Abstract:Fabricated hollow slab bridges are widely used. The damage of hinge joints is a common disease of fabricated hollow slab bridges, and there is controversy over the failure mechanism of hinge joints. Most scholars believe that the design of hinge joints is defective and the hinge joints are damaged by the crosswise tensile stress. For the investigation of the old bridges, it is found that the proportion of hinge joint failure is very high, but there is no problem of hinge joints in the investigation of new bridges. If the hinge joints are damaged, not only the problems of hinge joint exist in the old bridges, but also the failure mechanism of hinge joints has the other important causes. The detailed finite element model is established by using ABAQUS fully to consider the contact between the hinge joint and the hollow slab, and the connecting steel bar between the hinge joint and the hollow slab. It is concluded that the structural stress of the hinge joint is reasonable, in which the position of the connecting steel bar is very important. If the connecting steel bar is rusted, the stress of the hinge joint will be defective. Therefore, it is concluded that the disease of the hinge joint is caused by the corrosion of the connecting steel bar.