GBeam Bridge Girder Pultrusion: Section Design and Optimization

Details

• Creators:
  Schanck, Andrew ; Davids, William G.
• Corporate Creators:
  AIT Bridges ; University of Maine. Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center (TIDC)
• Corporate Contributors:
  United States. Department of Transportation. University Transportation Centers (UTC) Program ; United States. Department of Transportation. Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Fiber reinforced polymers
  • Box girder bridges
  • Flexural strength
  • Material reinforcement
  • Glass fiber reinforced concrete
  • Beams
  • Materials tests
  • Steel
  • Prestressed concrete bridges
  • Pultrusion
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  United States
• Edition:
  Final Report
• Corporate Publisher:
  University of Maine. Transportation Infrastructure Durability Center (TIDC)
• Abstract:
  The GBeam – a fiber reinforced polymer tub-shaped bridge girder developed by the University of Maine and licensed for manufacture to AIT Bridges– has emerged as a viable replacement for traditional steel and prestressed girders in short to medium span bridges. GBeam manufacture is time and labor intensive, requiring many production steps to be done by hand, leading to low production through-put. As a possible method for accelerating production, the feasibility of producing GBeams by automated pultrusion was investigated. This involved first defining a set of geometric and material parameters to confine the design space, and then creating a series of representative designs for GBeams to be used in hypothetical, generic bridges. This led to a series of generic pultruded GBeam designs from which feasibility could be assessed. Ultimately, the limitations pultrusion places on GBeam geometry, combined with the significant initial capital investment required to begin production deemed pultrusion infeasible at this time, and prompts the search for alternative acceleration methods.
• Format:
  PDF
• Funding:
  69A3551847101
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/88888/dot_88888_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 7.01 MB]
• Collection(s):
  US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d9ed73a7e463f47f139a64eb77d5bed5f7ef4c10f1dbf2df4c3d810c6506025eb1d312b6a3b3b5c7ae0c289787cc67eb4e99e958c821b93f95b08b5773840642