Development of a pedestrian bridge with GFRP profiles and fiber reinforced self-compacting concrete deck

摘要

In recent years, the number of pedestrian bridges built from composites materials has notablyincreased. The combination of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) profiles with fiber reinforced concrete(FRC) elements is being adopted in this type of structures, since the ductility, high post-cracking tensilestrength, compressive stiffness and strength of FRC can be combined with the benefits derived from theuse of FRP’s profiles to obtain high performance structural systems.In the context of the present work a 12 m long single span pedestrian bridge with two composite Iprofileswas designed. In terms of deflection requirements imposed by serviceability limit states, theinfluence of the height and thickness of GFRP (Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer) profiles, as well as theaddition of a thin layer of prestressed carbon fiber sheet in the bottom flange of the GFRP profile wasevaluated. Using software based on the finite element method, the structural behavior of the developedstructural systems was analyzed. Furthermore, two prototypes of this structural system were built andmonitored in order to assess their long-term deformational behavior when subjected to a loadingconfiguration correspondent to the load combination for the deflection serviceability limit states. Themain results obtained are presented and discussed.