FRP STRUCTURE DESIGN METHOD BASED ON THE STIFFNESS EQUIVALENCE: CASE STUDY AND PRACTICE
Article history: Received 08.05.2012. Received in revised form 20.07.2012. Accepted 03.09.2012. Nowadays, fiber reinforced polymer materials are getting widely used in civil engineering. They have some advanced engineering characteristics like high stiffness-to-weight ratio, high strength-toweight ratio, anti-electromagnetic interference, electrical isolation and their long term durability. Metal and concrete, two main kinds of construction materials, are prone to failure during their structure service lives because of environmental adverse effects and atmospheric weathering. Those harsh attacks/impacts are oxidization, acidification, high temperature and alkali corrosion. After various maintenance methods like isolating the attacks or protecting plastic skins, an interface crack between protections can easily propagate and cause some durability concern. Fiber reinforced polymer emerges in a new era of civil engineering and can surely be added to traditional materials and/or traditional materials can surely be substituted by this material. This paper sets out to unfold a case study on how fiber reinforced polymer works in civil structures.
FIBRE COMPOSITE BRIDGE DECKS: AN ALTERNATIVE APPROACH
This paper presents initial results of a study into the structural behaviour of a new type of fibre composite bridge deck. The deck, which uses a particulate filled resin core, can be produced for costs similar to steel and concrete decks. The manufacturing method is suitable for both small and large production runs and does not require large up-front investments. Aspects of the design and method of manufacture are presented together with test results for two different size decks. (a) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E204495.
Flexural behavior of a hybrid FRP and lightweight concrete sandwich bridge deck
This paper presents a new concept for a lightweight hybrid-FRP bridge deck. The sandwich construction consists of three layers: a fiber-reinforced polymer composite (FRP) sheet with T-upstands for the tensile skin, lightweight concrete (LC) for the core and a thin layer of ultra high performance reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) as a compression skin. Mechanical tests on eight hybrid beams were performed with two types of LC and two types of FRP/LC interface: unbonded (only mechanical interlocking of LC between T-upstands) and bonded with an epoxy adhesive. The ultimate loads of the beams increased by 104% on average due to bonding. However, the beam failure mode changed from ductile to brittle. The beams using a LC of 44% higher density exhibited an 81% increase in the ultimate load. The manufacturing of the beams proved to be economic in that epoxy and concrete layers were rapidly and easily applied wet-in-wet without intermediate curing times. The experimental results showed positive results regarding the feasibility of the suggested hybrid bridge deck.