Experimental investigation on the structural performance of damaged box culverts rehabilitated with glass reinforced plastic (GRP) liners
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: • Assessed the impact of varying defect levels in box culverts on their ultimate bearing capacity. • Investigated the bearing performance and failure modes of box culverts. • Analyzed the failure modes of the composite structure after rehabilitation. • Evaluated the effectiveness of GRP pipe reinforcement for concrete culverts. Cracking in reinforced concrete (RC) box culverts is a common form of structural deterioration that often indicate inadequate load-carrying capacity or overloading, posing potential risks to the safety and functionality of urban drainage systems. This study investigates the load-bearing performance of cracked RC box culverts rehabilitated with GRP pipe sliplining by conducting standardized three-edge bearing tests (TEBT). The research focuses on the failure mechanisms and variations in ultimate bearing capacity of both the original culverts and the rehabilitated composite structures comprising the concrete culvert, grout, and GRP liner. Furthermore, the influence of different levels of initial cracking severity on the effectiveness of rehabilitation is examined. The results indicate that the dominant failure mode in the pre-rehabilitation specimens involves longitudinal cracking along the culvert axis, with visible damage occurring at the transverse mid-span of the top slab’s inner surface and near the outer surfaces of the sidewalls approximately one-fifth of the wall height from the top edge. After rehabilitation, failure at ultimate load is characterized by cracking in both the concrete and grout layers, as well as interfacial debonding between materials. Compared to the pre-rehabilitation specimens, the most severely damaged culvert (Post-S-2) exhibited a 16 % increase in ultimate bearing capacity, while other rehabilitated specimens showed improvements exceeding 58 %. The effectiveness of GRP lining rehabilitation is closely related to the severity of initial defects. This study offers mechanistic insights into trenchless rehabilitation using the GRP sliplining method and provides references for the structural renewal of deteriorated concrete culverts.
Source: Results in Engineering
Institution: Sun Yat-sen University
Language: English
Subfield: Building and Construction
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,940
Awards: G55538404, G6713021068
OpenAlex ID: W4415752764