design requirements for post-installed fasteners and rebars are frequently not satisfied or only partially satisfied. This paper assesses the mechanical response of a corbel where an innovative solution concerning the placement of post-installed reinforcement in reinforced concrete members was suggested. With reference to the refurbishment of bridge curbs, which usually requires concrete removal in the damaged top layers, the proposed method was based on the introduction of additional U-shaped post-installed rebars connecting the existing portion of the corbel to the newly cast top layer, in order to allow the transfer of the tension pull-out force exerted by the posts restraining the safety barrier. The layout investigated in this paper consisted of three anchors connecting the baseplate of the post supporting the safety barrier to the corbel (a layout commonly found in Italy). These anchors transfer the external actions (bending moment and shear) to the corbel thanks to the formation of a strut-and-tie system where the U-shaped rebars and the existing reinforcement play a crucial role. A strut-and-tie model of the corbel was presented to allow the use of a simplified approach to assess the safety of the corbel. The tests on real-scale specimens were also modeled numerically and additional models were considered to evaluate the effect of characteristics parameters (i.e., size of the corbel, existing shear reinforcement, etc.) on the overall response of the corbel.