Theoretical and Experimental Analysis of GFRP Bridge Deck under Temperature Gradient
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 11, Issue 4
Abstract
The temperature difference between the top and bottom of a glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite deck, , is nearly three times that of conventional concrete decks . Such a large temperature difference is attributed to the relatively lower thermal conductivity of GFRP material. In this study, laboratory tests were conducted on two GFRP bridge deck modules (10.2 and deep decks) by heating and cooling the top surface of the GFRP deck, while maintaining ambient (room) temperature at the deck bottom. Deflections and strains were recorded on the deck under thermal loads. Theoretical results (using macro approach, Navier-Levy, and FEM) were compared with the laboratory test data. The test data indicated that the GFRP deck exhibited hogging under a positive temperature difference (i.e., , heating test; and are temperatures at top and bottom of the deck, respectively) and sagging under a negative temperature difference (i.e., , cooling test). Deflections of the deck increased with an increasing magnitude of temperature difference. Typically in the field, tensile strains are induced in the top surface of GFRP deck when exposed to sunlight. Based on the field data, for a temperature gradient of at the deck top and at the deck bottom, the induced thermal stress was about . However, for a critical temperature gradient of the induced thermal stress on GFRP decks is .
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
Dean, D. L., and GangaRao, H. V. S. (1970). “Macro approach to discrete field analysis.” J. Eng. Mech. Div., Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 96(4), 377–394.
Kennedy, J. B., and Soliman, M. H. (1987). “Temperature distribution in composite bridges.” J. Struct. Eng., 113(3), 475–482.
Laosiriphong, K. (2004). “Theoretical and experimental analysis of FRP bridge deck under temperature gradient.” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, West Virginia Univ., Morgantown, W.Va.
Oghumu, S. O. (2002). “Finite-element modeling approach and performance evaluation of fiber reinforced polymer sandwich bridge panels.” Master’s thesis, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Louisiana State Univ.
Reddy, J. N. (1999). Mechanics of laminated composite plates, theory and analysis, CRC, Boca Raton, Fla.
Shekar, V., Petro, S. H., and GangaRao, H. V. S. (2002). “Construction of fiber-reinforced plastic modular decks for highway bridges.” Transportation Research Record. 1813, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council, Washington, D.C., 203–209.
Shekar, V., Thippeswamy, H., and GangaRao, H. V. S. (2000). Int. Workshop on FRP in Infrastructure Development, Buildings, Bridges, Floors, and Deck, Bangalore, India.
Szilard, R. (1974). “Theory and analysis of plates.” Classical and numerical methods, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
© 2006 ASCE.
History
Received: May 5, 2005
Accepted: Feb 24, 2006
Published online: Jul 1, 2006
Published in print: Jul 2006
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.