Static and Fatigue Behaviour of Hybrid FRP-Concrete Bridge Truss Girder with Connections Reinforced with Double-Headed Bars

Abstract

An innovative hybrid FRP-concrete bridge system for short- and medium-span bridges has been developed at the University of Calgary. This system is composed of concrete deck slabs composite with precast prestressed concrete truss girders, consisting of pre-tensioned top and bottom chords connected by vertical and diagonal truss members made of concrete-filled fiber-reinforced polymer tubes. The advantages of this system include reduced self-weight and enhanced durability. The objective of this research is to investigate the performance of the truss girder under static and fatigue loading. An experimental program including fabrication of ten full-scale truss girders with the number of panels varying from two to eight is presented. The effect of several parameters, such as the span-to-depth ratio and the amplitude of fatigue loading on the performance of the truss girder are investigated. The tests showed excellent performance of the girder system in terms of strength and stiffness.