Effect on Superstructure Stress of Replacing a Composite RC Bridge Deck with a GFRP Deck
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 12, Issue 3
Abstract
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.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 12 • Issue 3 • May 2007
Pages: 394 - 398
Copyright
© 2007 ASCE.
History
Received: Sep 6, 2005
Accepted: Dec 28, 2005
Published online: May 1, 2007
Published in print: May 2007
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