Joint Transportation Research Program : Civil Engineering

Final report.PDFTech ReportFHWA/IN/JTRP-2011/04SPR-2943Bridge decksBridge superstructuresFiber reinforced polymersFiber reinforced materialsNondestructive testsTestsEvaluationIndianaPurdue University. Joint Transportation Research ProgramRodriguez-Vera, Rita E.Lombardi, Nicolas J.Machado, Marcelo A.S.Liu, JudySotelino, Elisa D.Purdue University. Joint Transportation Research ProgramIndiana. Dept. of TransportationUnited States. Federal Highway AdministrationNTL-HIGHWAY/ROAD TRANSPORTATION-Bridges and StructuresUS Transportation CollectionThe overarching goal of this study was to perform a comprehensive evaluation of various issues related to the strength and serviceabilityof the FRP deck panels that are available in the industry. Specific objectives were to establish critical limit states to be considered in thedesign of FRP deck panel, to provide performance specifications to designers, and to develop evaluation techniques for the deck panels inservice.Two different FRP panels were studied during the research project: a sandwich panel and a pultruded panel. The sandwich panel wasinitially selected for the rehabilitation case study bridge. However, for a variety of reasons outside of the scope of this study, both thesandwich panel and the initial case study bridge were dropped from consideration. A new case study bridge was selected, and newproposals from FRP deck manufacturers were solicited. At that time, the pultruded deck was selected. Analysis and experimental resultsrelated to both FRP deck panels are included in this report, as information from both decks is relevant to the overarching goal of thisstudy.In November 2009, Sugar Creek Bridge became the first bridge in Indiana to be rehabilitated with an FRP bridge deck. An extensivestudy, including literature review, analysis, and load tests, suggest that the installed deck should perform well, with web buckling as theultimate failure mode at a factor of safety of 5. Deflection limits, generally an issue with FRP decks, are satisfied with the installed deck.Meanwhile, some combination of acoustic emission methods, infrared thermography and a newly developed traveling truck deflectionmethod show promise for non-destructive evaluation of the deck in-situ and identification of damage such as delamination of the wearingsurface or web buckling. However, such methods have shown variability and could be prohibitively labor-intensive. Therefore, furtherevaluation is needed if such methods are to be pursued