Development of a pedestrian bridge with GFRP profiles and fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete deck

Abstract

In recent years, the number of pedestrian bridges built from composites materials has notably increased. The combination of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) profiles with fiber reinforced concrete (FRC) elements is being adopted in this type of structures, since the ductility, high post-cracking tensile strength, compressive stiffness and strength of FRC can be combined with the benefits derived from the use of FRP's profiles to obtain high performance structural systems. In the context of the present work a 12 m long single span pedestrian bridge with two composite Iprofiles was designed. In terms of deflection requirements imposed by serviceability limit states, the influence of the height and thickness of GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer) profiles, as well as the addition of a thin layer of prestressed carbon fiber sheet in the bottom flange of the GFRP profile was evaluated. Using software based on the finite element method, the structural behavior of the developed structural systems was analyzed. Furthermore, two prototypes of this structural system were built and monitored in order to assess their long-term deformational behavior when subjected to a loading configuration correspondent to the load combination for the deflection serviceability limit states. The main results obtained are presented and discussed.

Experimental Investigation of the Natural Bonding Strength between Stay-In-Place Form and Concrete in FRP-Concrete Decks/Beams

“…A simple way to improve the connection capacity and reduce the slip is to use strong and stiff connections such as polymeric adhesives [20], coated sands on FRP profiles [20], perforated FRP ribs [25,32], and FRP shear keys [29,34]. However, since FRP cannot be welded easily like steel, FRP-concrete interfacial connections usually have a lower shear capacity and slip modulus when compared with the connections in steel-concrete hybrid components [25,[29][30][31][35][36][37][38]. The connection types, for example, steel studs, perfobond ribs, and channel plates, in steel-composite decks and beams cannot be directly used for FRP-concrete hybrid decks/beams as the interfacial slip can cause notable flexural rigidity degradation and normal stresses increase at the FRP and concrete parts.…”

Load Testing of GFRP Composite U-Shape Footbridge

“…The material is increasingly being used in selected structural elements, as well as whole objects. Some exemplary realizations can be found in [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]. The pedestrian and cycling footbridge in question, with a theoretical length of 14 m (figure 1) fits this trend.…”

Response Surface Stochastic Finite Element Method of Composite Structure

“…This is mainly due to their high stiffness and strength-to-weight ratios, long fatigue life, resistance to electrochemical corrosion, and other superior material properties of composites [3,4]. However, composite laminates are significantly weak in shear, which demand special attention on the part of designers.…”

“…The Stochastic Finite Element Method (SFEM) that combine structural reliability theory and FEM is a powerful tool in computational stochastic mechanics [4,18]. However, most of commercial finite element software are mainly to solve deterministic problems, which do not have the function of reliability calculation.…”