Design of shear pocket connection in full-depth precast concrete deck systems

Current bridge design codes do not provide adequate criteria/procedures for designing full-depth precast concrete deck systems, especially those with shear pocket connections. Instead, these systems and their connections are designed on a case-by-case basis by either conducting necessary testing or adopting the design criteria/procedures developed primarily for cast-in-place concrete deck systems. Shear pocket connections formed using steel hollow structural sections (HSS) provide a promising solution to connecting precast concrete deck panels to the supporting girders due to their superior structural performance and simplicity of panel fabrication. The main objective of this paper is to develop criteria/procedures for designing HSS formed shear pocket connections in full-depth precast concrete deck systems. These procedures will assist bridge designers in selecting pocket dimensions, HSS thickness, pocket anchorage and reinforcement necessary to maximize the connection capacity while allowing adequate construction tolerance. Experimental investigation (push-off testing) and finite element analysis (FEA) were performed to validate the developed design criteria/procedures. Analysis and testing results indicated that the developed design criteria/procedures for HSS formed shear pocket connections are satisfactory.