Shear Capacity and Damage Evolution of New-To-Old Concrete Interfaces Under Traffic-Induced Vibration

Baishun Xu; Ming Ma; Tianmeng Ni; Chuan Xiao; Miao Zhang

doi:10.7250/bjrbe.2026-21.682

Shear Capacity and Damage Evolution of New-To-Old Concrete Interfaces Under Traffic-Induced Vibration

Authors

Baishun Xu School of Civil Engineering and Architecture, Suqian University, Suqian, Jiangsu, China https://orcid.org/0009-0005-5760-6745
Ming Ma CCCC First Highway Consultants Co., Ltd, Xi’an, China https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0743-3776
Tianmeng Ni Inner Mongolia Communications Design and Research Institute Co., LTD., Hohhot, China https://orcid.org/0009-0003-9594-488X
Chuan Xiao Sichuan University of Architectural Technology, Deyang, Sichuan, China https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7072-2147
Miao Zhang Sichuan University of Architectural Technology, Deyang, Sichuan, China https://orcid.org/0009-0006-5570-5747

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.7250/bjrbe.2026-21.682

Keywords:

acoustic emission, interface, new-to-old concrete, shear capacity, traffic-induced vibration

Abstract

To investigate the effects of traffic-induced vibration on the shear performance and damage evolution of new-to-old concrete interfaces, eight groups of composite specimens with different curing ages were designed and fabricated, and a six-degree-of-freedom shaking table was used to simulate vehicle-induced vibration. Based on test results and acoustic-emission (AE) characteristics, a modified shear-capacity model incorporating vibration effects was established. In addition, the damage evolution of the interface was systematically revealed using an energy-based approach, RA-AF correlation analysis, and fuzzy C-means clustering. The results show that vibration applied during the early setting stage leads to an initial increase and subsequent decrease in interfacial shear capacity. The fuzzy C-means clustering. The results show that vibration applied during the early setting stage leads to an initial increase and subsequent decrease in interfacial shear capacity. The proposed modified model agrees well with the experimental measurements. According to the distribution of cumulative AE energy, the damage process can be divided into three stages: an elastic stage, a cracked-working stage, and a failure stage. Damage evolution is dominated by crack initiation and propagation at the interface and within the concrete matrix, which together account for more than 90% of the overall damage. The interfacial damage is primarily tensile in nature, with an event occurrence rate exceeding 75%, and the rise time of failure-related signals mainly falling within 0–200 μs.

Supporting Agencies

This research was funded by Sichuan Science and Technology Program (grant No. 2024YFTX0037).

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Shear Capacity and Damage Evolution of New-To-Old Concrete Interfaces Under Traffic-Induced Vibration

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