UHPC for Repair of Steel Piles

Presented by Mohamed A. ElGawady, Missouri S&T Corrosion of steel H-pile is a prevalent problem that significantly reduces the axial load capacity of bridge columns. Current repair methods are either expensive or challenging to implement. A novel repair method was developed for steel H-pile with corrosion damage using ultrahigh-performance concrete (UHPC) to encase the corrosion. For this repair, UHPC panels were attached to steel H-piles with shear studs welded to the web and flange surrounding the corroded area. This allowed shear and bearing forces to transfer from the steel H-pile to the UHPC panels. The UHPC panels provided a new load path, thereby increasing the axial load capacity of the steel H-pile. Large-scale experiments on were conducted on nine specimens with UHPC panels encasements. The test results were used to (1) determine the decrease in bearing capacity attributable to section loss, (2) demonstrate the ability of the UHPC repair to restore lost steel H-pile axial load capacity, and (3) investigate the constructability of the repair method. The experimental results show that the UHPC repair was easily implemented and succeeded in restoring axial load capacity lost as a result of corrosion damage.