Journal of Composites for Construction

This paper presents a synthesis of the design provisions of the Canadian Highway Bridge Design Code for fiber-reinforced structures. These include structures reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymer and fiber-reinforced concrete (FRC). The provisions apply to fully, or partially, prestressed concrete beams and slabs, non-prestressed concrete beams, slabs, and deck slabs, FRC deck slabs of slab-on-girder bridges, stressed wood decks, and barrier walls. Test methods to confirm the tensile strength of fiber-reinforced polymer and the postcracking strength of FRC are given.

A full-scale model of a bridge deck slab isotropically reinforced with 0.3% fiber-reinforced plastic reinforcement (FRP) was tested. The 6 m long slab of 185 mm thickness had two 2 m spans and 1 m cantilevers on both sides. The slab was first loaded monotonically to crack the concrete. Then it was loaded cyclically in three stages of 4 million cycles each at a frequency of 5 Hz, with the load varying between 0 and 100 kN in the first two stages and between 0 and 125 kN in the last. Finally, it was loaded monotonically to failure. Constructability of the slab with the FRP reinforcement was found satisfactory. The cyclic load test shows that deflections and stresses are small, and the degradation indicated by increases in deflections and stresses after 4 million cycles of overloading by 25% is very small. The ultimate load capacity of the slab was at least five times the maximum wheel load of 100 kN, and the failure mode was punching shear. Long-term performance of FRP reinforcement under the combined effect of exposure to the chemical environment and loading needs to be studied to evaluate durability, and hence cost-effectiveness, of FRP reinforcement in bridge decks.

The objective of this paper is to define a rigorous numerical method to calibrate parameters of a given local bond-slip relationship using experimental results of pullout tests, taking into account the distribution of the slip and bond shear stress throughout the bar. The proposed method involves finding parameters of a given bond-slip relationship, such that results of pullout tests can be predicted in terms of applied pullout force and consequent slip at the loaded end and slip at the free end. The method is applied to some experimental data, and the results are discussed. For the application of the proposed method, two analytical expressions of the bond-slip relationship are selected, even though it could be applied to any analytical expression. An example of determination of anchorage length starting from the knowledge of the local bond-slip relationship is given.

This report describes the installation and testing of a fiber-reinforced polymer composite highway bridge located in Butler County, Ohio. The bridge was designed to meet AASHTO HS-20 load requirements based on strength and maximum deflection. The installation demonstrated fiber-reinforced polymer composite highway bridges could be installed in significantly less time than a traditional reinforced concrete bridge. When fully loaded the bridge deflected less than the maximum AASHTO HS-20 deflection values.