New connection concepts for modular aluminum bridge applications

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The Canadian aluminum industry has recognized that the application area of buildings and public infrastructure represents a major source of revenue as well as an area with potential for significant market growth. In the field of civil infrastructure, major changes are underway, as owners and engineers are increasingly forced to address problems associated with classical, low-cost construction materials, such as deterioration under cyclic loading and heavy road salt use. With its light weight, high corrosion resistance, and extrudability, aluminum stands to make significant inroads in applications where these attributes are most beneficial, including pedestrian bridges and modular replacement decks for bridges. Against this background, the current research proposal focuses on several key issues related to connection design, which could have a significant impact on the economics and effectiveness of aluminum as a construction material for use in bridges. In order to address these issues, two sub-projects are proposed: one on "new connection concepts for improving the vibration performance of modular aluminum pedestrian bridges" and another on "weld-free connections for aluminum bridge deck applications". In the first sub-project, a full-scale modular aluminum pedestrian bridge specimen will be used to study the effects of connection damping on vibration performance. In doing this, connection features such as the material properties of a polymer layer placed between connected members will be varied to study the novel concept of intentionally tuning the damping properties of the connection to improve vibration performance. In the second sub-project, a new slip-critical connection concept will be investigated, which takes advantage of the versatility in connection design offered by the aluminum extrusion process. It is expected that the results of this research will lead to the improved competitiveness of aluminum in bridge applications. As well as benefitting Canada's aluminum industry (which ranks 3rd largest in the world), the new products that are developed using the results of this research will lead to improved durability and reduced maintenance and user delay costs for publicly-owned pedestrian and vehicular bridges.