Has there been any research on using mechanical splicers for rebar in barrier rails?
We have an emergency repair and the question came up.
I am not aware of any direct research on mechanical rebar splices in our area.
That said, there are several variations of them available.
They commonly consist of insert tubes with bolts that tighten down on the bar ends to connect them. Other options use threaded couplers or swaging. These tend to be smaller in terms of diameter.
Your concerns regarding cover and corrosion would seem to be the biggest issues as you noted below. In terms of strength, we don’t see a big issue. However, for the smaller diameter options, it would seem that cover loss would be minimal.
We have done rebar repair here for systems by cutting out the damaged section and the doweling/epoxying bars. This required removal of enough section to lap the bars in that region.
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