The Stiffness and Bearing Capacity of Polymer Flexible Joint under Shear Load

The results of a series of experimental laboratory and numerical tests of Polymer Flexible Joint (PFJ) under shear load have been presented in this paper. To determine the suitability of technology in practical use in precast concrete pavements it is very important to describe correctly the mechanical behavior of PFJ subjected to shear load. This work presents the results of 24 experimental laboratory tests performed on middle-sized PFJ specimens of various geometry loaded with shear. All specimens have been modeled in Abaqus 6.12. The convergence of data computed and tested has been shown for all variants. The results computed for a real scaled structure with PFJ have been also presented in the paper, providing a basis for further research and aiming at the implementation of this technology.