Fatigue Assessment of Full-Scale Retrofitted Orthotropic Bridge Decks

Full-scale fatigue tests were performed on two retrofitted orthotropic bridge decks (OBDs). The retrofitting systems consist of adding a second steel plate on the top of the existing deck. The aim is to reduce the stresses at the fatigue-sensitive details and therefore extend the fatigue life of the OBD by stiffening the existing deck plate....

Moisture absorption/desorption effects on flexural property of Glass-fiber-reinforced polyester laminates: Three-point bending test and coupled hygro-mechanical finite element analysis

Influence of moisture absorption/desorption on the flexural properties of Glass-fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminates was experimentally investigated under hot/wet aging environments. To characterize mechanical degradation, three-point bending tests were performed following the ASTM test standard (ASTM D790-10A). The flexural properties...

Mechanical behaviour of adhesive joint under tensile and shear loading

Due to various advantages of Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) decks, the FRP to steel composite bridge system is being increasingly used in new bridge structures as well as rehabilitation projects for old bridges. This paper focuses on the mechanical behaviours and failure modes of the adhesively-bonded joins between FRP sandwich decks and steel...