Glass Fiber Reinforcement PolymerA Comparison with Traditional Reinforcement

Matthew Williams

Motivation

- Structural concentration with an interest in bridge design

- Studied alternative reinforcement in Advanced Concrete Technology

- Steel corrosion is a major infrastructure concern

- Epoxy coating is ineffective and stainless steel is expensive

Traditional Steel Reinforcement

Pros- Cheap- Provides ductile failure- Good strength to

weight ratio

Cons- Susceptible to corrosion- Coatings offer little protection- Cause of majority of bridge

repairs- Environmental impacts

What Is GFRP- Glass fiber cured in

epoxy resin- Provides superior

strength in the longitudinal direction

- Recommended safety factor of 0.85-0.7 for flexural design

http://www.build-on-prince.com/glass-fiber.html#sthash.9iOUBSVO.dpbs

Glass Fiber Reinforcement

Pros- Corrosion resistance- Lightweight- 3 times tensile strength

of steel

Cons- Cost- Glass fibers do react with

concrete - Brittle failure- Availability

Comparing Reinforcements- Adam et al. 2015 experimentally tested 10 GFRP

reinforced beams- Compared with FEM analysis- Want to try and replicate displacements that were

achieved.- Nanni 2003 states that serviceability may be more

important than strength.- Additionally, went to run FEM analysis comparing

displacement and stress distributions in FRP vs. Steel.

Experimental vs. FEM Method

Steel vs. GFRP Method

Results

Results

FEM Stress Distribution

GFRP

Steel

Conclusions

- Difficult to replicate experimental results with software

- Proper stress distributions were replicated- Higher neutral axis was achieved- GFRP displacements were greater as

expected

Questions?

ReferencesAdam, Maher A., et al. "Analytical and experimental flexural behavior of concrete beams reinforced with glass fiber reinforced polymers bars."Construction and Building Materials 84 (2015): 354-366.

Aguiñiga, F., H. Estrada, and J. I. Cruz. "Effects of Cyclic Loading on Structural Performance of Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Reinforced Concrete Elements." Structures Congress 2006@ Structural Engineering and Public Safety. ASCE, 2006.

Karbhari, V. M., et al. "Durability gap analysis for fiber-reinforced polymer composites in civil infrastructure." Journal of Composites for Construction 7.3 (2003): 238-247.

Nanni, Antonio. "North American design guidelines for concrete reinforcement and strengthening using FRP: principles, applications and unresolved issues."Construction and Building Materials 17.6 (2003): 439-446.

Sim, Jongsung, and Cheolwoo Park. "Characteristics of basalt fiber as a strengthening material for concrete structures." Composites Part B: Engineering 36.6 (2005): 504-512.