Experimental Testing of Shear Web Panels of Steel Plate Girders Strengthened by Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites
Publication: Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 29, Issue 4
Abstract
Steel plate girders are susceptible to web buckling due to slender web. This phenomenon creates an undesirable failure mode and limits their ultimate load capacity. The use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite materials offers a good prospect of strengthening the slender web of plate girders to avoid web buckling. This paper presents the details of experimental testing of steel plate girders with nonrigid end posts. These girders were tested in three-point bending. The end shear panels of the girders were strengthened by glass FRP (GFRP) pultruded section stiffeners or glass fiber fabric composite. GFRP stiffeners were applied either vertically or along the compression diagonal in the shear panel. All strengthened panels failed by web shear buckling associated with a breakdown of the employed strengthening scheme. It was found that the shear capacity of the panel remained unchanged by replacing the steel stiffener with GFRP stiffeners in the end panel. The critical buckling load of the strengthened panels increased up to 44% compared to the unstrengthened panel. The shear capacities of the panels strengthened by the glass fabric composite and diagonal GFRP pultruded section were the highest and similar to each other. Both these panels resisted a 50% larger shear compared to the unstrengthened panel. The positions of the plastic hinges in all tested panels were the same due to the same ratio of panel length and depth of the web.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, and code generated or used during the study appear in the published article.
Acknowledgments
The first author wishes to acknowledge the financial support provided by the Department for Transport (DfT), United Kingdom, and NED University of Engineering and Technology, Pakistan. The first author would also like to express gratitude to Professor Ian M. May who supervised his PhD thesis, Mr. Brian Bell (Network Rail), Mr. Simon Frost (Walker Technical Resources), and other members of the Project Steering Group for their guidance and support during experiment design and testing. The first author also acknowledges the help from all the laboratory technical staff members of the School of the Built Environment at Heriot-Watt University, United Kingdom.
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Practice Periodical on Structural Design and Construction
Volume 29 • Issue 4 • November 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 18, 2023
Accepted: Apr 2, 2024
Published online: Jul 3, 2024
Published in print: Nov 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Dec 3, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Composite materials
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Engineering mechanics
- Fiber reinforced composites
- Fiber reinforced polymer
- Girders
- Material mechanics
- Material properties
- Materials engineering
- Panels (structural)
- Plate girders
- Plates
- Polymer
- Steel plates
- Strength of materials
- Structural behavior
- Structural engineering
- Structural members
- Structural strength
- Structural systems
- Synthetic materials
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