Composite Action and Adhesive Bond between Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Bridge Decks and Main Girders

This paper describes the behavior of hybrid girders consisting of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bridge decks adhesively connected to steel main girders. Two large-scale girders were experimentally investigated at the serviceability and ultimate limit state as well as at failure. One of the girders was additionally fatigue loaded to 10 million cycles. Compared to the behavior of a reference steel girder, deflections of the two girders at the SLS were decreased by 30% and failure loads increased by 56% due to full composite action in the adhesive layer. A ductile failure mode occurred: Deck compression failure during yielding of the steel girder. The adhesive connections were able to prevent buckling of the yielding top steel flanges. Thus, compared to the reference steel girder, the maximum deflections at failure could be increased up to 130%. No deterioration due to fatigue loading was observed. Based on the experimental results, a conceptual design method for bonded FRP/steel girders was developed. The proposed method is based on the well-established design method for hybrid girders with concrete decks and shear stud connections. The necessary modifications are proposed.     

Investigating a Structural Form System for Concrete Girders Using Commercially Available GFRP Sheet-Pile Sections

This paper presents a new girder consisting of a trapezoidal pultruded glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) hat-shaped section commercially available as a sheet pile, but used in this study as a structural form for concrete. It can also offer continuity in the transverse direction through a pin-and-eye connection. Five 610?mm×325?mm and 3,300-mm-long girders were tested in flexure to examine different bond systems, voided and solid concrete cores, and the performance in positive and negative bending. Bond systems were wet adhesive bond to freshly cast concrete, adhesively bonded coarse aggregates, and mechanical shear studs. No slip was observed between concrete and the GFRP section until delamination failure occurred within a thin layer of cement mortar that remained attached to GFRP. The studs failed by pull out from the concrete flange. In general, 47–75% of the full strengths of concrete and GFRP were reached at ultimate bond failure. Wet adhesive bonding was the simplest and quickest to apply, while resulting in a comparable strength to other systems. A “moment-curvature” analytical model, incorporating a robust bond failure criterion, was developed, validated, and used in a parametric study. It showed that varying the concrete compressive strength or thickness of the GFRP section has insignificant effect on the bond failure load. Also, there are critical values for shear span-to-depth ratio, shear strength of cement mortar, concrete strength, and width of the top GFRP flange, beyond which, the desired flexural failure mode would precede bond failure.     

Thermomechanical Behavior of Multifunctional GFRP Sandwich Structures with Encapsulated Photovoltaic Cells

The feasibility of encapsulating solar cells into the glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) skins of load-bearing and thermally insulating sandwich elements with foam cores has been evaluated. Exposure of the encapsulated cells to artificial sunlight led to a significant temperature increase on the top sandwich surface, which almost reached the glass transition temperature of the resin. Mechanical loading up to serviceability limit loads did not cause any damage to the solar cells. Stresses of less than 20% of the material strength arose in the face sheets due to thermal and mechanical loading up to failure. Composite action through the face sheets with encapsulated cells was maintained and no debonding between face sheets and foam core was observed. Thanks to the superior mechanical and thermal sandwich behavior, thin-film silicon cells are more appropriate than polycrystalline silicon cells for use in multifunctional GFRP sandwich structures, although they are less efficient.     

Field Monitoring and Repair of a Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Bridge Deck

This paper reports on the monitoring and repair of a pilot field deployment of a glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) deck on a small steel girder bridge in the Washington State. Deck deflections were monitored periodically over a 10-month period and were found to increase significantly over that time. The GFRP deck is an adhesively bonded assembly of GFRP tubes and top and bottom plates. After 9 months of service, wearing surface cracking was observed, and upon closer inspection, the top GFRP plate was found to be delaminated from the tubes over a fairly large area. Deck deflections in the area of delamination were found to be considerably larger than those observed during previous monitoring in undamaged locations. A retrofit solution was employed where the top plate was reconnected to the tubes using screws coated with a two-part epoxy that mixed when they were driven. At the time of writing the retrofit was successful in reattaching the delaminated top plate.     

Repair of Damaged Steel-Concrete Composite Girders Using Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Sheets

The aging infrastructure of the United States requires significant attention for developing new materials and techniques to effectively and economically revive this aging system. Damaged steel-concrete composite girders can be repaired and retrofitted by epoxy bonding carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates to the critical areas of tension flanges. This paper presents the results of a study on the behavior of damaged steel-concrete composite girders repaired with CFRP sheets under static loading. A total of three large-scale composite girders made of W355×13.6 A36 steel sections and 75-mm-thick by 910-mm-wide concrete slabs were prepared and tested. One, three, and five layers of CFRP sheet were used to repair the specimen with 25, 50, and 100% loss of the cross-sectional area of their tension flange, respectively. The test results showed that epoxy bonded CFRP sheet could restore the ultimate load-carrying capacity and stiffness of damaged steel-concrete composite girders. Comparison of the experimental and analytical results revealed that the traditional methods of analysis of composite beams were conservative.     

Contribution to Shear Wrinkling of GFRP Webs in Cell-Core Sandwiches

Glass-fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) cell-core sandwiches are composed of outer GFRP face sheets, a foam core, and a grid of GFRP webs integrated into the core to reinforce the shear load capacity. One of the critical failure modes of cell-core sandwich structures is shear wrinkling, a local buckling failure in the sandwich webs because of shear loading. The shear wrinkling behavior of GFRP laminates with different laminate sequences, stabilized by a polyurethane foam core, was experimentally and numerically investigated. Shear wrinkling was simulated by a biaxial compression–tension setup. The results show that an increasing transverse tension load significantly decreases the wrinkling load. The decreasing effect of tension is explained by the lateral contraction because of Poisson’s effect, which causes an increase in the initial imperfections and subsequent accelerated bending.     

Generic Debonding Resistance of EB and NSM Plate-to-Concrete Joints

It is well established that adhesively bonding plates to the surfaces of reinforced concrete members is an efficient retrofitting approach. Specifically, two techniques have emerged: Using thin externally bonded (EB) sheets/plates and near-surface mounted (NSM) strips/bars. A good amount of research has been undertaken worldwide to understand the fundamental behavior describing such adhesively bonded plate-to-concrete joints. Unfortunately, until now, no generic model exists to determine the debonding resistance of both retrofitting techniques. In this paper, a generic analytical model is derived to determine the debonding resistance of any adhesively bonded plate-to-concrete joint using an idealized linear-softening local interface bond-slip relationship. The model is derived using a unique definition of the debonding failure plane and confinement ratio such that it is suitable for both the externally bonded and near-surface mounted techniques. The model is validated by comparison with existing push-pull data as well as 14 new push-pull tests with varying plate cross-section aspect ratios. Comparison with an existing well-known model demonstrates the suitability of the proposed generic model. The model can be used to predict the intermediate crack debonding resistance of strengthened reinforced concrete members.     

Potential Retrofit Methods for Concrete Channel Beam Bridges Using Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer

The structural response of deteriorated channel beam bridge girders and channel beam bridge decks with and without glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) retrofit is found from design calculations, experimental load testing, and finite element analysis. Two different types of GFRP retrofit materials are investigated including a traditional fabric wrap and a new spray material. The effects of GFRP retrofit on channel beam bridge girder and channel beam bridge structural parameters are summarized and the accuracy of design calculation methods for quantifying structural response of channel beam bridge girders retrofit with GFRP is determined.     

Structural Performance of Hybrid GFRP/Steel Concrete Sandwich Panels

Precast/prestressed concrete sandwich panels consist of two concrete wythes separated by a rigid insulation foam layer and are generally used as walls or slabs in thermal insulation applications. Commonly used connectors between the two wythes, such as steel trusses or concrete stems, penetrate the insulation layer causing a thermal bridge effect, which reduces thermal efficiency. Glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite shell connectors between the two concrete wythes are used in this research as horizontal shear transfer reinforcement. The design criterion is to establish composite action, in which both wythes resist flexural loads as one unit, while maintaining insulation across the two concrete wythes of the panel. The experiments carried out in this research show that hybrid GFRP/steel reinforced sandwich panels can withstand out-of-plane loads while providing resistance to horizontal shear between the two concrete wythes. An analytical method is developed for modeling the horizontal shear transfer enhancement using a shear flow approach. In addition, a truss model is built, which predicts the panel deflections observed in the experiments with reasonable accuracy.     

Multifunctional Hybrid GFRP/Steel Joint for Concrete Slab Structures

A multifunctional hybrid glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP)/steel joint has been developed for the transfer of compression and shear forces in thermal insulation sections of concrete slab structures used in building construction. The new pultruded cellular GFRP element improves considerably the energy savings of buildings due to its low thermal conductivity. The quasi-static behavior of the GFRP element in insulating and load-transferring joints at the fixed support of cantilever beams was investigated. Two loading modes were investigated: a moment dominant mode and a shear dominant mode. Results show that the GFRP element is not critical at the ultimate limit state. Ductile failure occurs either in the concrete during yielding of the steel bars, or only in the steel bars that penetrate the hybrid GFRP/steel joint. In moment mode, the GFRP element only transfers the compressive forces from the bending moments. In shear mode, in addition to the moment transfer, about 43–63% of the shear forces are transferred in the element webs at ultimate limit state due to tilting of the element. The application proves that multifunctionality can lead to competitive solutions for GFRP composites used in load-carrying components and can compensate for the relatively high material cost.     

Steel Hexagonal Honeycomb Core Equivalent Elastic Moduli for Bridge Deck Sandwich Panels

Glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) materials possess inherently high strength-to-weight ratios, but their effective elastic moduli are low relative to civil engineering (CE) construction materials. While elastic modulus may be comparable to that of some CE materials, the lower shear modulus adversely affects stiffness. As a result, serviceability issues are what govern GFRP deck design in the CE bridge industry. An innovative solution to increase the stiffness of a commercial GFRP reinforced-sinusoidal honeycomb sandwich panel was proposed; this solution would completely replace the GFRP honeycomb core with a hexagonal honeycomb core constructed from commercial steel roof decking. The purpose of this study was to perform small-scale tests to characterize the steel hexagonal honeycomb core equivalent elastic moduli in an effort to simplify the modeling of the core. The steel core equivalent moduli experimental results were compared with theoretical hexagonal honeycomb elastic modulus equations from the literature, demonstrating the applicability of the theoretical equations to the steel honeycomb core. Core equivalent elastic modulus equations were then proposed to model and characterize the steel hexagonal honeycomb as applicable to sandwich panel design. The equivalent honeycomb core will enable an efficient sandwich panel stiffness design technique, both for structural analysis methods (i.e., hand calculations) and finite-element analysis procedures.     

Evaluation of Effective Width and Distribution Factors for GFRP Bridge Decks Supported on Steel Girders

Glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bridge deck systems offer an attractive alternative to concrete decks, particularly for bridge rehabilitation projects. Current design practice treats GFRP deck systems in a manner similar to concrete decks, but the results of this study indicate that this approach may lead to nonconservative bridge girder designs. Results from a number of in situ load tests of three steel girder bridges having the same GFRP deck system are used to determine the degree of composite action that may be developed and the transverse distribution of wheel loads that may be assumed for such structures. Results from this work indicate that appropriately conservative design values may be found by assuming no composite action between a GFRP deck and steel girder and using the lever rule to determine transverse load distribution. Additionally, when used to replace an existing concrete deck, the lighter GFRP deck will likely result in lower total stresses in the supporting girders, although, due to the decreased effective width and increased distribution factors, the live-load-induced stress range is likely to be increased. Thus, existing fatigue-prone details may become a concern and require additional attention in design.     

Experimental Study on Moment–Plastic Rotation Capacity of Hybrid Beams

The moment–inelastic rotation behavior of hybrid steel girder bridges is experimentally investigated. Six welded girders having compact flanges and webs are statically loaded under three-point bending condition in order to simulate the interior pier section of a two-span continuous girder. Six girders, three with hybrid sections and three with homogeneous sections, are designed with three types of web slenderness ratios, resulting in three pairs of hybrid and homogeneous girders. The inelastic rotation capacities obtained from the experimental tests are then compared between hybrid and homogeneous girders. In addition, the results are compared with the prediction moment–inelastic rotation curve proposed in 1998 by White and Barth. It is concluded that, under the condition in this study, hybrid girders have more deformation capacity than homogeneous girders, and that the prediction curve is more conservative for a specimen with higher web slenderness ratio.     

Quasi-Static Indentation Behavior of Honeycomb Sandwich Materials and Its Application in Impact Simulations

Both the crushing and indentation behaviors of sandwich materials are important aspects in failure analysis and energy absorption. In this paper, the core crushing strength of honeycomb materials from the experiment is briefly introduced, and the indentation of sandwich structures is studied in detail. Using the beam on elastic-plastic foundation models, theoretical formulations for predicting indentation behavior of sandwich materials are proposed, from which the mechanical response of elastic-plastic sandwich beams are obtained. Three stages of failure are clearly depicted by the global stiffness changes in the load versus displacement curve of elastic-plastic beams. The models are compared with the available experimental data and numerical simulation, and relatively close agreements are achieved. The compliance and compliance gradient derived form the indentation models are then incorporated with the equation of motion of the projectile to study impact response of elastic-plastic beams, and the impact energy dissipation due to the plasticity of elastic-plastic sandwich beam is uniquely recovered from the derived damping ratio. The beam on elastic-plastic foundation models proposed can be used to predict the indentation behavior of honeycomb sandwich materials, and the unique incorporation of the compliance and compliance gradient of the elastic-plastic sandwich beams in the standard mass-spring model can be utilized to characterize the effect of core compression and plasticity in the impact process.     

Catastrophic Sliding of a Concrete Deck during Its Launching on the Steel Girders of a Composite Bridge

The concrete deck of a 340-m long composite bridge having a general slope of 6.5% was built by increments of 20 m. Forming and concreting were done behind the upper abutment. Increments were successively pushed over the steel girders with cast iron shoes inserted between concrete and steel at regular intervals. As the third increment was in place, it was noticed that the concrete ribbon was slightly curved and laying somewhat eccentrically over the girders. The deformation of the steel flanges induced transverse weight components. Moreover, launching is always accompanied by dynamical effects, which were not correctly understood. As the 10th increment was being pushed, an arresting plate holding the steel structure at the upper abutment in the longitudinal direction failed and transverse weight components helped setting the deck in motion, which then began sliding.     

Static and Fatigue Testing of Hybrid Fiber-Reinforced Polymer-Concrete Bridge Superstructure

This paper presents the experimental results from static and fatigue testing on a scale model of a hybrid fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)–concrete bridge superstructure. The hybrid superstructure was designed as a simply-supported single span bridge with a span of 18.3 m. Three trapezoidal glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) box sections are bonded together to make up a one-lane superstructure, and a layer of concrete is placed in the compression side of those sections. This new design was proposed in order to reduce the initial costs and to increase the stiffness of GFRP composite structures. Static test results showed that the bridge model meets the stiffness requirement and has significant reserve strength. The bridge model was also subjected to two million load cycles to investigate its fatigue characteristics. The fatigue testing revealed that the structural system exhibits insignificant stiffness degradation.     

Fatigue and Strength Evaluation of Two Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Bridge Decks

The use of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bridge decks is appealing for applications where minimizing dead load is critical. This paper describes fatigue and strength testing of two types of GFRP decks being considered for use in the retrofit of an aging steel arch bridge in Snohomish County, Washington, where a roadway expansion is necessary and it is desirable to minimize the improvements to the arch superstructure. Each test used a setup designed to be as close as practicable to what will be the in situ conditions for the deck, which included a 2% cross slope for drainage. The fatigue testing consisted of a single 116 kN (26 kip) load applied for 2 million cycles, which corresponds to an AASHTO HS-25 truck with a 30% impact factor, and the strength testing consisted of multiple runs of a monotonically applied minimum load of 347 kN (78 kips). Results from the fatigue testing indicated a degradation of the stiffness of both deck types; however, the degradation was limited to less than 12% over the duration of loading. Further, the results showed both deck types accumulated permanent deck displacement during fatigue loading and one deck type used a detail with poor fatigue performance. That detail detrimentally impacted the overall deck performance and caused large permanent deck deformations. It was also found that degradation of composite behavior between the deck and girders occurs during fatigue loading and should be included in design.     

Effect on Superstructure Stress of Replacing a Composite RC Bridge Deck with a GFRP Deck

Glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite bridge decks behave differently than comparable reinforced concrete (RC) decks. GFRP decks exhibit reduced composite behavior (when designed to behave in a composite manner) and transverse distribution of forces. Both of these effects are shown to counteract the beneficial effects of a lighter deck structure and result in increased internal stresses in the supporting girders. The objective of this paper is to demonstrate through an illustrative example the implications of RC-to-GFRP deck replacement on superstructure stresses. It is also shown that, regardless of superstructure stresses, substructure forces will be uniformly reduced due to the lighter resulting superstructure.     

Evaluation of Composite Sandwich Bridge Decks with Hybrid FRP-Steel Core

A hybrid concept of composite sandwich panel with hybrid fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)—steel core was proposed for bridge decks in order to not only improve stiffness and buckling response but also be cost efficient compared to all glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) decks. The composite sandwich bridge deck system is comprised of wrapped hybrid core of GFRP grid and multiple steel box cells with upper and lower GFRP facings. Its structural performance under static loading was evaluated and compared with the ANSYS finite element predictions. It was found that the presented composite sandwich panel with hybrid FRP-steel core was very efficient for use in bridges. The thickness of the hybrid deck may be decreased by 19% when compared with the all GFRP deck. The failure mode of the proposed hybrid deck was more favorable because of the yielding of the steel tube when compared with that of all GFRP decks.