Experimental Dynamic Response of a Short-Span Composite Bridge to Military Vehicles
Publication: Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 16, Issue 1
Abstract
A continued desire for increased mobility in the aftermath of natural disasters or on the battlefield has lead to the need for improved lightweight bridging solutions. Currently, within the U.S. military, there is a need for a lightweight bridging system for crossing short-span gaps up to 4 m (13.1 ft) in length. This paper describes the field testing of a newly developed lightweight fiber-reinforced polymer bridging system to meet the U.S. militaries needs. The study investigates dynamic impact loads of track and wheel vehicles at different crossing speeds to increase understanding of appropriate impact factors used in design. It was found that the impact loads for the bridge treadways were most sensitive to vehicle crossing speed and vehicle type (wheel versus track and axle spacing) with observed impact factors as high as 1.71.
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Acknowledgments
The writers would like to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Office of Naval Research and U.S. Army TACOM which made this research possible. The writers also wish to thank Aberdeen Testing Center for providing the testing site and vehicles used in this study.ONR
References
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Robinson, M. J., and Kosmatka, J. B. (2008a). “Development of a short-span fiber reinforced composite bridge for emergency response and military applications.” J. Bridge Eng., 13(4), 388–397.
Robinson, M. J., and Kosmatka, J. B. (2008b). “Light-weight fiber reinforced polymer composite deck panels for extreme applications.” J. Compos. Constr., 12(3), 344–354.
Trilateral Design and Analysis Group. (2005). Trilateral design and test code (TDTC) for military bridging and gap-crossing equipment, U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command, Warren, Mich.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Bridge Engineering
Volume 16 • Issue 1 • January 2011
Pages: 166 - 170
Copyright
© 2011 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 8, 2009
Accepted: May 10, 2010
Published online: May 14, 2010
Published in print: Jan 2011
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