GFRP Composite Culverts for Hydraulic and Agricultural Underpasses: Structural Behavior, Design, and Application
Publication: Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 26, Issue 3
Abstract
Corrugated steel-sheet culvert systems were extensively applied in the construction of hydraulic and agricultural highways underpasses from the 1980s until the beginning of the 21st century. Less than 30 years after being built, the level of corrosion in the steel sheets was found to be higher than expected, potentially compromising the structural safety and service life of these structures. In this context, it is urgent to develop durable solutions for both the rehabilitation of such underpasses and the construction of new ones. Recently, structural systems based on glass fiber–reinforced polymer (GFRP) culvert sections have been proposed as an answer to this issue and have already been used in a few rehabilitations, installed inside of existing steel culverts. However, doubts have been raised about the performance of this new solution, mainly due to the lack of consolidated knowledge about its structural behavior in this specific type of work. This paper presents an experimental and numerical investigation of the performance of a commercially available GFRP culvert system. The experimental program comprised coupon tests and full-scale flexural tests up to failure on GFRP culverts, with a 60-mm-thick wall, produced by filament winding, with a height of ∼2.15 m and a width of ∼3.40 m. Conventional finite-element (FE) models were developed with commercial FE packages to simulate the structural behavior of the GFRP culverts. Following validation, a design parametric analysis was carried out with those FE models, demonstrating that this structural solution is able to comply with serviceability and ultimate-limit states requirements. Finally, this paper presents a case study of the rehabilitation of an underpass originally built with corrugated steel sheets, using this new GFRP culvert. Overall, the results obtained in this study show the feasibility of applying GFRP culverts—both in new structures and when rehabilitating existing underpasses—and of using conventional FE tools in their design.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to acknowledge FCT (funding UIDB/04625/2020) and CERIS for the financial support. The authors also wish to thank Limpa Canal for sharing technical information concerning the GFRP tubes and the rehabilitation works on Highway A33.
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- A
- sectional area;
- cref
- cohesion of soil;
- d1
- vertical displacement at midspan;
- d2
- horizontal displacement at the left-hand side;
- d3
- horizontal displacement at the right-hand side;
- d4
- vertical displacement at the invert;
- E
- instantaneous elastic modulus;
- Ec,L
- longitudinal compressive elastic modulus;
- Ec,T
- transverse compressive elastic modulus;
- Ed
- design combination of actions;
- Ef,L
- longitudinal flexural elastic modulus;
- Efr
- frequent combination of actions;
- Eref
- elastic modulus of the soil;
- E(t)
- long-term (at time t) creep elastic modulus;
- e1
- top strain in the vicinity of midspan;
- e2
- bottom strain in the vicinity of midspan;
- F
- applied load;
- Gk
- permanent loads;
- L
- transverse span of the culvert;
- M
- bending moment;
- Mmax
- maximum bending moment;
- N
- axial force;
- Nmax
- maximum axial force;
- Qk
- leading road traffic action;
- Q1k
- tandem system load (Load Model 1);
- q1k
- uniformly distributed load (Load Model 1);
- Rd
- design resistance;
- Sc,L
- longitudinal compressive strength;
- longitudinal compressive characteristic strength;
- Sc,T
- transverse compressive strength;
- Sf,L
- longitudinal flexural strength;
- longitudinal flexural characteristic strength;
- Sf,T
- transverse flexural strength;
- Sil,L
- longitudinal interlaminar strength;
- longitudinal interlaminar characteristic strength;
- Sil,T
- transverse interlaminar strength;
- Tg
- glass transition temperature;
- t
- time;
- V
- shear force;
- Vmax
- maximum shear force;
- W
- elastic section modulus;
- instantaneous deflections due to permanent loads;
- long-term deflections due to permanent loads;
- deflections due to frequent road traffic loads;
- δQ,1k
- deflections due to tandem-system characteristic loads (Q1k);
- short-term deflections due to the frequent combination of actions;
- long-term deflections due to the frequent combination of actions;
- δq,1k
- deflections due to uniformly distributed characteristic load (q1k);
- δmax
- maximum deflection;
- longitudinal strain;
- transverse strain;
- γ
- specific weight of the soil;
- γG
- permanent load partial factor;
- γQ
- variable load partial factor;
- γRd
- resistance model partial factor;
- γm
- material partial factor;
- ηc
- overall conversion factor;
- ηcm
- moisture conversion factor;
- ηct
- temperature conversion factor;
- σ11
- longitudinal stress (compressive or flexural);
- σ22
- transverse compressive stress;
- σ13
- longitudinal interlaminar stress;
- σ23
- transverse interlaminar stress;
- σ+
- tensile axial stress;
- σ−
- compressive axial stress;
- τ
- shear stress;
- φ
- angle of internal friction of the soil; and
- ϕE(t)
- creep coefficient at time t.
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History
Received: Jun 9, 2021
Accepted: Jan 2, 2022
Published online: Mar 15, 2022
Published in print: Jun 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Aug 15, 2022
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