Analysis and design of fiber reinforced plastic composite deck-and-stringer bridges

A comprehensive study on analysis and design of fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) composite deck-and-stringer bridges is presented. The FRP decks considered consist of contiguous thin-walled box sections and are fabricated by bonding side-by-side pultruded thin-walled box beams, which are placed transversely over FRP composite stringers. In this study, we review the modeling and experimental verification of FRP structural beams, including micro/macro-mechanics predictions of ply and laminate properties, beam bending response, shear-lag effect, and local and global buckling behaviors. A simplified design analysis procedure for cellular FRP bridge decks is developed based on a first-order shear deformation macro-flexibility (SDMF) orthotropic plate solution. The present approach can allow the designers to analyze, design and optimize material architectures and shapes of FRP beams, as well as various bridge deck configurations, before their implementation in the field. Experimental studies of cellular FRP bridge decks are conducted to obtain stiffness coefficients, and an example of a cellular FRP deck on optimized winged-box FRP stringers under actual track-loading is presented to illustrate the analytical method. The experimental-analytical approach presented in this study is used to propose simplified engineering design equations for new and replacement highway FRP deck-and-stringer bridges.     

Buckling failure modes of FRP thin-walled beams

A study on buckling phenomena in pultruded Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) beams, based on two mechanical models recently formulated by the authors with regard to composite thin-walled beams, is presented in this paper. Global buckling behavior is analyzed by means of a one-dimensional model in which cross-section torsional rotation is divided into two parts: the first one, associated with Vlasov’s axial warping, the second one, associated entirely with shear strains. The study of local behavior is based on the individual buckling analysis of the components of FRP profile, assumed as elastically restrained transversely isotropic plates. Both mechanical models take into account, within the field of small strains and moderate rotations, the contribution of shear deformation in the kinematic hypotheses. Design charts suitable to evaluate the buckling load of FRP “I” beams with either narrow or wide flanges are obtained and presented in this paper.     

Post-cracking strength and ductility of glass–GFRP composite beams

This paper presents results of experimental and numerical investigations on the structural behaviour of composite beams made of annealed glass panes and glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) pultruded profiles. The main goal of the transparent structural solutions presented here is to increase the post-cracking residual strength and ductility of glass by using GFRP strengthening laminates. The experimental programme included (i) tensile tests on double lap joints between glass and GFRP pultruded laminates, bonded with different types of structural adhesives, and (ii) full-scale flexural tests on glass beams and glass–GFRP composite beams, with different strengthening geometries and structural adhesives. Results obtained in this study show that, unlike glass beams, in glass–GFRP composite beams it is possible to obtain relatively ductile failure modes, with a significant increase of both strength and deformation capacity after the initial cracking of glass. The stiffness of the structural adhesive used, together with the geometry of the GFRP strengthening element, have a major influence on the structural response of the composite beams. Finite element models were developed for all tested beams, allowing to simulate their serviceability behaviour (prior to glass cracking) with fairly good accuracy, namely in what concerns the degree of shear interaction at the bonded interfaces.     

Lateral buckling of pultruded GRP I-section cantilevers

A series of lateral buckling tests on pultruded GRP I-section cantilever beams is described. Comparisons of the theoretical critical loads, determined from approximate formulae and numerical finite element eigenvalue analysis, with the test results are presented. They reveal that linear buckling analysis does not provide an accurate estimate, for use in design, of the maximum tip load that a GRP cantilever may support. It is concluded that both initial deflections and pre-buckling deformations may need to be accounted for in order to model accurately the response of tip loaded pultruded GRP cantilevers.     

Progressive damage and nonlinear analysis of pultruded composite structures

This study combines a simple damage modeling approach with micromechanical models for the progressive damage analysis of pultruded composite materials and structures. Two micromodels are used to generate the nonlinear effective response of a pultruded composite system made up from two alternating layers reinforced with roving and continuous filaments mat (CFM). The layers have E-glass fiber and vinylester matrix constituents. The proposed constitutive and damage framework is integrated within a finite element (FE) code for a general nonlinear analysis of pultruded composite structures using layered shell or plate elements. The micromechanical models are implemented at the through-thickness Gaussian integration points of the pultruded cross-section. A layer-wise damage analysis approach is proposed. The Tsai–Wu failure criterion is calibrated separately for the CFM and roving layers using ultimate stress values from off-axis pultruded coupons under uniaxial loading. Once a failure is detected in one of the layers, the micromodel of that layer is no longer used. Instead, an elastic degrading material model is activated for the failed layer to simulate the post-ultimate response. Damage variables for in-plane modes of failure are considered in the effective anisotropic strain energy density of the layer. The degraded secant stiffness is used in the FE analysis. Examples of progressive damage analysis are carried out for notched plates under compression and tension, and a single-bolted connection under tension. Good agreement is shown when comparing the experimental results and the FE models that incorporate the combined micromechanical and damage models.     

Mechanical repair of timber beams fractured in flexure using bonded-in reinforcements

The flexural properties of strength class C16 spruce beams have been compared to the flexural properties of the same beams repaired with bonded-in reinforcements in the form of steel or composite pultruded rods. Reinforcing materials included rectangular sections of mild steel, pultruded carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP), glass fibre reinforced plastic (GFRP) and a thermoplastic matrix glass fibre reinforced polyurethane (FULCRUM). Grooves were routed into the faces of the fractured beams following straightening and the reinforcements adhesively bonded into the top, bottom or both faces of the beams. The steel and CFRP reinforcements are most effective in restoring the flexural strength which often exceeds its original value. These reinforcements are also effective in enhancing flexural strength but the CFRP reinforcement endows the greatest transformed flexural strength. The fracture mechanisms in the repaired beams depend on the placement of reinforcement and the quality of the adhesive to reinforcement bond. All properties are optimised by bonding reinforcement into both faces of the fractured beams.     

Flexural strengthening of concrete beams with EB-FRP,SRP and SRCM: Experimental investigation

Innovative composite materials for flexural strengthening of concrete structural members have been recently proposed by construction market. They are able to overcome some issues related to traditional composite material, such as high cost and fire resistance. They include composite materials made of different types of organic matrix (i.e., cement-based mortar and pozzolan-reaction cementitious mortar) and reinforcement (i.e., steel fibre fabric). An experimental investigation has been carried out on prestressed-concrete beams strengthened in flexure with traditional (i.e., pultruded carbon laminate bonded with epoxy resin) and different innovative composite externally bonded systems (i.e., steel fabrics glued with different types of adhesive) in order to compare their structural performance between them and with respect to unstrengthened specimens. At this aim, a total of fifteen specimens characterized by an overall length of 2400 mm and cross-sectional dimensions of 120 by 140 mm were subjected to four-point-bending tests. Test results highlighted the high potential of the innovative composite systems for flexural strengthening applications and similar effectiveness compared with the pultruded carbon laminates. The recorded response of the specimens is presented and discussed and the measured strength and deflection of the specimens are estimated. Comparison between theoretical prediction and experimental results shows a good agreement.     

Optimum design of cross-sectional profiles of pultruded box beams with high ultimate strength

Pultruded box beams under bending may be subjected to local buckling which causes premature failure of the beams. As such it is important to design pultruded box beams with high local buckling resistance to increase their ultimate strength. This paper presents an optimum design approach for cross-sectional profiles of pultruded box beams of (approximately) the same mass with emphasis on accomplishment of high local buckling resistance through finite element analysis. Five different sectional profiles have been designed by stiffening a simple box, and finite element analysis is used to study linear buckling and postbuckling of the beams. Results for the critical loads of linear buckling and local buckling judged by stress variation, stresses and deformations in postbuckling are presented. The computational results show one of the proposed sectional profiles does not develop local buckling and produces much smaller stresses and deformations within the load range of interest.     

The experimental behaviour of bolted joints in pultruded glass/ polyester material. Part 1: Single-bolt joints

Experimental results for two aspects of the behaviour of bolted joints in pultruded composite materials are presented. The points considered are the effects of the area and the material used for clamping on the bearing strength, and the effect of the end distance on the shear strength of materials which contain a high proportion of axial fibres.     

Response of pultruded composite tubes subjected to dynamic and impulsive axial loading

The energy absorption of circular pultruded composite tubes subjected to axial crush load, transmitted by a small attached mass accelerated by means of an explosive load is presented in this paper. Different masses of explosive are used to provide a range of transmitted impulse and crushed distance of the pultruded composite tubes. The influence of the mass of the explosive on the tube response is investigated with regard to crushed distance, the average crushing force and the specific energy absorption (SEA). The crushing distance increases with increasing transmitted impulse. The results and failure mode are also compared with compression tests carried out on a servo-hydraulic machine (type: MTS-309).     

Geopolymer concrete-filled pultruded composite beams – Concrete mix design and application

The limited research on the geopolymer concrete mix design for targeting a specific strength is identified an obstacle for their effective design and wide use. In this paper, a mix design procedure has been proposed for fly-ash based geopolymer concrete and its use as infill hybrid composite beam is investigated. Then, the structural performance of geopolymer concrete filled hybrid composite beam is investigated to determine their possible application in civil infrastructure. Firstly, a detailed procedure of mix design for fly-ash based geopolymer concrete is presented. Secondly, three hybrid beams filled with geopolymer concrete were prepared and tested in a four-point bending setup to evaluate their flexural modulus and modulus of rupture. Numerical and analytical evaluation of the behaviour of hybrid beam were performed and results showed a good agreement with the experimental investigation. Thirdly, the suitability of the beam for a composite railway sleeper is evaluated and compared with existing timber and composite sleepers. Finally, the beams’ performance in a ballast railway track is analysed using Strand7 finite element simulation software and the results showed that the new concept of using geopolymer concrete as infill to pultruded composite section satisfied the stiffness and strength requirements for a railway sleeper.     

Higher-order zig-zag model for analysis of thick composite beams with inclusion of transverse normal stress and sublaminates approximations

A modified zig-zag technical theory, suitable for the analysis of thick composite beams with rectangular cross section, general lay-up and in cylindrical bending is developed and tested. An equivalent single-layer model and a multiple-layer model are implemented. The displacement field of both these models is postulated as to allow for appropriate jumps in the strains, so that the transverse shear and the transverse normal stress and stress gradient continuity at the interfaces are met. A third-order piecewise approximation for the in-plane displacement and a fourth-order piecewise approximation for the transverse displacement are assumed in the two models. Their predictive capability is investigated in sample cases wherein the exact three-dimensional elasticity and other approximate solutions are available. On the basis of this numerical investigation, they appear to predict accurately and efficiently the displacement and stress fields of composite beams with layers of different materials.     

Creep behaviour of FRP-reinforced polymer concrete

Polymer concrete is a kind of concrete where natural aggregates such as silica sand or gravel are binded together with a thermoset resin, such as epoxy. Although polymer concretes are stronger in compression than cementitious concrete, its tension behaviour is still weak. The reinforcement of polymer concrete beams in the tension zone with pultruded profiles made of epoxy resin and glass fibers are a good compromise between stiffness and strength. In this paper it is reported an investigation of the creep behaviour of polymer concrete beams reinforced with fiber-reinforced plastics (pultruded) rebars. Four-point bending creep test were performed. An analytical model was applied to verify the experimental results.     

Transient dynamic and damping analysis of laminated anisotropic plates using a refined plate theory

A refined model is presented for the linear transient dynamic and damping analysis of laminated anisotropic composite plates. Experimental measurements of specific damping capacity of unidirectional composite beams are used to predict the specific damping capacity of laminated composite plates in various modes of vibration. A finite element idealization is adopted, and the quadratic Lagrangian element is used together with selective/reduced integration. A viscous damping approximation is then employed to calculate the damped transient response of laminated plates. The effects of transverse shear deformation, symmetry condition, boundary conditions, anisotropy, aspect ratio, fibre orientation and the lamination scheme on specific damping capacity and damped transient response are investigated. Realistic examples illustrate the importance of these parameters. The present results agree very closely with experimental results available in the literature and can serve as a benchmark for future comparison by other investigators.     

Investigation of the pressure behavior in a pultrusion die for graphite/epoxy composites

There are a variety of ways to process composite materials. One such way is pultrusion which is a continuous process for manufacturing composite materials of constant cross-sections. The pultrusion process involves a number of variables and processing parameters which can affect the quality of a pultruded product. One variable of particular interest is the fluid resin pressure rise in the tapered inlet region of the die. The liquid resin pressure rise in the die inlet can have a significant impact on the quality of a pultruded product. An appreciable pressure rise can suppress void formations and enhance fiber “wet out”. Darcy’s law for flow in a porous media is used to mathematically model the fiber/resin system of the pultrusion process, while employing the finite volume solution method to predict the pressure and velocity fields as a function of various process control parameters. The results obtained by the numerical model can establish a foundation by which process control parameters are selected to achieve an appreciable pressure rise which will enhance the quality of the pultruded composite. The results can also be applied to die inlet design.     

Failure modes and failure mechanisms of RC members strengthened by NSM CFRP composites – Analysis of pull-out failure mode

The aim of the experimental programme developed in this work was to study the failure modes and the pull-out failure mechanism of RC members strengthened by Near Surface Mounted reinforcement (NSM) technique. The global behaviour of reinforced concrete beams strengthened by NSM and subjected to flexure was investigated. The rods were 6- and 12-mm-diameter carbon–epoxy pultruded FRP. Two vibrated concrete compositions were tested: conventional (VC30) and high-strength (VC60), and one filling material: epoxy resin. The study was carried out up to the failure load, and focused on the failure modes of the beams. The experimental results were compared with the analytical model for the pull-out failure mode of FRP rods. Based on the concept of the anchorage length beyond the last crack, the calculation gives a good approximation of the ultimate bond stress in the cross-section located at the last crack.     

外包GFRP板钢筋混凝土梁的抗剪性能研究

该文提出了一种新型的GFRP-钢筋混凝土高耐久性梁,即普通钢筋混凝土梁外包GFRP 板,其中的GFRP板既为防腐保护,又可兼作模板和受力筋。通过对外包GFRP 板钢筋混凝土梁及其普通钢筋混凝土对比梁进行加载试验,研究其受力特点和破坏模式。试验结果表明:和普通钢筋混凝土梁相比,外包GFRP 板钢筋混凝土梁的抗剪承载力有较大幅度提高。对外包GFRP 板钢筋混凝土试验梁的抗剪承载力进行了分析,计算值与试验值吻合较好。     

Static analysis of laminated beams via a unified formulation

A linear static analysis of composite beams is presented in this work. Simply supported, cross-ply laminated beams are examined. Beams with different values of length-to-thickness ratio subjected to bending loadings are considered. Carrera’s Unified Formulation is adopted to derive several hierarchical theories. The kinematic field is imposed above the cross-section via a N-order polynomials approximation of the displacements unknown variables. The governing equations and boundary conditions are variationally obtained through the Principle of Virtual Displacements. A closed form, Navier-type solution is adopted. Thanks to this formulation, quasi three-dimensional strain and stress fields can be obtained. Classical beam models, such as Euler–Bernoulli’s and Timoshenko’s, are obtained as particular cases. Results are validated in terms of accuracy and computational costs towards three-dimensional FE models implemented in the commercial code ANSYS. Numerical investigations show that good results are obtained as long as the appropriate expansion order is used.     

Static analysis of laminated beams via a unified formulation

A linear static analysis of composite beams is presented in this work. Simply supported, cross-ply laminated beams are examined. Beams with different values of length-to-thickness ratio subjected to bending loadings are considered. Carrera’s Unified Formulation is adopted to derive several hierarchical theories. The kinematic field is imposed above the cross-section via a N-order polynomials approximation of the displacements unknown variables. The governing equations and boundary conditions are variationally obtained through the Principle of Virtual Displacements. A closed form, Navier-type solution is adopted. Thanks to this formulation, quasi three-dimensional strain and stress fields can be obtained. Classical beam models, such as Euler–Bernoulli’s and Timoshenko’s, are obtained as particular cases. Results are validated in terms of accuracy and computational costs towards three-dimensional FE models implemented in the commercial code ANSYS. Numerical investigations show that good results are obtained as long as the appropriate expansion order is used.     

Experimental and numerical analysis of a bus component in composite material

The aim of this work is the fatigue design of a structural component manufactured in composite materials. The use of composite materials in structural applications implies that the reliability and safety requirements are met, in particular from a point of view of the fatigue life. A bus component is considered: the composite material is obtained by means of the pultrusion technique: the longitudinal reinforcement is glass fibre, while the matrix is polyester resin. At first, a static and fatigue characterization of the pultruded composite is performed to identify the mechanical behaviour along the fibres and in the normal direction, following an extensive testing programme on specimens. During the fatigue tests, the variation of the elastic modulus and the residual strength are monitored to characterize the damage; further experimental tests are performed to fit parameters required for models of fatigue life prevision. Fatigue bending tests are performed on the component, showing crack propagation through the section: a check at the SEM is performed to identify the main internal type of damage. A final comparison with a numerical simulation is proposed: this numerical model will be useful for the optimal fatigue design of the section.