PDF Format REPORT 1

INVESTIGATIONS OF FRP BRIDGE
DECK
A Project Report
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the
Award of the Degree of
Bachelor of Technology
In
Civil Engineering
Submitted by
Gajendra Singh
Roll No.- 1403069, Enrolment No.140396
Aditya Raj
Adamala Tejaswini
Under the supervision of
Prof. Ajay Kumar

(Assistant Professor)
Department of Civil Engineering

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PATNA
PATNA- 800 005
MAY 2018
INVESTIGATIONS OF FRP BRIDGE DECK
A Project Report
Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the
Award of the Degree of
Bachelor of Technology
In
Civil Engineering
Submitted by
Gajendra Singh
Aditya Raj
Adamala Tejaswini
Under the supervision of
Prof. Ajay Kumar

(Assistant Professor)
Department of Civil Engineering

PATNA- 800 005
MAY 2018
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CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION
I, hereby, declare that the work, which is being presented in this dissertation entitled
“INVESTIGATIONS OF FRP BRIDGE DECK”, in the partial fulfillment of the
requirement for the degree of “Bachelor Of technology” in Civil Engineering, submitted
in the department of civil engineering, National Institute of Technology Patna is an
authentic record of my own work carried out under the supervision of
Dr. Ajay Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute
of Technology Patna.
Date:-
Place:-
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PROJECT EVALUATION SHEET
THE
PROJECT ENTITLED
INVESTIGATIONS OF FRP BRIDGE DECK
Submitted by
GAJENDRA SINGH (1403069)
ADITYA RAJ (1403076)
ADAMALA TEJASWINI (1403078)
EXAMINED AND FOUND ………………………………….... FOR THE AWARD OF THE

DEGREE OF BACHELOR OF TECHNOLOGY IN CIVIL ENGINEERING.
INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER HEAD OF

DEPARTMENT
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING,

MAY 2017
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I would like to take this opportunity to express my profound sense of gratitude and sincere
thanks to my guide Dr. Ajay Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Civil
Engineering, NIT Patna, for helping and a great source of inspiration. His keen interest
and constant encouragement gave me the confidence to complete my work. I wish to
extend my sincere thanks for his excellent guidance and suggestions for the successful
completion of this work.
My sincere thanks goes to Dr. Ramakar Jha, Head of the Civil Engineering Department,
for extending the computational and other facilities of the department.
I would like to thank the faculty and staff of the Civil Engineering Department, NIT
PATNA for their immense help throughout the tenure of my research work.
Lastly, I feel immense pleasure to express my sincere gratitude to my parents and also
thankful to all my friends for their continuous support and enthusiastic help.
National Institute of Technology (Gajendra Singh)

Patna, India. (Aditya Raj)
(A. Tejaswini)
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ABSTRACT
Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have been used in other industries for years,
but their use in highway bridge decks is relatively new. Many RCC bridges are showing
signs of distress due to corrosion of the reinforcements much before there design life
span. Use of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) bridge is increasing rapidly all over the
world due its many advantages over the conventional materials.
Over the past several years, however, many short span bridges have been built or
rehabilitated with FRP decks in the United States of America and many other developed
countries. Since all of these were designed and constructed without the benefit of
nationally accepted standards, there are varied lessons to learn from these projects.
Concrete bridge decks are subjected to severe environmental conditions and heavy traffic
loads. They sometimes account for major portion of a bridge structures dead load.
Reduction in dead load increases the allowable live load capacity of the bridge without
significantly repair to the existing super structure and sub-structure and thus lengthen its
service life. The high strength, high fatigue resistance, Low density and excellent
corrosion resistance of composite panels are desirable characteristics for bridge
applications especially bridge decks. Being a thin walled structure, their behavior is
governed by stability criteria.
In this project work a FRP bridge deck configuration having a sandwich structure with
web core and face skins are investigated. These configurations dramatically reduce the
weight of the deck and also reduce the chances of possible modes of failure due to the
design loads.
In the present study, initially the problems of FRP web core sandwich bridge deck
subjected to uniform pressure is analyzed by developing a Finite Element Model of the
FRP web core bridge deck by using ABAQUS. As such the Finite Element Model based
on ABAQUS is used to generate many new results for FRP bridge deck subjected to
Indian loading standards (IRC).
A parametric study has been carried out for the FRP web core bridge deck subjected to
IRC Class AA loading keeping in view the design requirements for their feasibility and
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safety with the serviceability criteria of deflection being also satisfied. Decks of various
spans, web configurations and depth are analyzed to arrive at an optimum design by
calculating deflections and stresses at important locations. The present numerical study
should be quite useful for further research and implementation of FRP web core decks in
India in near future.
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CONTENTS
Candidate’s declaration
Acknowledgement
Abstract
Contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 General
1.2 Current scenario in India
1.3 Composites vs. Traditional steel and concrete
1.4 FRP Composites.
1.5 Advantages of FRP
1.6 Review of development of FRP in bridge engineering
1.7 Finite Element Method
1.8 General Introduction to FRP deck system
1.9 Deflection estimation
1.10 Objective of present investigation
1.11 Organization of thesis
CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 Literature Review
CHAPTER 3 MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION
3.1 First Order Deformation Theory
3.2 General Introduction
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3.3 Details of Modeling and Assumptions
3.3.1 Part module
3.3.2 Property module
3.3.3 Assembly module
3.3.4 Step module
3.3.5 Interaction module
3.3.6 Load module
3.3.7 Mesh module
3.3.8. Job module
3.3.9 Visualization module
3.4 Element Description
3.4.1 Shell Element
3.4.2 Assumptions
3.5 Modeling of FRP web core bridge deck
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 General
4.2 Convergence study
4.2.1 Rectangular FRP bridge deck
4.4.2 Comparison of results
4.3 Parametric study
4.3.1 Problem 1
4.3.2 IRC Class AA loading
4.3.3 Problem 2
4.3.4 Graphical variation of maximum deflection with various spans
and web configurations.
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CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION
5.1Summary and Conclusions
5.1.1. Conclusions
5.2 Scope of future researches
CHAPTER 6 REFERENCES
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figure Figure Caption Page no.

No.
1.1 Stress-strain diagram for the steel and FRP materials
1.2 Comparison of dead load of concrete and FRP bridge deck
1.3 Types of Laminated composites (a) Laminated composite
(solid) (b) Web core sandwich composite
1.4 Sandwich web core bridge deck component.
1.5 Pultrusion shapes
1.6 Foam core bridge deck with foam surrounded by skins
3.1 Coordinate system and layer numbering used for a typical
laminate.
3.2 Different elements used in ABAQUS

3.3 Description of nodes in the elements
3.4 Continuum shell and Conventional shell
3.5 Web core created
3.6 Editing of top and bottom plate
3.7 Assembled section with web core highlighted in red
3.8 Assembled parts with interaction
3.9 Application of uniform pressure in the load module
3.10 Meshing of assembled parts
3.11 Visualization of the deflection contour obtained through
ABAQUS
4.1 Stress contour of S11 : Span=2.5m, web configuration=10
webs, depth=300mm
4.2 Deflection U magnitude contour: Span=2.5m, web
configuration=25 webs, depth=150mm
4.3 Deflection contour: Span=2.5m, web configuration=10
webs, depth=180mm
4.4 Stress contour of S12: Span=4.5m, web configuration=20
webs, depth=150mm
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4.5 Deflection contour: Span=4.5m, web configuration=25
webs, depth=300mm
4.6 IRC Class AA tracked vehicle
4.7 U magnitude contour: Span=4m, web configuration=20
webs, depth=700mm
webs, depth=100mm
4.9 Deflection contour: Span=6m, web configuration=16 webs,
depth=300mm
4.10 Deflection contour: Span=8m, web configuration=20 webs,
depth=900mm
webs, depth=300mm
4.12 Deflection contour: Span=12m, web configuration=10
webs, depth=300mm
4.13 U Magnitude contour: Span=12m, web configuration=16
webs, depth=700mm
webs, depth=500mm
webs, depth=100mm
4.16 U Magnitude contour: Span=18m, web configuration=16
webs, depth=300mm
webs, depth=500mm
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LIST OF TABLES
Table No. Table Caption Page No.

3.1 Material properties and geometric parameters of the model
4.1 Material properties and geometric parameters of the FRP
bridge deck in Problem 1
4.2 Material failure stress values
4.3 Deflection and stress values for various web
configurations and depth for a span of 2.5m
configurations and depth for a span of 4.5m
4.5 Material properties and geometric parameters of the FRP
bridge deck in Problem 2
configurations and depth for a span of 4m
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1. GENERAL
In the past few years, highway bridge decks constructed from the Fiber Reinforcement
Polymeric (FRP) materials have been a subject of a great deal of research interest. Despite
the considerable advantages and opportunities offered by the FRP composites, there still
exist significant challenges that must be overcome before this class of emerging materials
can be used as widely as conventional materials such as timber, concrete and steel in
bridge infrastructure.
In the last few years, great progress has been made in the use of Fiber-Reinforced Plastic
materials in specialized branches of civil engineering, particularly bridges. Several bridge
deck and superstructure systems, made only of composite materials, have been
constructed to solve problems associated with conventional bridge construction using
steel and concrete. A few years ago, demonstration, Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP) skew
bridge was construction the New York state highway system to evaluate the long term
durability and cost efficiently of replacing deteriorated short span bridges. This bridge is
a Fiber Reinforced Plastic skew sandwich superstructure with a parallel rib core grid. A
detailed finite-element analysis was performed by the manufacture as part of the design.
Simple methods to verify the results were not available for designers. Finite-element
method is a powerful technique for designing such a structure.
Many reinforced concrete bridges throughout the United States on country and state
highway systems are deteriorated and/or distressed to such a degree that structural
strengthening of the bridge or reducing the allowable truck loading on the bridge by load
posting is necessary to extend the service life of the bridge. As a result, finer reinforced
polymer (FRP) composite systems appear the best option that satisfied the issues of cost
efficient and load-rating improvement criteria.
1.2 CURRENT SCENARIO IN INDIA:
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In India, the results of a hurriedly conducted survey of the 5600 bridges out of a total of
6500 by the Union Ministry of Surface Transport (MST) during September-October
2014, has the alarm bells going haywire. The ministry now faces the daunting task of
constructing over 650 bridges in advanced stages of decay. The survey has also marked
20 bridges as “highly distressed”, 680 in need of major repairs and other 2000 for routine
repairs. The survey found as many as 50% of the bridges to be precarious to same degree.
The accusing finger is aimed directly towards the conceptualization “on, construction and
quality of maintenance, highlighted by the fact that several bridges constructed in the past
5 to 10 years figure high on the list. The surveyors have estimated a massive expenditure
of around Rs 400 crore. According to B.P. Marwah, Deputy Secretary, Indian Road
Congress (IRC), “The situation is precarious. If something is not done immediately, many
bridges might well be past recovery. The government agencies are yet to react, although
many such situations have led to disasters in the past. There is also a need to rethink
policies because construction methods are strictly jacked by inadequate conceptual
specifications.”
1.3. COMPOSITES. Vs. TRADITIONAL STEEL AND CONCRETE:

To date, most prefabricated bridge decks have been used prestressed concrete or open
steel grid systems. Both are proven technologies, but each has problems. Prestressed
concrete is heavy and therefore difficult to transport and install. Its high specific gravity
translates to significant “dead weight”, reducing a bridge’s true cape city. Furthermore,
pressurized concrete is becoming increasingly expensive and like poured concrete- is
prone to swelling and cracking. This exposes reinforcing rebar to corrosion, necessitating
regular maintenance and limiting the bridge’s service life. Open steel grid decks used on
movable bridges corrode quickly, require significant, frequent and costly maintenance,
and have even shorter life expectancies.
Composites decks, first used for U.S. bridge construction during the early 1990s,
addressed some of these issues. Made with lightweight, corrosion-resistant materials, they
increased carrying capacity for a given design, improved worker safety and reduced
transportation and installation costs because components were easy to move. When
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covered with a wear surface, they also provided significantly longer life, making them
cost competitive when true lifecycle costs are calculated.
Unfortunately, first generation composite decks presented challenges, too. In many cases,
costs ran higher than projected. There was installation problems because structural
adhesives were used to join deck components, couldn’t be used in cold, wet heather. Also
because fiber-reinforced polymer(FRP) deck components used solid or sandwich panel
composites, connecting parts to clips or studs on the bridge superstructure was difficult
because installers, able to see through or around them easily, were dripping holes for
attaching “blind”.
1.4 FRP COMPOSITES:

The composites consist of two components: fibers and matrix. The fibers create 30% to
70% from the volume of the composite and 50% of its weight. The main functions of
fibers are to carry the load and provide stiffness, strength, thermal stability and other
structural properties to the FRP. The fibers in FRP composites must have high modulus
of elasticity, high ultimate strength, low variation of strength among fibers, high stability
of their strength during handing and high uniformity of diameter and surface dimension
among fibers. The matrix ensures the position and alignment of the fibers, protection from
damage during manufacture and manipulation, durability of the composite as well as the
protection from influence of environment. It is also responsible for the distribution of the
loads on the individual fibers. There are more types of fibers dominating in civil
engineering structures: carbon (CFRP), glass (GFRP), aramid (AFRP) or basalt (BFRP)
fibres.
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Fig1.1:Stress-strain diagram for the steel and FRP materials
Carbon fibre
Carbon is produced from a petroleum pitch, rayon, or polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor

filaments. PAN- based one is used in CFRP for structural reinforcement and
strengthening due to its resulting high quality and strength characteristics. The carbon
fibers have a high tensile strength and modulus of elasticity. They are not susceptible to
aggressive environment and high temperatures. There are two types of carbon fibers:
fibers with high tensile strength (HS) and fibers with high modulus of elasticity (HM).
The main disadvantage of carbon fibers is their higher price. They tend to be 10 to 30
times more expensive then the fibers form glass.
Glass fiber
Glass fiber is by far the most predominant fiber used in the reinforced polymer industry
and among the most versatile. In reinforced concrete structures there are used many
varieties of glass fibers:
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AR-glass – Alkali resistant glass made with zirconium silicates. It is resistant to the
alkaline environment found in concrete but have much higher cost. Used in Portland
cement substrates.
E-glass – Alkali free, highly electrically resistive glass made with alumina-calcium
borosilicate. E-glass is known in the industry as a general-purpose fiber for its strength
and electrical resistance. It is the most commonly used fiber in the FRP composite
industry.
S-glass – High strength glass made with magnesium aluminosilicates. Used where high
strength, high stiffness, extreme temperature resistance, and corrosive resistance is
needed.
E-glass is by far the most used and the least expensive one. Glass composites are used
where higher stiffness of the carbon or aramid fibers is not required.
Aramid fibers
Aramid is a synthetic fiber made from the polymer aromatic polyamide. Aramids are
rapidly degraded by ultraviolet light and therefore they must be coated or painted. A FRP
also absorb moisture. Strength and stiffness decreases with water contact or in high
humidity environments. Aramid filers have best tensile strength to the density ratio.
Aramid fibers are of the lowest density is about 40% lower than glass.
1.5 ADVANTAGES. OF FRP:

In the past decades, lightweight bridge deck systems are being made from Fiber
reinforced polymer (FRP). Composites have been developed and experimentally
Implemented in bridge structures. Israelis made the first pedestrian FRP composite bridge
in 1975.Since then composite sandwich construction is placing a increasingly import tent
role in the design of structures because of its exceptionally high flexural stiffness to
weight ratio .FRP is made of non-corrosive and nonmetallic materials, which means that
it is not subject to the corrosion issues that are common to steel. In addition, it has been
shown to possess high tensile strength, and the newer generation of FRP bars can provide
adequate ductility, which makes them suitable for structural uses. In addition, performing
pieces for on-site construction can save time and energy and enable structures to be
erected very quickly, cutting down on labor costs.
According to the Construction Industry Institute, glass FRP bar may be a suitable
alternative for steel reinforcing in architectural concrete, concrete exposed to de-icing
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salts, exposed to marine salts, or used near electromagnetic equipment. FRP can be used
for repair and maintenance, FRP may be put in place permanently, without concern of
replacement necessitated by corroded materials. In addition, it does not require significant
amounts of demolition be done beefier repairs can be made. FRP “fabric” or sheets can
be wrapped around concrete columns or beams to increase stiffness and durability. The
sheets are glued to structural members using powerful adhesives, requiring less time and
effort for installation than steel plates.
Major advantages of fiber reinforced composites on traditional structural/construction

materials can be listed as:
• Lightweight (reduce the weight of conventional bridge by 70-80%)
• High directional strength
• High corrosion resistance
• High weather resistance
• High dimensional stability
• Non-magnetic
• Radar Transparency
• High dielectric strength
• Low maintenance
• Long term durability
• High impact strength
• Ease in construction and can be put into service in relatively short time.
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Fig 1.2: Comparison of dead load of concrete and FRP bridge deck
1.6 REVIEW OF DEVELOPMENT OF FIBER-REINFORCED

POLYMER COMPOSITES IN BRIDGE ENGINEERING
Civil engineers have used FRP composites for several decades.
• In 1976, Israel built the first FRP composite bridge.

• In 1986, Germany built the world’s first highway bridge using FRP composite
reinforcing tendons.
• In 1982, China constructed the first FRP composite bridge deck.
• In 1992, Scotland demonstrated the first all-FRP cable-stayed pedestrian bridge.
• In the US, the first FRP- reinforced concrete bridge deck was built in 1996 in Mc
Kinley Ville, West Virginia.
• In the same year, the first all composite (FRP) vehicular bridge deck was installed in
Russell, Kansas.
Today, there are hundreds of completed and ongoing bridge projects using FRP
composite materials all over the world. These projects belong to two categories,
1. Bridge Renewal: Primarily big structures rehabilitation and bridge superstructure
replacement.
2. New Bridge Construction: Bridge structures made Entirely of FRP composted
(primarily for pedestrian bridges): concrete bridges with FRP- rebar reinforcement,
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FRP wrapped concrete piles or pylons, and external FRP cable stays; protective or
secondary structural systems etc.
1.7. FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

The finite element method as we know it today seems to have originated with Courant in
1943.Courant determined the torsional rigidity of a hollow shaft by dividing the cross-
section into triangles and interpolating a stress function linearly over each triangle from
the values of it at nodes.
The name finite element was coined by Clough in 1960. Many new elements for the stress
analysis were soon deployed. In 1963, finite element analysis acquired respectability in
academic when it was recognized as a form of the Rayleigh-Ritz method. Thus finite
element analysis was seen not just as a special trick for stress analysis but as a widely
applicable method having a sound mathematical basis.
General purpose computer programs or codes for finite element analysis emerged in the
late 1960’s and early 1970’s, computer graphics of increasing power have been attached
to finite element software, making finite element analysis attractive enough to be used in
actual design. Computational demands of practical finite element analysis are so
extensive that computer implementation is mandatory. Analysis those involved more than
100,000 degrees of freedom are not uncommon.
Finite element analysis is a method for numerical solution of field problems. A field
problem requires determination of the spatial distribution of one or more dependent
variables. Mathematically, a field problem is described by differential equations or by
integral expressions. Either description may be used to formulate finite elements.
Individual finite elements can be visualized as small pieces of a structure. In each finite
element a field quantity is allowed to have only a simple spatial variation. The actual
variation in the region spanned by an element is almost certainly more.
In more and more engineering situations today, we find that it is necessary to obtain
approximate numerical solutions to problems, rather than exact closed form solutions.
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Elements are connected at points called nodes and the assemblage of elements is called a
finite element structure. The particular arrangement of elements is called a mesh. How
the finite element method works can be summarized in the following general terms:
1. Discretize the continuum: The first step is to divide the continuum or solution into
elements. A variety of element shapes may be used and different element shapes may
be employed in the same solution region.
2. Select interpolation function: The next step is to assign the nodes to each element
and then choose the type of interpolation function to represent the variation of field
variable over the element.
3. Find the element properties: Once the finite element model has been established the
matrix equation expressing the properties of the individual elements is ready to be
determined.
4. Assemble the element properties to obtain the system equations: The matrix
equations expressing the behavior of the entire solution region or system.
5. Solve the system equations: The assembly process of the preceding step gives a set
of simultaneous equations that can be solved to obtain the unknown nodal values of
the field variable.
1.8 GENERAL INTRODUCTION TO FRP DECK SYSTEMS

The most commonly used reinforcements in FRP deck systems are glass fibers/fabrics,
occasionally carbon fibers, or a hybrid of carbon and glass for higher stiffness. Carbon
fibers are attractive for their very high specific strength and stiffness as well as fatigue
resistance. However, glass fibers/fabrics currently dominate the market due to their low
cost compared to carbon fibers. Polyester or vinyl ester matrices are commonly employed
as binders.
There are two major types of FRP decks currently in use: sandwich structures and
adhesively bonded, pultruded ships. Sandwich structures consist of strong, stiff face
sheets that can carry flexural loads and a low-density, share resistant core bonded between
a top face sheet and a bottom face sheet that can provide compost action.
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Fig 1.3: Types of Laminated composites (a) Laminated composite (solid) (b) Web core
sandwich composite
Face sheets are usually composed of E-glass mat and/or roving infused with a polyester
or vinyl ester resin. Core materials are rigid foams or thin wall cellular FRP materials,
such as those shown. Cellular materials are the most efficient core materials for weight-
sensitive applications. Open or closed mould hand layup manufacturing methods used in
sandwich construction make it easy to change materials, orientations, and thickness of
FRP face sheets or core. This gives designers great flexibility to meet depth and deflection
requirements.
The FRP deck is formed by bonding stiff and strong sheets on top and bottom of a shear
resistance core. The core has webs with different configurations and filler materials.
Typical web core configurations includes box-shaped, X-shaped with vertical members,
X-shaped only, V-shaped only, inverted V-shaped with vertical members, H-shaped and
trapezoidal soaped. The web orientation may be one way along longitudinal direction or
two ways along both longitudinal and transverse directions.
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Fig 1.4: Sandwich web core bridge deck component
The decks may be manufactures very efficiently through pultrusion process. Several
decks constructed with those pultruded shapes are shown.
Fig:1.5Pultrusion shapes
The pultrusion processing method can fabricate high performance, continuous length, and
constant cross section FRP structural parts. However, this method cannot produce larger
parts such as bridge deck panels, because of technical difficulties and cost considerations
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most currently available commercial decks are constructed using assembly of adhesively
bonded, pultruded shapes. The pultruded shapes are typically aligned transverse to the
traffic direction. In such kind of shapes local buckling, shearing or de-lamination of
internal stiffness under concentrated wheel loads can also contribute to a loss in overall
stiffness. There is a greater flexibility with the sandwich- constructed decks to produce
structures of varied depth and therefore stiffness.
In case of FRP box- type bridge deck supported by few longitude webs there will always
be problem of local buckling in between the webs. So by increasing the number of webs
we can minimize the local effect but rigorous calculations require for change in number
of webs and change in thickness of deck is a major problem. So a standardized web core
with longitudinal and transverse webs provided on small intervals gives a viable solution
for different optimum depths, less calculations and negligible problem due to local
effects. A typical FRP web core bridge deck system is shown below:
Structural sandwich composted have been widely used in many areas such as aircrafts,
ship hulls, wind turbine blades, offshore oil Platforms, bridge decks due to their superior
structural capacity in carrying transverse loads, superior bending stiffness, low weight,
and excellent thermal insulation and acoustics damping. That typically consists of
surfacing plates (skins) and light-weight cores. The main duty of skins in sandwich
compost is carry the transverse load or bending moment while the core takes care of
separating and fixing the skin, carrying the transverse shear load and providing other
structural or functional duties such as impact tolerance, radiation shielding and etc.
Recently, many new types of cross section have been proposed for the bridge decks and
one of them is the foam-filled bridge deck, where the empty space of the rectangular
section was filled by soft foam. The foam filled inside the space of the deck provides a
distributed support to any local buckling of the lamina and mitigated the moment
concentration at the web flange joint.
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Fig 1.6: Foam core bridge deck with foam surrounded by skins
1.9. DEFLECTION ESTIMATION

The specifications for deflections have invited a number of questions regarding the
serviceability design of FRP bridge decks. The discrepancy can attributed to the way in
which FRP bridge decks are currently designed. The AASHTO load and resistance factor
design specifications, deflection limits for steel, aluminum and concrete constructions
under live loads are provided as optional. The criteria are stated as optional because, at
present there are no definite guidelines for the limits of tolerable static deflection or
dynamic motion due to vehicular traffic.
Under general vehicular loads, the deflection of a structural element is limited to the span
length divided by 800(span/800). For RC bridge decks, the approach for controlling
deflections is indirect. In particular, a minimum depth (tmin) is stated in following
equation (Dumlao et.al 1996)
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Tmin = 1.2(Span+10)/30 where span is in ft.
The commentary to the AASHTO LRFD specification states that the purpose of the above
criteria is twofold-
To prevent excessive deflections that may cause damage to the wearing surfaces
applied to bridge decks
To provide for rider comfort.
At present, no criteria are given for FRP compost constructions. For the time being, FRP
bridge deck designers quantify deck performance in terms of criteria developed for
conventional materials. Further experience will determine if these criteria developed for
conventional materials.
Due to lower value of the elastic modulus of FRP materials, the FRP bridges are expected
to suffer more deformation than the other conventional bridges (steel etc.). However, a
suitable section of FRP configuration which will provide more stiffness may compensate
the effect of lower elastic modulus.
Unfortunately there is no guideline in any Indian standards (IS and IRC) regarding the
deflection checking for FRP bridges. In this study, the maximum allowable deflection
criterion is taken into consideration to evaluate the deflection of skew FRP bridge deck
i.e. the span length divided by 800(span/800)
1.10. OBJECTIVE OF PRESENT INVESTIGATION
Indian road bridges have to grow and modernize itself in a big way, so that new material
can be used by replacing conventional material for the strengthening, replacement,
rehabilitation of deteriorated bridges without delaying the existing traffic and increasing
its live load capacity.
• The objective of the present work is to develop an efficient and reliable finite element
model for the analysis of FRP bridge deck.
• The finite element software ABAQUS is many used for the following purposes.
1. To develop a finite element model of FRP bridge deck using ABAQUS software.
2. Static analysis of FRP bridge deck.
3. Parametric study of FRP bridge deck.
4. Economic guidelines for FRP bridge deck.
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1.11 ORGANISATION OF THESIS
The content of the thesis is organized in six chapters, which are as follows:
General information and a brief abstract are presented about the FRP in general and the
work done in the thesis.
In CHAPTER 1, general information along with a brief overview on the current state of
knowledge on FRP bridge decks is given detail with special emphasis on reduction of
dead load. Finally the objective of the present work is discussed.
In CHAPTER 2, Literature review of the FRP models have been discussed
In CHAPTER 3, a mathematical formulation for the composites is presented and also
details of the FE package with the Finite Element Modeling in ABAQUS, element
description, assumptions and analysis procedures for FRP web core bridge deck.
In CHAPTER 4, different numerical problems are solved considering rectangular
sandwich bridge decks. The validation of the models is done by solving some of the
problems taken from the literature. The convergence study is carried out for the proper
prediction of mesh size of the models. Results in the form of graph, tables and images are
presented in this section.
In CHAPTER 5, the conclusion of the present study is presented including the scope of
the future research on the subject.
In CHAPTER 6, a list of references is presented at the end.
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CHAPTER-2
LITERATURE REVIEW
REVIEW ON FRP:
Christos (1993) developed a unified set of composite micro mechanics equations of

simple form to predict unidirectional composite (ply) mechanical properties using
constituent material (fiber/matrix) properties. Using those set of micro mechanics
equations, it is possible to generate all the ply material properties needed for inputs to the
structural analysis of composite structures.
Aref and Parsons (1997) developed a simplified optimization procedure for a novel fiber
reinforced plastic bridge system. The objective function considered in the study is the
minimization of the weight of the bridge and constraint is that the vertical deflection
should be less than L/800 as imposed by AASHTO. The design variables are the thickness
of the plies. The bridge system has been modeled using a homogeneous, anisotropic
Kirchhoff plate that has the same global stiffness characteristics of the bridge system.
Pisani (1998) performed a numerical investigation on the behavior of beams pre-stressed

with GFRP. The numerical method was checked by simulating the behavior of 21
experimental tests. The same analyses were then repeated after changing the type of pre-
stressing bonded, unbounded, internal, and external and the type of cable steel, GFRP.
The conclusion based on the work is that GFRP or Aramid FRP tendons can satisfactorily
replace steel strands to pre-stress beams placed in an unfavorable environment. GFRP
cables were found to be reliable when dealing with external pre-stressing, while AFRP
cables are suitable in bonded pre-stressing.
Srivastava (1999) investigated the effects of water immersion on mechanical properties

such as flexural strength; Inter-laminar shear strength and impact energy of aluminum tri-
hydrate and polyethylene filled and unfilled quasi-isotropic glass fiber reinforced epoxy
vinyl ester resin composites (GFRP). Inter-laminar shear strength and flexural strength
were obtained with the variation of immersion time (0, 98, 158, 190 and 240 days) and
weight percent of filler content (0, 5, 10 and 15). The author has concluded that the
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flexural strength, Inter-laminar shear strength and impact energy increased with
increasing filler content in GFRP composites.
Hamilton and Dolan (2000) carried out durability studies on FRP reinforcements for
concrete and concluded that the normal environmental temperature domains of civil
engineering structures, including freeze-thaw exposure, short-term exposure to salt water,
alkali attack at low stress levels do not affect the bonded FRP response. It was suggested
that coatings or fillers can be used to limit UV and ozone attack.
Davalos et al (2001) described a combined analytical and experimental characterization

of FRP honeycomb panels. The core consisted of in-plane sinusoidal cells extending
vertically between top and bottom face laminates. A combined micro / macro mechanics
were used to predict face laminate elastic properties, and the core equivalent properties
were obtained by a homogenization technique combined with an energy method and a
mechanics of materials approach. The analytical model predictions were found to
correlate well with the FE modeling (using ANSYS 5.5) and experimental results. It was
concluded that the equivalent orthotropic properties developed in the study can be used
in design analyses of FRP sandwich panels used for highway bridge decks.
Hollaway and Cadei (2002) estimated the cost savings over steel, when fiber reinforced
composites are used for rehabilitation works. It was mentioned that though the fiber
composites are 4 to 20 times as expensive as steel in terms of unit volume, cost savings
of the order of 17.5% can be achieved compared with steel, when FRP material is used,
and installation costs and traffic management costs are included. Two kg of FRP material
was reported to replace 47 kg steel on an equal strength basis.
Yeol Kim et al (2003) proposed a modified Genetic Algorithm (GA) based process for
the optimal design of GFRP bridge deck having a pultruded cellular cross-section and
surmised that the developed algorithm is capable of optimizing the structure and material
for GFRP deck system simultaneously. The results of the optimization indicated that
trapezoidal cross-section is an optimum shape for GFRP deck. The stiffness of deck was
identified as a critical parameter for the design. The results of sensitivity analysis
indicated that the geometrical design variables are more sensitive than those of materials
and that the deflection profile was greatly influenced by the thickness of flanges, while
the local buckling load was sensitive for the dimension of the web.
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Taljsten (2004) presented a short summary on past and ongoing research in the area of
plate bonding and concluded that considerable improvements in flexural behaviour can
be achieved by employing innovative techniques such as prestressed NSRM (near surface
mounted reinforcement) of rectangular carbon fiber rods and the use of cementitious
bonding agents in combination with advanced composite materials.
Daly and Cunningham (2005) worked on “Performance of a fiber- reinforced polymer

bridge deck under dynamic wheel loading” The paper depicts the examination did to
inspect the execution of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) span decks under neighborhood
wheel stacking. The goal of the examination was to deliver a draft standard giving
nonexclusive outline prerequisites for specialized endorsement of FRP deck frameworks.
The venture incorporated the definition of outline rules for weakness. Tests were done on
a full-scale glass FRP span deck under static and element wheel stacking. The heaps were
forced utilizing the Trafficking Test Facility, which duplicates the impacts of the wheel
of a substantial merchandise vehicle.
Chiewanichakorn et al (2006) studied the behaviour of a truss bridge, where an FRP deck
replaced an old deteriorated concrete deck experimentally and validated through finite
element models. Finite element model of the Bentley Creek Bridge was developed using
the pre-processor package, MSC PATRAN and the analysis was performed using the
general purpose FEA package, ABAQUS to determine fatigue life of the bridge when
subjected to dynamic loading caused by AASHTO fatigue live load. Fatigue life of all
truss members, floor-beams and stringers were determined based on a fatigue resistance
formula in the AASHTO-LRFD design specifications. The numerical results agreed well
with experimental results.
Karbhari et al (2007) provided details of investigation of strengthening efficiency of FRP

rehabilitated bridge deck slabs through tests conducted on slab sections cut from a bridge
just prior to demolition. The deck sections (one unstrengthened, and two strengthened
using FRP composites) were subjected to routine traffic prior to removal and testing. The
authors have concluded that the two rehabilitation schemes resulted in enhancement of
capacity of the specimens in conjunction with a better load distribution resulting in the
transformation of failure mode from punching shear to more ductile flexural failure. The
specimen strengthened with wet layup based fabric strips had a strength enhancement of
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around 73% and the specimen strengthened with pultruded strips had a strength
enhancement of around 59%, as compared to the control specimen.
Alagusundaramoorthy and Reddy (2008) studied the load- deflection behaviour of GFRP
composite deck panels under static loading. Three prototype GFRP composite deck
panels each with a size of 3000mm × 1000mm × 300mm were fabricated using hand lay-
up process and tested under a factored load of AASHTO HS20/IRC Class A wheeled
vehicle. The deck panels were analyzed using the standard FE software, ANSYS.
Maximum deflection and strain at factored load, and flexural and shear rigidities were
calculated in the FE analysis and compared with the experimental data, and also with the
specifications given by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODoT), USA. From this
study, it was concluded that the fabricated GFRP deck panels satisfied the performance
criteria specified by ODoT and can be used in berthing structures, bridges in coastal
regions, offshore oil platforms and also in seismic prone areas.
Moon et.al (2009) investigated the fatigue behaviour of the foam- filled GFRP bridge
deck in the transverse direction which is an intermediate type between the modular type
deck and the sandwich type. Four different types of the specimens were prepared and
tested with different stress ratios. The failure mode and the change in stiffness by the
foam inside the deck were reported. The role of the foam was very clear. It was observed
that it reduced the damage accumulation in the web-flange joint efficiently. Compared to
the reference case which was not filled, the endurance of limit of the foam-filled deck
was remarkably increased.
Almansour and Cheung (2010) analyzed all-advanced composite bridge superstructure

(E-glass - Vinyl ester) formed from laminated FRP box girder and chopped FRP deck
slab. The bridge had two lanes of 3.75 m each and its performance was examined for
Canadian highway bridge design code with a non-linear anisotropic FE model and
compared to a traditional slab on prestressed concrete bridge. Maximum deflection of the
bridge for all laminate design cases were within the acceptable range, the distribution of
deformations being unsymmetrical. The increase of the laminate thickness resulted in
decreasing the resultant displacement field, increasing natural frequencies and decreasing
the Tsai-Hill Failure Function. The results indicated that its deflection is higher than the
short term deflection of the slab on prestressed girder bridge but close to the long term
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deflection of that same bridge and that the AAC gives lower flexural natural frequencies
than those of the slab on prestressed concrete girder bridge.
Nicolas and Liu (2011) carried out experiments to increase the stiffness of a commercial
GFRP honeycomb sandwich panel through the inclusion of steel within the cross section.
GFRP-steel hybrid parametric studies were conducted to evaluate improvements on the
GFRP honeycomb deck panel stiffness. Possible configurations included the embedment
of steel plates within the face sheets and the placement of steel tubes within the core. Core
stiffness analyses were also performed, leading to the development of the steel hexagonal
honeycomb core concept. An experimental study, including large-scale beam tests, was
conducted. The large-scale tests were performed to assess the equivalent flexural and
shear stiffness, comparing the hybrid steel core concept and the current GFRP core
design. From the large- scale beam test results, an overall stiffness increase was observed.
King et al (2012) outlined the Load and Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) of Fibre
Reinforced Polymer composite (FRP) panel highway bridge deck. The deck would be of
a sandwich construction where 152.4 mm × 152.4 mm × 9.5 mm square pultruded glass
FRP (GFRP) tubes are joined and sandwiched between two 9.5 mm GFRP plates. The
deck would be designed by Allowable Stress Design (ASD) and LRFD to support
AASHTO design.
Vincent and Ozbakkaloglu (2014) investigated the Development of lateral prestress in

high strength concrete-filled FRP tubes. They experimentally investigated into the axial
and lateral strain development of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) confined high-strength
concrete (HSC) with prestressed FRP shells. Prestressed CFFT specimens were prepared
with 3 different dose rates of expansive mineral admixture to create a range of lateral
prestress applied to AFRP tubes manufactures with sheet thickness of 0.2 or 03 mm/ply
and referred to as lightly or well confined.
Ferrier and Rabinovitch (2016) analyzed the Mechanical behaviour of concrete-

resin/adhesive-FRP structural assemblies under low and high temperatures. The
investigations tests double lap shear joints a temperature-controlled chamber under
temperatures in the range of -40-120 degrees C. The emphasis is on the response of the
layered structure to the combined mechanical and environmental loading.
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Aslani and Kohnehpooshi (2017) worked on the Structural behavior of FRP strengthened
reinforced concrete shear walls with openings using finite element method. Reinforced
concrete shear walls with features such as high stiffness, good performance in
earthquakes and high bearing capacity are widely used as convenient and reliable
structural systems in medium and high rise reinforced concrete buildings.
Morgado and Rosa (2018) outlined the Shear behavior of GFRP composite materials at
elevated temperature. The experiments were carried out to investigate the shear behavior
of pultruded glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) profiles. The outcomes were to
quantify the changes in the in-plain shear modulus and strength caused by temperature
increase, namely glass transition temperature (Tg) of the material is exceeded and to
assess the accuracy of different analytical models in simulating those changes.
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CHAPTER 3
MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION
In this section, mathematical formulations for laminated composites are presented based
on first order shear deformation theory.
3.1 FIRST ORDER SHEAR DEFORMATION THEORY:

Laminated composite plates are widely used in the aerospace, automotive, marine and
other structural applications because of advantageous features such as high ratio of
stiffness and strength to weight and low maintenance cost. In company with the increase
in the application of laminate in engineering structures, a variety of laminated theories
have been developed to predict its behavior. A critical review of more recent works on
the development of laminated theories can be found in Refs. [1,2]. These theories can be
classified as equivalent single layer (ESL), layer-wise and zigzag theories. The ESL
theories can be divided into three main categories: classical plate theory (CPT), first-order
shear deformation theory (FSDT), and higher-order shear deformation theories (HSDTs).
The CPT ignores shear deformation effects and provides reasonable results for thin
laminates. However, it underestimates deflection and overestimates buckling load and
frequency of moderately thick or thick laminates where shear deformation effects are
more pronounced. The FSDT proposed by Reissner and Mindlin accounts for shear
deformation effects by the way of linear variation of in-plane displacements through the
thickness. Since the FSDT violates the equilibrium conditions on the top and bottom
surfaces of the plate, a shear correction factor is required to compensate for the difference
between actual stress state and assumed constant stress state.
Theoretical formulation
Kinematics
In this study, further simplifying assumptions are made to the existing FSDT so that the
number of unknowns is reduced. The displacement field of the existing FSDT is given by
𝑢1 = (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = 𝑢(𝑥, 𝑦) + 𝑧𝜑𝑥
𝑢2 = (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = 𝑢(𝑥, 𝑦) + 𝑧𝜑𝑦
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𝑢3 = (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = 𝑢(𝑥, 𝑦) + 𝑧𝜑𝑧
where u, v, w, φx and φy are five unknown displacement functions of the mid plane of the
plate; and h is the thickness of the plate. By dividing the transverse displacement w into
bending and shear parts (i.e., w = wb + ws) and making further assumptions given
by φx = −∂wb/∂x and φy = −∂wb/∂y, the displacement field of the new theory can be
rewritten in a simpler form as
𝜕𝑤𝑏
𝑢1 (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = 𝑢(𝑥, 𝑦) − 𝑧
𝜕𝑥
𝜕𝑤𝑏
𝑢2 (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = 𝑢(𝑥, 𝑦) − 𝑧
𝜕𝑦
𝑢3 (𝑥, 𝑦, 𝑧) = 𝑤𝑏 (𝑥, 𝑦) + 𝑤𝑠 (𝑥, 𝑦)
Clearly, the displacement field in Eq. (2) contains only four unknowns (u, v, wb, ws). In
fact, the idea of partitioning the transverse displacements into the bending and shear
components
The nonzero strains associated with the displacement field in Eq. (2) are:
𝜕𝑢 𝜕 2 𝑤𝑏
∈𝑥 = −𝑧
𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥 2
𝜕𝑢 𝜕 2 𝑤𝑏
∈𝑦 = −𝑧
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑦 2
𝜕𝑢 𝜕𝑢 𝜕 2 𝑤𝑏
𝛾𝑥𝑦 = + − 2𝑧
𝜕𝑦 𝜕𝑥 𝜕𝑥𝜕𝑦
𝜕𝑤𝑠
𝛾𝑦𝑧 =
𝜕𝑥
𝜕𝑤𝑠
𝛾𝑥𝑧 =
𝜕𝑦
Constitutive equations
Consider a rectangular plate of total thickness h composed of n orthotropic layers with

the coordinate system as shown in Fig. 1. Under the assumption that each layer possesses
a plane of
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Elastic symmetry parallel to the x–y plane, the constitutive equations for a layer can be
written as where Qij are the material constants in the material axes of the layer given as
Fig 3.1: Coordinate system and layer numbering used for a typical laminate.
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Since the laminate is made of several orthotropic layers with their material axes oriented
arbitrarily with respect to the laminate coordinates, the constitutive equations of each
layer must be transformed to the laminate coordinates (x, y, z).
The stress–strain relations in the laminate coordinates of the kth layer are given as
With θ being the angle between global x-axis and local x-axis of each lamina.
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3.2 GENERAL
It is already mentioned that the present study for the analysis of FRP bridge deck system
is mainly done by using FEM software ABAQUS. In this chapter the detail steps used in
applying the finite element software, ABAQUS is described to develop the finite element
model for the FRP web core bridge deck. The modeling technique and the element
description are described in detail.
3.3 DETAILS OF MODELING AND ASSUMPTIONS

In this section, a brief introduction to ABAQUS is given for the better understanding of
its working methodology.
ABAQUS/CAE is a complete ABAQUS environment that provides a simple, consistent
interface for creating, submitting, monitoring and analyzing results from
ABAQUS/STANDARD and ABAQUS/EXPLICIT simulations. .ABAQUS / CAE is
divided into modules, where each module defines a logical aspect of the modeling
process, for example, defining the geometry, defining the material properties, defining
sections, generating mesh etc. As one moves from module to module, you build the
model from which ABAQUS/CAE generates an input file that you submit to the
ABAQUS/STANDARD or ABAQUS/ EXPLICIT analysis product. The analysis product
performs the analysis, sends information to ABAQUS/ CAE to allow to monitor the
progress of the job, and generates an output database. Finally, you see the visualization
module of ABAQUS/CAE to read the output database and view the results and view the
results of your analysis.
To model a structure/element following steps are involved.

3.3.1 The part module
The part module is used to create, edit, and manage the parts in the current model.
ABAQUS/CAE stores each part in the form of an ordered list of features. The parameters
that define each feature I.e. extrude depth, whole diameter, sweep path, etc. combine to
define the geometry of the part.
The part module allows doing the following:
Create deformable, discrete rigid or analytical rigid parts. The part tools also allow
you to edit and manipulate the existing parts defined in the current model.
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Create the features solid, shells, wires, cuts and rounds that define the geometry of the
part.
Use the feature manipulation toolset to edit, delete, suppress, resume and regenerate a
part’s features.
Assign the reference point to a rigid part.
Use the sketcher to create, edit, and manage the two-dimensional sketches that form
the profile of a part’s features. These profiles can be extruded, revolved, or swept to
create part geometry, or they can be used directly to form a planar or ax symmetric
part.
Use the set toolset, the partition toolset, and the datum toolset. These toolsets operate
on the part in the current viewport and allows you to create sets, partitions, and datum
geometry, respectively.
3.3.2 The property module

You specify the properties of a part or part region by creating a section and assigning
it to the part. In the most cases, sections refer to materials that you have defined. Beam
sections also refer to profiles that you have defined. You Create materials, profiles, and
sections using the property module.
You can use the property module to perform the following tasks:
Define materials
Define beam sections profiles.
Define sections.
Assign sections, orientations, normal, and tangent to parts.
Define skin reinforcement.
Define inertia (point mass, rotary inertia, and heat capacitance) on a part.
Define springs and dashpots between two points or between a point and ground.
3.3.3 The assembly module

When you create a part, it exists in its own coordinate system, independent of other
parts in the model. In contrast, you use the assembly mode to create instances of your
parts and to position the instances relative to each other in a global coordinate system,
thus creating the assembly. You position part instances by sequentially applying position
constraints that align selected faces, edges, or vertices or by applying simple translations
and rotations.
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An instance maintains its association with the original part. If the geometry of a
part changes, ABAQUS/CAE automatically updates all instances of the part to reflect
these changes, you cannot edit the geometry of a part instance directly.
A part instance can be thought of as a representation of the original part. You can create
either independent or dependent part instances. An independent instance is effectively a
copy of that part. A dependent part instance is only a pointer to the part, partition, or
virtual topology’s a result, you cannot mesh a dependent instance. However, you can
mesh the original part from which the instance was derived, in which case
ABAQUS/CAE applies the same mesh to each dependent instance of the part.
3.3.4 The step module

Step module performs the following tasks:
Create analysis steps: Within a model you define a sequence of one or more analysis
steps. The step sequence provides a convenient way to capture changes in the loading and
boundary conditions of the model, changes in the way parts of the model interact with
each other, the removal or addition of parts, and any other changes that may occur in the
model during the course of the analysis. In addition steps allow you to change the analysis
procedure, the data output, and various controls. You can also use the steps to define
linear perturbation analysis about nonlinear base states. You can use the replace function
to change the analysis procedure of an existing step.
Specify output requests: ABAQUS writes output from the analysis to the output
database; you specify the output by creating output requests that are propagated to
subsequent analysis steps. An output request defines which variables will be output
during an analysis step, from which region of the model they will be output, and at what
rate they will be output. For example, you might request output of the output of the entire
models displacement field at the end of a step and also request the history of a reaction
force at a restrained point.
Specify adaptive meshing: You can define the adaptive mesh regions and specify
controls for adaptive meshing in those regions.
Specify analysis controls: You can customize general solution controls and solver
controls.
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3.3.5 The interaction module
Interaction module is used for the following purposes:
Contact interactions
Elastic foundations.
Thermal film conditions.
Radiation to and from the ambient environment.
Incident waves.
Acoustic impedance.
A user defined actuator/sensor interaction.
Tie constraints.
Rigid body constraints.
Display body constraints.
Coupling constraints.
Shell-solid coupling constraints.
Embedded region constraints.
Equation constraints.
Connector section assignments.
Inertia.
Cracks.
Springs and dashpots.
Interactions are step dependent objects, which mean that when you define them, you must
indicate in which steps of the analysis they are active. Similarly, you can define an
interaction with a user-defined actuator/sensor only during the initial step.
The set and surface toolsets in the interaction module allow you to define an name
regions of your model to which you would like interactions and constraints applied.
ABAQUS/CAE does not recognize mechanical contact between part instances or regions
of an assembly unless that contact is specified in the interaction module, the mere physical
proximity of two surfaces in an assembly is not enough to indicate any type of interaction
between the surfaces.
3.3.6 The load module

Load module defines and manages the following prescribed conditions:
Loads
Boundary conditions
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Predefined fields
Load cases
Prescribed conditions in ABAQUS/CAE are step dependent objects, which mean that you
must specify the analysis steps in which they are active. You can use the load, boundary
conditions and predefined field managers to view and manipulate the stepwise history of
prescribed conditions. You can also use the step list located under the toolbar to specify
the steps in which new loads, boundary conditions, and predefined field become active
by default.
The amplitude toolset in the load module used to specify complicated time or frequency
dependencies that can be applied to prescribed conditions. The set and surface toolsets in
the load module allow you to define and name regions of your model to which you would
like to apply prescribed conditions.
Load cases are sets of loads and boundary conditions used to define a particular loading
condition. You can create load cases in static perturbation and steady state dynamic, direct
steps.
3.3.7 The mesh module

The mesh module allows you to generate meshes on parts and assemblies created within
ABAQUS/CAE. Various levels of automation and control are available so that you can
create a mesh that meets the needs of your analysis. As with creating parts and assemblies,
the process of assigning mesh attributes to the model such as seeds, mesh techniques, and
element types-is feature based. As a result you can modify the parameters that define a
part or an assembly, and the mesh attributes that you specified within the mesh module
are generated automatically.
The module provides the following features:
Tools for prescribing mesh density at local and global levels.
Model coloring that indicates the meshing technique assigned to each region in the
model.
A variety of mesh controls, such as :
I. Element shape
II. Meshing technique
III. Meshing algorithm
IV. Adaptive remising rules
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A tool for assigning ABAQUS/Standard and ABAQUS/Explicit element types to mesh
elements. The element can belong either to a model that you created or to an orphan
mesh.
A tool for verifying mesh quality.
Tools for refining the mesh and for improving the mesh quality.
Tools for saving the meshed assembly or selected part instances as an orphan part.
3.3.8 The job module

Once you have finished all of the tasks involved in defining a model (such as
defining the geometry of the model, assigning section properties, and defining contact),
you can use the job module to analyze your model. The job module allows you to create
a job, to submit it to ABAQUS/standard or ABAQUS/Explicit for analysis, and to
monitor its progress. If desired, you can create multiple models and jobs and run monitor
the jobs simultaneously. In addition, you have the option of creating only the analysis
input file for your model. This option allows you to view and edit the input file before
submitting it for analysis. You can create and submit a job based on an existing input file
instead of an ABAQUS/CAE model.
3.3.9 The visualization module

The visualization module provides graphical display of finite element models and
results. It obtains model and result information from the output database, you can control
what information is placed in the output database by modifying output requests in the step
module. ABAQUS/CAE reads analysis results from the output database. Output database
results consist of those you have saved during the analysis as field and history output
variables.
3.4 ELEMENT DESCRIPTION

ABAQUS has an extensive element library to provide a powerful set of tools for solving
many different problems.
Five aspects of an element characterize its behavior:
Family
Degrees of freedom (directly related to the element family)
Number of nodes
Formulation
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Integration
Each element in ABAQUS has a unique name, such as T2D2, S4R, C3D8I, or
C3D8R.The element name identifies each of the five aspects of an element.
Family
Figure shows the element families that are used most commonly in a stress analysis. One
of the major distinctions between different element families is the geometry type that each
family assumes.
Fig 3.2: Different elements used in ABAQUS
The first letter or letters of an elements name indicate to which family the element
belongs. For example, S4R is a shell element, CINPE4 is an infinite element, and C3D8I
is a continuum element.
Degrees of freedom
The degrees of freedom are the fundamental variables calculated during the analysis. For
a stress/displacement simulation the degrees of freedom are the translations and, for shell
and beam elements, the rotations at each node etc.
Number of nodes and order of interpolation
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Displacements or other degrees of freedom are calculated at the nodes of the element. At
any other point in the element, the displacements are obtained by interpolating from the
nodal displacements.
Fig 3.3: Description of nodes in the elements
3.4.1 SHELL ELEMENT

Shell modeling consists of:
Choosing the appropriate shell element type
Defining the initial geometry.
Determining whether or not numerical integration is needed to definite the shell section
behavior
Defining the shell section behavior or “Using a general shell section to define the
section behavior.”
Conventional shell versus continuum shell

Shell elements are used to model structures in which one dimension, the thickness, is
significantly smaller than the other dimensions. Conventional shell elements use this
condition to discrete a body by defining the geometry at a reference surface. In this case
the thickness is defined through the section property definition. Conventional shell
elements have displacement and rotational degrees of freedom.
In contrast, continuum shell elements discrete an entire three-dimensional body.
The thickness is determined from the element nodal geometry. Continuum shell elements
have only displacement degree of freedom. From a modeling point of view continuum
shell elements look like three-dimensional continuum solids, but their kinematic and
constitutive behavior is similar to conventional shell elements.
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Fig 3.4: Continuum shell and Conventional shell
The ABAQUS/Standard shell element library includes:

Elements for three-dimensional shell geometries.
Elements for axisymmetric geometries with axisymmetric deformations.
Elements for axisymmetric geometries with general deformation that is symmetric
about one plane.
Elements for stress/displacement, heat transfer, and fully coupled temperature-
displacement analysis.
General purpose elements, as well as elements especially suitable for the analysis of
“thick” or “thin” shells.
General purpose, three dimensional, first order elements that use reduced or full
integration.
Elements that account for finite membrane strain.
Elements that use five degrees of freedom per node where possible, as well as
elements that always use six degrees of freedom per node, and
Continuum shell elements.
The ABAQUS/Explicit shell element library includes:
General purpose three-dimensional elements to model “thick” or “thin” shells that
account for finite membrane strains.
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Small-strain elements.
An element for axisymmetric geometries with axisymmetric deformation and
Continuum shell elements.
Shell elements are used to model structures in which one dimension, the thickness, is
significantly smaller than the other dimensions. Conventional shell elements use this
condition to discretize a body by defining the geometry at a reference surface. In this case
the thickness is defined through the section property definition. Conventional shell
elements have displacement and rotational degrees of freedom.
In contrast, continuum shell elements discrete an entire three-dimensional body.

The thickness is determined from the element nodal geometry. Continuum shell element
has only displacement degrees of freedom. From a modeling point of view continuum
shell elements look like three-dimensional continuum solids, but their kinematic and
constitute behavior is similar to conventional shell elements.
According to the survey of Robinson (1985), the shell element in ABAQUS is

accurate and less sensitive to skew angle. In this work we used the S4R element (4 node
doubly curved shell element, each node has six degrees of freedom) to model the top and
bottom surface, while selected S4R5 element (4node doubly curved thin shell element,
each node has 5 degrees of freedom) to model the web core. Both types of elements (S45
and S4R5) are reduced integrated to avoid shear locking. ABAQUS shell elements
assume that plane sections perpendicular to the plane of shell remain plane on the
application of load.
3.4.2 ASSUMPTIONS:
Some simplifying assumptions are consistently made while producing finite element
models. A general attitude towards these is to make as few as possible and to make them
in the manner that they do not affect the correctness of the analysis.
1. Top skin, web core and bottom skin do not slip from the joints on the application of
load i.e. hard contact is used. 2. Camber is omitted.
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3.5 MODELING OF FRP WEB CORE BRIDGE DECK
Steps involved in the modeling of web core bridge deck are discussed which is as
follows:
1. Part module: In this module, different parts are created having 3-dimensional
modeling space, deformable type having shell shape with planar type. In editing sketch,
grid spacing of 20. First part consisting of top plate of size 12 m *7.5 m is created in
sketch mode as shown. (a) Second part consisting of shell plates used in the formation of
webs is shown below.(b) And third part consisting of bottom plate with the same
dimension as top plate. The edges of plates for boundary conditions are selected and the
sets subpart as well as surfaces are selected for applying the loads and interaction in
surfaces subparts.
Fig 3.5: Web core created
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Fig 3.6: Editing of top and bottom plate
2. Property module: In this module, created parts are assigned with a section with
shell/composite types with all the laminates material, thickness, and orientation angle and
ply name for different parts i.e. top plate, bottom plate and web core plates. Material is
defined as elastic with the following data input: E1=23GPa, E2=18GPa, YLT=0.25,
G12=9GPa, G13=9GPa, G23=4.5GPa, Density=1826Kg/m3. Fiber orientation, number
of piles and total thickness for different parts is as
Table 3.1: Material properties and geometric parameters of the model:
Material Properties:
E1 E2 G11 G22 G12 YLT

23GPa 18GPa 9GPa 9GPa 4.5GPa 0.25
Structural Components Specification:
Fiber Orientation Component Number of plies Total thickness (mm)

(degrees)
0 Top Surface 7 12.8
90 Bottom Surface 7 12.8
45,-45 Web core 2 3.6
49 | P a g e
3. Assembly module: In this example, parts are selected as instances and assembled one
by one to get the final assembly as shown. In this module, instances are assembled by
using translate, rotate commands given in the instance toolbar.
Fig 3.7: Assembled section with web core highlighted in red
4. Step module: Loading of uniform pressure and boundary conditions of simply

supported will be reflecting in step 1 after assigning those values in load module. Field
output requester desired displacements and stresses given in this module.
5. Interaction module: In this example, all the three instances i.e. top plate, bottom plate
and web core is given the contact property as “Hard Contact” which allows the instances
to remain in position without slip. The assembled parts were connected each other. These
connections were created using the tie constraints and node to surface contact interaction.
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The tie constraint ties the two separate surfaces so that there is no relative motion between
them. It constrains each of the nodes on the slave surface have the same value of
displacement as the point on the master surface to which it is closest as shown in the
figure.
Fig 3.8: Assembled parts with interaction
6. Load module: The loading module is used to apply a uniform pressure load of 10000
Pa which will be reflected in step 1 of the step module.
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Fig 3.9: Application of uniform pressure in the load module
6. Mesh module: In this module, top and bottom plate and web core are meshed with
global seed size of 0.5 for convergent studies as shown in the figure
Fig 3.10: Meshing of assembled parts

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8. Job module: After applying all the above procedure and data, job is created and
submitted for analysis.
9. Visualization module: In this module, after analysis deflected shape and their values
can be visualized. Stresses and Strains can also be visualized in this module as shown in
the figures.
Fig 3.11: Visualization of the deflection contour obtained through ABAQUS
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CHAPTER-4
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
4.1 GENERAL
In this section, different numerical problems have been solved for the FRP composite
bridge deck structure; the various problems that have been solved in this present work
have been identified below
Analysis of FRP web core bridge deck structure
- Static analysis of Fiber Reinforced Polymer web core bridge deck structure (For
self-weight and IRC Class AA tracked load)
- Static analysis of Fiber Reinforced Polymer web core bridge deck structure (For self
weight and uniform patch load)
The finite element models using ABAQUS software are used for different cases to
validate the already published results for deflections. The convergences of the present
results are studied for different mesh divisions and the results are also compared with
published results. Finally many new results for deflection and stress are generated for
different spans for web core bridge deck based on IRC loading which should be useful
for future references.
4.2 CONVERGENCE STUDY

In finite element modeling, a finer mesh typically results in a more accurate solution.
However, as a mesh is made finer, the computation time increases. To manage the
accuracy and computing resource, there is a need to perform a mesh convergence study
as follows:
Create a mesh using the fewest, reasonable number of elements and analyze the
model.
Recreate the mesh with a denser element distribution, reanalyze it and compare the
results to those of the previous mesh.
Keep increasing the mesh density and re-analyzing the model until the results
converge satisfactorily.
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This type of mesh convergence study can enable us to obtain an accurate solution
with a mesh that is sufficiently dense and not overly demanding of computation
resources.
4.2.1 RECTANGULAR FRP BRIDGE DECK

The core matrix of the FRP web core bridge deck was constructed from “cell core” to
provide the composite deck with stiffness in both longitudinal and transverse directions.
The core system is wrapped by outer shell to perform the integral unit.
Material properties:
E1 E2 G11 G22 G12 YLT

Structural component specifications:

(degrees)
45,- Web core 2 3.6
45
The convergence study of maximum deflection has been done. A graph is plotted by
taking the deflection on y-axis and mesh divisions on x-axis as shown in the figure
10.13 Graph of Convergence study
10.
9.88
9.75
9.63
1 0.9 0.8 0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3
55 | P a g e
On X axis- Mesh size (global size)
On Y axis-Deflection (mm)
From the above graph 0.5 global seed size is the most optimum mesh division for
rectangular FRP bridge deck for the convergence of the results. Hence, thereafter FRP
web core bridge deck have been solved for this mesh division. And the results have been
obtained for various loading conditions.
4.2.2 COMPARISON OF RESULTS FOR FRP WEB CORE BRIDGE DECK

In this section, a rectangular bridge deck is taken into consideration for analysis. Before
finding the stresses, the deflections have been compared with already published results
for validation of the Finite Element Model of the bridge deck. The material properties,
geometric parameters and the structural component specifications are tabulated above.
The uniform pressure of 10000Pa is applied on the top of the deck in downward direction.
The deflection results are tabulated in table as follow
Comparison of deflection for rectangular bridge deck:
Deflection FEM Results (mm) (Aref Present analysis (mm)

et.al.2001)
Maximum 9.447 9.793
4.3 PARAMETRIC STUDY

In this section, various bridge deck profiles problems have been solved. The problems of
bridge deck structure that have been solved for parametric study are mentioned below.
Static analysis of Fiber Reinforced Polymer web core bridge deck structure (For self-
weight and IRC Class AA tracked load
These rectangular web core bridge decks are taken for study under IRC class AA tracked
loading for their feasibility on Indian road conditions. For this purpose, geometric
parameters have been changed for the purpose of developing optimum model to take care
of IRC Class AA loading. The deflections and stresses are found for mentioned loading
and checked for its feasibility under maximum deflection criterion.
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4.3.1 Problem 1
The problem that has been solved in this section involves the web core profile of the
bridge deck structure. The problem that have been solved under the umbrella of web core
profile is the Static analysis of Fiber Reinforced Polymer web core bridge deck structure
(For self-weight and uniform pressure applied on patch made of concrete of dimensions
0.8m length and width of 1m)
In this problem, the web core bridge deck has been modeled for various spans, ranging
from 2.5m to 8.5m whereas the width of the bridge is considered as 1m in all the cases;
the deck has been loaded with uniform pressure of 110KN in addition to the self-weight.
The depths of the decks for various spans has also been optimized to check for the
deflection criteria as due to lower value of the elastic modulus of FRP materials, the FRP
bridges are expected to suffer more deformation than other conventional bridges.
Rectangular FRP bridge deck with uniform patch loading:
In this case, material properties, geometric parameters and structural component
specifications are as given in table.
Table4.1: Material properties and geometric parameters of the FRP bridge deck in
problem 1
Frp:
E1 E2 G11 G22 G12 YLT
Concrete:
Density Young’s Modulus YLT
2500 2GPa 0.25
57 | P a g e

(degrees)
0,90,0 Top Surface 3 11
0,90,0 Bottom Surface 3 11
45,- 45 Web core 2 11
STATIC ANALYSIS OF FRP WEB CORE BRIDGE DECK:

Case 1: Span 2.5m
We have considered three web configurations i.e. 10, 20 and 25 webs, and also given are
the details of structural component specifications with geometric parameters.

(degrees)
45,- 45 Web core 2 11
For the 2.5m span, we have started with the depth of 100mm. We see that the deflection
value is within the limits itself. If it’s not within the limits, to keep the value of deflection
within the prescribed limit, we need to increase the depth of the deck. The height of the
deck has to be increased by 25% and so on; ultimately a depth is reached where the deck
deflection satisfies the governing deflection criteria that are the optimized depth. The
loads to be applied on the deck has been calculated considering the effects of impact, and
for the purpose of applying the loads on the track portion in ABAQUS, this loading has
been converted into pressure by dividing this load by track area.
The material used in the analysis of the bridge deck is Glass/Vinyl ester QM6407 plies.
The material failure stresses are for the above material has been tabulated in the table
below.
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Table 4.2: Material failure stress values:
Material failure stresses Magnitude
XT (MPa) 230
XC (MPa) 341
YT (MPa) 219
YC (MPa) 225
S(MPa) 80
Table 4.3: Deflection and stress values for various web configurations and depths
for a span of 2.5m
Web Depth(mm) Maximum U S11 S22 S12

configuration deflection magnitude (MPa) (MPa) (MPa)
(mm) (mm)
150 0.873 35.000 111.900 40.790 28.870
180 0.708 25.580 90.530 35.431 24.190
10 webs 200 0.632 21.330 78.960 34.390 22.130
220 0.557 18.120 70.600 31.830 20.143
250 0.476 14.580 60.760 28.540 17.540
300 0.367 10.732 48.680 24.530 15.010
150 0.407 32.070 99.610 35.540 25.110

180 0.396 23.710 82.190 45.650 20.130
20 webs 200 0.389 19.940 73.150 45.690 19.210
220 0.376 17.010 65.860 41.482 17.920
250 0.355 13.750 57.120 36.000 16.220
300 0.325 10.170 46.380 31.690 14.700
150 0.323 29.000 90.220 41.200 28.210

25 webs 180 0.320 21.710 78.620 33.380 21.510
200 0.337 18.510 70.620 34.880 21.230
220 0.324 15.900 63.970 32.460 18.000
250 0.320 12.970 55.900 29.250 14.670
300 0.298 9.692 45.811 26.270 13.560
For all the web configurations, all the properties of deck is kept as per the above table,
only difference of depth has been made in each web configuration, as can be seen from
the table above the deflection value is within the prescribed limits for all the depths but
the stress is to be taken into consideration.
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It is observed that by increasing the depth of web core, deflection has been considerably
reduced.
The possible reason for this decrease in deflection is, as the top and bottom skin move
away from the neutral axis, it allows the increase of section modulus (I/y) of the deck
resulting in reduction of the deformations.
Where I= Moment of inertia
y= distance of neutral axis from extreme fiber
As the elastic modulus of FRP section is low as compared to steel, the scope of increasing
the stiffness of structure lies in moment of inertia alone. And this can be done by
increasing the depth of the core material. As maximum deflection is inversely
proportional to the modulus of elasticity and moment of inertia i.e. flexural rigidity (EI),
increase in depth decreases the maximum deflection keeping the FRP properties
unchanged.
As can be seen in the table that all stresses decrease as the depth increases. The normal
stresses are always greater than shear stress. 𝝈𝟏𝟏 is always greater than 𝝈𝟐𝟐 for all web
configurations. The top of skin of the central portion is under compression while the
bottom skin is under tension.
Fig 4.1: Stress contour plot for S11: Span=2.5m, web configuration=10 webs,
depth=200mm
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Fig 4.2: Deflection magnitude contour: Span=2.5m, web configuration=25 webs,
depth=150mm
Fig 4.3: Deflection contour: Span=2.5m, web configuration=10 webs, depth =180mm
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Case 2: Span 4.5m

(degrees)
45,- 45 Web core 2 11
For the 4.5m span, we have started with the depth of 100mm. We see that the deflection
for a span of 4.5m
Web Depth(mm) Maximum U S11 S22 S12
configuration deflection magnitude (MPa) (MPa) (MPa)
(mm) (mm)
150 0.874 264.200 305.300 101.500 57.660
180 0.819 187.000 248.000 85.370 46.420
10 webs 200 0.791 152.600 218.700 86.740 44.330
220 0.756 127.400 196.100 78.650 40.050
250 0.706 100.120 169.600 68.880 34.960
300 0.584 56.200 94.440 39.240 22.950
150 0.855 261.500 283.400 112.300 53.500

180 0.801 185.000 229.800 94.200 45.880
20 webs 200 0.764 150.800 202.100 95.250 47.090
220 0.729 125.800 181.000 86.130 42.820
250 0.680 98.680 156.200 75.110 37.620
300 0.621 69.170 126.300 65.610 34.160
150 0.786 261.200 282.400 93.690 51.250

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25 webs 180 0.753 184.920 229.700 79.250 40.880
200 0.739 150.700 203.000 83.760 46.500
220 0.712 125.800 182.220 76.180 42.410
250 0.670 98.760 157.600 67.040 37.410
300 0.614 69.870 127.800 59.360 32.340
the stress is to be taken into consideration
reduced.
unchanged.
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Fig 4.4: Stress contour of S12: Span=4.5m, web configuration=20 webs, depth=150mm
Fig 4.5: Deflection contour: Span=4.5m, web configuration=25 webs, depth=300mm
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4.3.2 IRC Class AA loading
IRC class AA tracked vehicle has been used for the purpose of loading of deck. This
loading consists of a tracked vehicle of 700KN with dimensions as shown in the figure
below. The tracked vehicle simulates a combat tank used by army
Fig 4.6: IRC class AA tracked vehicle
The ground contact length of the track is 3.6m and nose to tail length is 7.2 m. The nose
to tail distance between two successive vehicles shall not be more than 90m. The class
AA tracked loading is to be adopted for bridges located within certain specified municipal
loyalties and specified freeways. As the span of bridge is more than 5.3m, minimum
clearance is taken as 1.2m from the free loading edge and same has been incorporated in
the ABAQUS models.
4.3.3 Problem 2
The problem that has been solved in this section involves the web core profile of the
bridge deck structure. The problem that have been solved under the umbrella of web core
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profile is the Static analysis of Fiber Reinforced Polymer web core bridge deck structure
(For self-weight and IRC Class AA tracked load)
In this problem, the web core bridge deck has been modeled for various spans, ranging
from 6m to 24m whereas the width of the bridge is considered as 7.5m in all the cases;
the deck has been loaded with IRC class AA tracked loading in addition to the self-weight
to check the feasibility of the FRP bridge deck on the Indian roads. The depths of the
decks for various spans has also been optimized to check for the deflection criteria as due
to lower value of the elastic modulus of FRP materials, the FRP bridges are expected to
suffer more deformation than other conventional bridges.
Rectangular FRP bridge deck with IRC class AA tracked vehicle loading
In this case, material properties, geometric parameters and structural component
specifications are as given in table and analyzed for class AA loading,
Table4.5: Material properties and geometric parameters of the FRP bridge deck in
problem 2
E1 E2 G11 G22 G12 YLT

Fiber Orientation Component Number of plies Total thickness

(degrees) (mm)
45,-45 Web core 2 3.6
STATIC ANALYSIS OF FRP WEB CORE BRIDGE DECK:

Case 1: Span 4m
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(degrees) (mm)
45,-45 Web core 2 3.6
For the 4m span, we have started with the depth of 100mm. We see that the deflection
below.

XT (MPa) 230
XC (MPa) 341
YT (MPa) 219
YC (MPa) 225
S(MPa) 80
67 | P a g e
for a span of 4m
Web Depth Maximum U S11(MPa) S22(MPa) S12(MPa)
Configuratio (mm) Deflection magnitude
n (U2)(mm) (mm)
100 2.992 81.640 159.623 117.200 18.334
10 webs 300 2.990 36.480 107.600 78.832 20.137
500 2.898 25.960 82.930 60.250 21.310
700 2.686 20.300 68.140 49.170 21.890
100 1.779 75.540 172.8 137.900 58.160
16 webs 300 1.782 23.800 92.86 70.970 17.980
500 1.558 14.870 63.700 47.430 17.810
700 1.371 11.340 49.700 36.340 17.660
100 1.434 67.910 71.360 55.210 44.520
20 webs 300 1.210 17.320 54.560 39.840 15.460
500 1.016 9.837 38.65 28.310 15.451
700 0.883 7.205 29.85 21.930 14.950
the stress is to be taken into consideration.
reduced.
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unchanged.
Fig 4.7: U magnitude contour: Span=4m, web configuration=20 webs, depth=700mm
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Case 2: Span 6m

(degrees) (mm)
45,-45 Web core 2 3.6
For the 6m span, we have started with the depth of 100mm. We see that the deflection
below.

XT (MPa) 230
XC (MPa) 341
YT (MPa) 219
YC (MPa) 225
S(MPa) 80
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Table 4.7: Deflection and steps values for various web configurations and depths
for a span of 6m
Configurati (mm) Deflection magnitude
on (U2)(mm) (mm)
100 5.980 264.700 296.700 217.770 34.709
10 webs 300 5.927 101.11 193.540 141.300 27.088
500 5.560 65.470 145.000 104.799 29.460
700 5.111 47.740 116.982 83.222 30.190
100 4.327 233.100 250.022 186.400 58.160
16 webs 300 3.757 66.589 145.400 107.900 17.980
500 3.276 39.960 106.606 78.380 17.810
700 2.933 29.360 85.555 62.420 17.660
100 4.260 235.580 303.900 231.000 50.590
20 webs 300 3.700 66.680 148.000 110.900 23.790
500 3.209 39.750 104.444 76.177 23.587
700 2.814 29.044 85.611 62.178 23.333
reduced.
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unchanged.
Fig 4.8: U Magnitude contour: Span=6m, web configuration=10 webs, depth=100mm
72 | P a g e
Fig 4.9: Deflection contour: Span=6m, web configuration=16 webs, depth=300mm
Case 3: Span 8 m:

(degrees) (mm)
45,-45 Web core 2 3.6
For the 8 m span, we have started with the depth of 100mm. We see that the deflection
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for a span of
8m
Configurati (mm) Deflection magnitude
on (U2)(mm) (mm)
100 8.942 653.100 445.500 386.300 226.200
10 webs 300 8.738 232.400 258.700 189.900 148.440
500 8.214 164.620 203.500 146.660 76.600
700 7.455 154.200 160.400 113.800 43.930
100 4.009 439.800 216.300 156.700 60.230
20 webs 300 3.848 98.420 108.300 78.940 59.130
500 3.185 93.960 76.070 56.210 42.100
700 2.729 109.100 60.510 44.990 27.170
100 4.212 426.600 487.400 89.470 41.830
16 webs 300 3.993 166.660 369.300 69.010 20.470
500 3.438 90.540 264.700 50.300 15.070
700 3.365 60.850 204.700 39.440 13.870
reduced.
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unchanged.
stresses are always greater than shear stress. 𝝈𝟏𝟏 Is always greater than 𝝈𝟐𝟐 for all web
bottom skin is under tension. It can also be seen that for different depths the stresses are
maximum for web configuration of 10 webs, then 16 and then for 20 web configuration.
Fig 4.10: Deflection contour: Span=8 m, web configuration=20webs, depth=900mm
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Fig 4.11: U Magnitude contour: Span=8 m, web configuration=20webs, depth=300mm
Case 4: Span 12 m

(degrees) (mm)
45,-45 Web core 2 3.6
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Table 4. 9: Deflection and steps values for various web configurations and depths
for a span of 12 m
n (U2)(mm) (mm)
100 13.800 1.696 809.711 785.800 387.100
10 webs 300 12.730 510.700 318.880 422.330 214.100
500 11.878 299.700 214.900 286.500 114.800
700 10.560 346.500 154.440 207.477 82.820
100 10.400 1.363 240.000 296.500 153.32
16 webs 300 6.824 292.200 169.400 162.330 136.200
500 5.510 173.120 138.400 105.600 67.360
700 4.799 151.400 113.000 85.250 35.810
100 10.210 1.259 289.700 210.900 88.120
20 webs 300 6.122 243.800 139.550 102.660 50.890
500 4.786 119.100 97.660 71.670 25.010
700 4.095 81.266 78.900 57.770 24.624
reduced.
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unchanged.
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Fig 4.13: U Magnitude contour: Span=12m, web configuration=16 webs, depth=700mm
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Case 5: Span 18 m

(degrees)
45,-45 Web core 2 3.6
value is within the limits itself. If it’s not within the limits, the to keep the value of
deflection within the prescribed limit, we need to increase the depth of the deck. The
height of the deck has to be increased by 25% and so on; ultimately a depth is reached
where the deck deflection satisfies the governing deflection criteria that are the optimized
depth. The loads to be applied on the deck has been calculated considering the effects of
impact, and for the purpose of applying the loads on the track portion in ABAQUS, this
loading has been converted into pressure by dividing this load by track area.
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for a span of 18 m
n (U2)(mm) (mm)
100 19.690 458.500 855.000 825.550 399.400
10 webs 300 16.830 957.300 448.600 339.000 184.400
500 15.050 436.500 275.600 206.500 97.714

700 12.890 314.500 193.700 144.440 64.020
100 21.890 3.967 566.000 413.800 64.380
16 webs 300 16.230 769.800 289.200 213.500 42.470
500 14.000 364.300 192.300 144.500 41.030
700 12.160 228.400 146.410 110.100 38.690

100 21.070 3.968 560.430 403.800 64.240
20 webs 300 16.120 770.900 280.880 212.980 41.710
500 13.640 364.300 191.030 142.870 40.510

700 11.740 227.900 146.280 110.200 38.190
reduced.
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unchanged.
Fig 4.15: Deflection contour: Span=18m, web configuration=10webs, depth=100mm
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Fig 4.16: U Magnitude contour: Span=18m, web configuration=16webs, depth=300mm
Fig 4.17: Deflection contour: Span=18m, web configuration=20webs, depth=500m

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4.3.4 Graphical variation of the maximum deflection for various spans
and web configurations:
(a)Graph below shows the span vs. deflection curve for depth 500mm and a web
configuration of 10 webs.
(b) Graph below shows the span vs. deflection curve for depth 500mm and a web
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(c) Graph below shows the span vs. deflection curve for depth 500mm and a web
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CHAPTER-5
ECONOMIC GUIDELINES
Cost analysis: There are two approaches one could use for cost analysis, Initial cost and
life cycle cost. Basically initially cost are the sub set of life cycle cost. When initial cost
is the major cost component, life cycle costing results will be similar to considering only
initial cost. However, when inspection, maintenance and disposal cost become dominant,
life cycle costing should be utilized.
Initial Cost
The initial costs include material and manufacturing costs, installation costs (labor,
equipment use) and transportation costs. They reflect the largest costs in most bridges
and are appropriate for a majority of the applications.
When comparing conventional and composite structures on the basis of initial costs, it is
clear that the direct initial cost favor conventional structures. The higher the initial cost
of the FRP bridge decks is expected due to the high fiber and resins costs. However, the
maintenance, rehabilitation, demotion, and indirect costs favor composite structures.
Projects with long lives require that life cycle costing be utilized, as polymer decks should
have reduced rehabilitation and maintenance costs. In order to competitive, it is felt that
the initial costs of FRP decks must be 2400 rupees/square foot in order to competitive
with reinforced concrete decks.
Life Cycle costs:

Life cycle costing (LCC) is defined as “The total cost of the system or product under
study over its complete life cycle or the duration of the period of study, whichever is the
shorter.” The study period of LCC is defined as the length of time over which an
investment is evaluated. Life cycle cost of FRP bridge decks includes the Initial
Fabrication and Erection costs, Maintenance/Inspection/Repair costs, and the disposal
costs.
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Initial cost study:
It is suggested that the cumulative ft. sq. of FRP bridge deck vs. average cost/ft. sq.) is
the most suitable model for estimating FRP bridge deck future initial cost. Different states
most probably will have different cost features of FRP bridge deck projects, due to
different pultrusion manufacturing involved, different labor costs, etc. The value of 2400
rupees/sq. ft. is selected to be the competitive price at which FRP decks would be
competitive with Steel Reinforced Concrete decks.
Cost equation obtained for the FRP bridges was C ($/ sq. ft.) = 18023*𝑵−𝟎.𝟓𝟗𝟓𝟗𝟔𝟔 . The
equation for unit cost basis is Cu ($/sq.ft) = 7282*𝑁 −0.595966 . Total area of FRP bridge
decks required to be built to get the same unit cost as concrete is approximately 15,000
sq.ft.
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CHAPTER-5
CONCLUSION
A simple and computationally efficient finite element model based on ABAQUS has been
presented in this work to study the behavior of following problems:
Static analysis of Fiber Reinforced Polymer web core bridge deck structure (For self-
weight and IRC Class AA loading )
From the results obtained, following broad conclusions can be made:
A finite element model based on ABAQUS gives extensive information regarding the
behavior of bridge decks including sandwich web core used in the present study.
Parametric study on FRP web core bridge deck having simply supported boundary
conditions at the supporting edges subjected to IRC class AA tracked loading reveals
that deflection decreases on the increase of thickness of web core. Normal stresses
also show a decreasing trend as web core depth increases however shear stress also
shows little change.
FRP composite bridges are a better substitution for conventional materials for small
span culverts/bridges.
Since FRP materials have very high tensile strength while the E value is comparatively
lesser. It is observed that the design of FRP bridge decks is governed by deflection
criteria.
FRP web core bridge decks are economical for spans more than 8 m I.e for 12m etc.
5.2 FURURE SCOPE OF STUDY

1. The present work can be extended to study the dynamic behavior of the proposed
bridge deck configurations.
2. Experimental studies can be carried out to validate the results obtained in this study.
88 | P a g e
CHAPTER-6
REFERENCES
1. Pisani. Numerical investigation on prestressed beam with FRP. Journal of Engineering

Mechanics, 9(4): 349-364, 1998.
2. Srivastava. Influence of water immersion on mechanical properties of quasi-isotropic
glass fiber reinforced epoxy vinyl ester resin composites. Journal of ASCE, 203(1):56-
63, 1999.
3. Hamilton and Dolan. Durability of FRP Reinforcements for concrete. 2(2):139-145,
2000.
4. Davalos. Modeling and characterization of fiber reinforced plastic honeycomb
sandwich panels, for highway bridge application.Vol.52:441-452, 2001.
5. Yeol Kim. Pultruded GFRP deck panel for temporary structures. 2003.
6. Alisten. FRP Strengthening of concrete structures: New invention and application.
4(6): 162-172, 2004.
7. Chiewnichakorn. Dynamic and fatigue response of a truss bridge within fiber
reinforced deck. Journal of Engineering Mechanics, 29(8):1475-1489, 2006.
8. Kabhari. Strengthening steel beam using FRP under fatigue. 427-446,2007.
9. Aglusundaramoorthy and Reddy. Testing and evaluation of GFRP Composite deck
panels. Journal of ASCE, 35(324):287-293, 2008.
10. Cheung and Almansour. Structural performance of laminated FRP box girders
bridge deck compared to slab on prestressed concrete girder bridge. 2010
11. Nicolas and Liu. GFRP/steel hybrid honey comb sandwich concept for bridge deck
applications. 93(4) : 2011.
12. King and Toutanji. Load and resistance factor design of fiber reinforced polymer
composite bridge deck. 43(2): 2012.
13. Alamalli. Performance of a fiber reinforced polymer web core skew bridge
superstructure,
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Part-2: Failure modes and Parametric study. Composite structures. Vol. 69, No.4, 500-
509, 2005.
14. Aref, A.J., and Parsons. Design optimization procedures for fiber reinforced plastic
bridges. J.Engrg.Mech, ASCE, 125(9), 1040-1047, 1999.
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skew bridge superstructure. Journal of Engineering Mechanics, Vol. 127, No.5, 450-458,
2005.
16. Agarwal and Beoutman. Analysis and performance of fiber composites, John Wiley
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1st. Int.Conf. On Compos. In Infrastructure, H.Saadatmanesh and M.R.Ehsamieds,
Tucson, Ariz., 114-1155, 1996.
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Comp. and Struct. 28(2), 223-235, 1988.
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20. Jones. Mechanics of composite materials, 2nd edition, Taylor and Francis, London,
1999.
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deteriorating structures, Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE 129(5), 682-691, 2003.
22. Chandrasekhar and Nanni. Structural performance of a FRP bridge deck. Constr.
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90 | P a g e

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INVESTIGATIONS OF FRP BRIDGE

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the

Award of the Degree of

Under the supervision of

Prof. Ajay Kumar

Department of Civil Engineering

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement for the

Award of the Degree of

Under the supervision of

Prof. Ajay Kumar

Department of Civil Engineering

INVESTIGATIONS OF FRP BRIDGE DECK

GAJENDRA SINGH (1403069)

ADITYA RAJ (1403076)

ADAMALA TEJASWINI (1403078)

EXAMINED AND FOUND ………………………………….... FOR THE AWARD OF THE

INTERNAL EXAMINER EXTERNAL EXAMINER HEAD OF

DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING,

National Institute of Technology (Gajendra Singh)

1.2 Current scenario in India

1.3 Composites vs. Traditional steel and concrete

1.4 FRP Composites.

1.5 Advantages of FRP

1.6 Review of development of FRP in bridge engineering

1.7 Finite Element Method

1.8 General Introduction to FRP deck system

1.9 Deflection estimation

1.10 Objective of present investigation

1.11 Organization of thesis

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE

2.1 Literature Review

CHAPTER 3 MATHEMATICAL FORMULATION

3.1 First Order Deformation Theory

3.2 General Introduction

3.3.1 Part module

3.3.2 Property module

3.3.3 Assembly module

3.3.4 Step module

3.3.5 Interaction module

3.3.6 Load module

3.3.7 Mesh module

3.3.8. Job module

3.3.9 Visualization module

3.4 Element Description

3.4.1 Shell Element

3.5 Modeling of FRP web core bridge deck

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

4.2 Convergence study

4.2.1 Rectangular FRP bridge deck

4.4.2 Comparison of results

4.3 Parametric study

4.3.2 IRC Class AA loading

4.3.4 Graphical variation of maximum deflection with various spans

and web configurations.

5.1Summary and Conclusions

5.2 Scope of future researches

Figure Figure Caption Page no.

3.2 Different elements used in ABAQUS

Table No. Table Caption Page No.

1.2 CURRENT SCENARIO IN INDIA:

1.3. COMPOSITES. Vs. TRADITIONAL STEEL AND CONCRETE:

1.4 FRP COMPOSITES:

Carbon is produced from a petroleum pitch, rayon, or polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursor