Static behaviour of contact molding GFRP composite highway bridge deck panels

The main objective of this investigation is to study the behaviour of glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite highway bridge deck panels under static loading. A GFRP composite bridge deck panel of 3000 mm length, 300 mm width, and 300 mm depth was fabricated using contact moulding process. The cross section of the GFRP composite bridge deck panel was a 3-cell rectangular section with additional stiffeners connecting the web to the top flange of the deck. A rectangular patch load that represents the IRC Class A wheeled vehicle was applied at the centre of the bridge deck panel and tested under factored load upto failure. SOLID45 and SHELL93 elements were used to model the GFRP composite bridge deck panel and analysed using the finite element analysis (FEA) software ANSYS. The maximum deflection and maximum strain at factored load and load at failure obtained from FEA were compared with experimental data and also with the specifications by the Ohio Department of Transportation (ODOT), USA. Based on the experimental and analytical studies it is concluded that the fabricated bridge deck panels satisfied the performance criteria and can be used in highways under IRC Class A loading.