New Device and Methodology for Evaluating the Shear Behavior of Steel Bridge Deck Pavement Pasted by GFRP Sheets

摘要

The pasting of glass-fiber-reinforced-plastic (GFRP) sheets is a relatively new technique that can improve the stiffness of a steel bridge deck pavement structure. Using a new innovative preloading and shear loading testing method with an in-house testing device coupled with a servo-hydraulic testing machine, shear tests of cuboid composite pavement (CCP) samples were conducted to derive individual dissipated energy values for each sample for indexing the testing results and determining the best operational conditions for a steel bridge deck pavement. Unlike prior studies, the new device and methodology used a preloading process and a symmetrical shear test to study the interlaminar shear behavior between the CCP samples. An orthogonal experimental design was followed to determine the impact of each influence factor on the interlaminar shear behavior, such as the roughness of the GFRP sheet contact surface, the testing temperature of the samples, the bonding material between each different interfacing material, and the positive shear test pressure applied during the tests. The results indicate that a steel bridge deck composite pavement structure can reach its optimal performance when the interface between the asphalt mixtures and a GFRP sheet uses a spreading of 2.36-4.75-mm fine aggregate with a 0.5 kg/m~2 epoxy asphalt bonding material, and when the GFRP sheet and the steel bridge deck interface uses an epoxy bonding.