Keywords
Bridges -- Floors -- Testing, Glass reinforced plastics -- Testing, Polymers -- Mechanical properties, Shear (Mechanics)
Abstract
There are presently many solutions to dealing with aging or deteriorated structures. Depending on the state of the structure, it may need to be completely over-hauled, demolished and replaced, or only specific components may need rehabilitation. In the case of bridges, rehabilitation and maintenance of the decks are critical needs for infrastructure management. Viable rehabilitation options include replacement of decks with aluminum extrusions, hybrid composite and sandwich systems, precast reinforced concrete systems, or the use of pultruded fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) shapes. Previous research using pultruded glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) decks, focused on behaviour under various strength and serviceability loading conditions. Failure modes observed were specific to delamination of the flexural cross sections, local crushing under loading pads, web buckling and lip separation. However certain failure mechanisms observed from in-situ installations differ from these laboratory results, including behaviour of the connectors or system of connection, as well as the effect of cyclic and torsional loads on the connection. This thesis investigates the role of mechanical and non-mechanical connectors in the composite action and failure mechanisms in a pultruded GFRP deck system. There are many interfaces including top panel to I-beam, deck panel to girder, and panel to panel, but this work focuses on investigating the top panel connection. This is achieved through comparative component level shear, uplift, and flexure testing to characterize failure and determine connector capacity. Additionally, a connection of this GFRP deck system to a concrete girder is investigated during the system-level test. Results show that an epoxy non-mechanical connection may be better than mechanical options in ensuring composite behaviour of the system.
Notes
If this is your thesis or dissertation, and want to learn how to access it or for more information about readership statistics, contact us at STARS@ucf.edu
Graduation Date
2012
Semester
Summer
Advisor
Mackie, Kevin
Degree
Master of Science (M.S.)
College
College of Engineering and Computer Science
Department
Civil, Environmental, and Construction Engineering
Degree Program
Civil Engineering; Structural and Geotechnical Engineering
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
CFE0004371
URL
http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0004371
Language
English
Release Date
August 2012
Length of Campus-only Access
None
Access Status
Masters Thesis (Open Access)
Subjects
Dissertations, Academic -- Engineering and Computer Science, Engineering and Computer Science -- Dissertations, Academic
STARS Citation
Dike, Nnadozie N., "Performance Of Mechanical And Non-mechanical Connections To Gfrp Components" (2012). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2193.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/2193