Experimental study on joint of spliced steel–PSC hybrid girder, part II: Full-scale test of spliced hybrid I-girder

A full-scale test is conducted on a spliced steel–PSC (prestressed concrete) hybrid I-girder of 40 m length, in order to verify a new type of joint splicing steel and PSC segments. The spliced hybrid girder offers a competitive solution to medium-span bridges, with its various benefits such as a transportation constraint solution, high quality girders, span-length flexibility, the advantage of a hybrid system, and others. At the same time, it requires a proper joint connecting its PSC and steel segments at a site. A new type of joint consisting of parallel perfobond ribs, encased prestressed concrete, and steel plates, is adopted and tested to remove the vulnerabilities from joint areas where PSC I-section and steel I-section are connected. After the PSC segments with the joint and the steel segment are fabricated in a factory, they are transported to a test site and spliced into one girder. The experimental results show that the spliced steel-PSC hybrid I-girder is of sufficient strength, ductility, and stiffness without giving failure of joint. Indeed, the joint clearly transfers the load between the steel and PSC segments without incurring damage. It is concluded that the applied joint can be an effective system guaranteeing sound performance up to the ultimate capacities of the spliced steel–PSC hybrid I-girder.