Experimental Study on the Manufacturing and Structural Performance of Prefabricated Composite Girders with Continuous Precast Deck-to-Girder Connections

A new type of prefabricated composite girder with innovative continuous precast deck-to-girder connections is proposed to overcome the disadvantages of ordinary girders, including interference and overlapping during the deck assembly process. A large-scale experimental study was conducted to evaluate the assembly and structural performances of these girders. The results showed no interference during the assembly of the proposed girder specimen, and a visual inspection after drilling confirmed that the mortar was filled without any voids in the continuous precast deck-to-girder connections. Furthermore, the proposed girder exhibited full composite behavior, ductile flexural failure occurred in a structural test, and the validity of the design method was verified.