Development and performance of a movable smart vertical connector in a modular roadway slab

For many years, transportation agencies have been struggling to provide rapid roadway construction and repair work with minimal disruption to traffic and maintenance over the service lifetimes. Precast members provide the characteristics of a controlled roadway quality and rapid construction, while the filler between the slabs can be damaged due to the penetration of water and debris. Also, vertical anchor bolts connecting the slabs and crossbeams are associated with unexpected displacement. In this study, a finite element analysis is conducted to develop a modular roadway slab. Two preliminary analysis models are proposed with varying boundary conditions. A combination of various loads was used to determine the appropriate boundary conditions. The model with pinned supports at both ends was selected after comparing the displacements and stresses. Since the model had high horizontal force, due to the boundary conditions pinned at both end of the slab, a new system was developed to reduce the horizontal force by allowing small horizontal displacements at the supports while still fastening vertically. The results of a detailed model analysis show that the displacement allowance with a horizontal filler material should be about 5 mm and the anchor bolts require horizontal shear force of approximately 80 kN.