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Abstract
Integral abutment bridges (IAB) have become increasingly popular in the past few decades due to their design simplicity. UK design rules limit the length of IABs to 60 m, due to the issues associated with thermal strains, settlement, and pressure build-up behind the abutment. A cyclic loading test, representing seasonal thermal fluctuations, was conducted on a 1/12 scaled-down retaining wall of a conventional full-height IAB. The test was then repeated with the inclusion of displacement compensation units (DCU) in the form of conical disc springs (CDS) and hollow rubber cylinders (HRC), which operate in a pre-deformed shape. The results show some remarkable improvements in the IAB performance with DCUs. The soil backfill pressure was reduced to 30% and 47% with CDSs and HRCs, respectively. Furthermore, no settlement was observed, as compared to the conventional IAB test which recorded a 20 mm settlement after 100 cycles. Non-linearity in the force-deflection behaviour of DCUs enables expansion and contraction of the deck to be accommodated with minimal fluctuation of backfill pressure. Finally, a finite element (FE) model of an HRC applied with two temperatures has been analysed and compared with the IAB wall test, which suggests that both analyses showed some correlation.
Acknowledgements
The author would like to thank the sponsor (Malaysian Rubber Board) for the postgraduate study opportunity and financial support. Thanks to Dr. Alan Muhr and Dr. Julia Gough (formerly TARRC, UK) for the valuable discussions and inputs. The author also appreciates the assistance of Mr. Ben Boorman of Soil Laboratory CEGE UCL and the Mill Room personnel of TARRC.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Data availability statement
Data sets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.