Structural Testing of a Vehicular Carbon Fiber Bridge: Quasi-Static and Short-Term Behavior

Abstract

This paper deals with the use of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymers as the primary load-bearing material in new (as opposed to retrofit) bridge designs. After describing the experimental methods, results from the laboratory quasi-static tests conducted on a full-scale section of a 46 meter long, fully vehicular, composite bridge are presented. The salient findings from this study are that (i) the bridge design amply met the prescribed serviceability and safety criteria; (ii) under increasing loading, the distribution of the shear and bending moment profiles along the length of the beam progress from the hyperstatic to the isostatic cases; (iii) the prevailing failure mechanisms at the support points and joint sections are shear dominated, and may result in more than one failure mechanism, including joint separation, support diaphragm buckling, and delamination of the reinforced concrete slab from the main load-bearing beam.