ADVANCED COMPOSITES MATERIALS FOR BRIDGES IN THE 21st CENTURY

摘要

Applications of advanced composite materials such as glass fibers, aramids or carbon fibers in polymer matrices are becoming increasingly important to extend the service life of our nation's bridge infrastructure into the 21st century.rnAdvanced composite materials, primarily developed and used to date in the defense and aerospace industries, offer unique mechanical and chemical characteristics in terms of strength, stiffness, durability and adhesion to conventional structural materials, with great potential for a wide variety of infrastructure rehabilitation applications. While past attempts to introduce advanced composite materials such as glass, aramid or carbon fiber polymer matrix composites to the civil construction area have been unsuccessful largely due to economic issues, recent advances in new and automated manufacturing processes and base material cost reductions can make advanced composite materials affordable to a degree, where, in combination with strengths, weight and ease of installation benefits, very competitive rehabilitation systems can be developed.rnRecent research efforts in the U.S. in general and at the University of California, San Diego, (UCSD), specifically address the development and application of advanced composites for seismic retrofitting and bridge infrastructure renewal in the form of automated polymer matrix composite (PMC) manufacturing and retrofit technology development for deficient concrete bridge columns, concrete deck replacement by all PMC bridge decks, and new all advanced composite bridge systems.