Postfire Performance of GFRP Stay-in-Place Formwork for Concrete Bridge Decks
Publication: Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 23, Issue 3
Abstract
This study focuses on the fire performance of glass fiber–reinforced polymer (GFRP) stay-in-place structural formwork used for the rapid construction of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge decks and serves to direct future studies on the matter. Seven beam sections of a concrete deck reinforced using a GFRP stay-in-place form are tested. The beams in this study are subjected to both fire and simulated-fire damage and tested in four-point bending to assess the mechanical contribution of the GFRP stay-in-place formwork. Fire damage was applied to one beam via a 14.5-min heptane pool fire. Experimental results show that the simulated damage was an overly conservative representation of the fire damage sustained. The fire damage was insufficient to reduce the ultimate load or change the failure mode of the specimen when compared to an undamaged control. The embedded T-rib of the GFRP form was protected from fire damage and provided redundancy to the system. Despite a char thickness of about 15% of the base thickness, the GFRP base plate was able to protect the adjacent concrete from temperatures exceeding 100°C. An increased flexural capacity was observed in the fire-damaged specimen hypothesized to be a result of concrete precompression arising from the heating and cooling of the GFRP formwork. A series of direct bond shear tests between GFRP–concrete samples at elevated temperatures found a decrease in bond shear stress and bond stiffness as bond temperatures increased.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge the technical staff at Carleton University. Beth Weckman and Matt DiDomizio from Waterloo’s Fire Safety Engineering Laboratory are greatly thanked for their assistance with this study. Material contributions from Queen’s University and V-ROD Canada are gratefully acknowledged. Seth Gatien of Carleton University is acknowledged for his work on GeoPIV RG. Matthew Smith of Entuitive is thanked for his comments on this paper. Funding for the principal author was provided by the Natural Sciences Engineering Research Council’s undergraduate research program and Carleton University’s I-CUREUS undergraduate program.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 23 • Issue 3 • June 2019
Copyright
©2019 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 17, 2017
Accepted: Nov 7, 2018
Published online: Mar 19, 2019
Published in print: Jun 1, 2019
Discussion open until: Aug 19, 2019
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