The extent to which manufacturing-induced fibre mat misalignments compromise the structural integrity of pultruded GFRP road bridge decks is not properly understood. The problem is often critical at the web-flange junctions, which frequently contain the most severe misalignments and are subjected to high local moment-shear (M-V) combinations due to concentrated tyre load and also global vehicle load effects. Over the last 20 years, several GFRP decks have developed tyre load-induced damage of the top flange, due in large part to the prevalence of fibre misalignments. To address this issue, a thesis was written by M Poulton Meng PhD based upon a hybrid experimental-predictive strategy to investigate the structural integrity of pultruded deck junctions.
More information is avaible on this topic by contacting the Lifespan team
