Composite Structures 80 (2007) 141151

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Experimental characterization of a pultruded GFRP bridge deck

for light-weight vehicles
Jaehong Lee
a

a,*

, Youngbin Kim a, Jinwoo Jung b, John Kosmatka

Department of Architectural Engineering, Sejong University, 98 Kunja Dong, Kwangjin Ku, Seoul 143-747, Republic of Korea
b
Structural Engineering Department, Korea Institute of Construction Technology, 2311 Daewha Dong, Ilsan Ku, Goyang,
Gyeonggi-Do 411-712, Republic of Korea
c
Department of Structural Engineering, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093, USA
Available online 5 June 2006

Abstract
A composite bridge deck system assembled from a modular prole with double-rectangular cells has been developed for light-weight
vehicles. This paper presents the experimental characterization of the exural performance of pultruded GFRP decks under static loading. Several tests were carried on single module and adhesively bonded modules. The specimen details such as dimensions, material properties and ber architecture are given. Numerical verication is performed by using the general purpose nite element package ABAQUS.
Experimental set-up, instrumentation, testing procedure, failure modes and the results of these experiments have been discussed in detail.
 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Glass ber-reinforced plastics; Pultrusion; Bridge deck; Finite element analysis

1. Introduction
During the past decades, ber reinforced plastics (FRP)
composites have been increasingly used in civil engineering
structures. This is because these materials oer signicant
advantages over conventional materials due to their chemical and corrosion resistance, and high strength-to-weight
and stiness-to-weight ratios. Among many applications
of FRP in civil infrastructures, bridge decks have received
a great deal of attention. The FRP decks commercially
available at the present time can be classied into two
types: sandwich construction and adhesively bonded pultruded shapes. Sandwich structures have been widely used
for applications in the aerospace, marine, and automotive
industries, where stiness and strength requirements must
be met with minimum weight. On the other hand, adhesively bonded pultruded shapes can be economically pro-

Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 2 3408 3287; fax: +82 2 3408 3331.
E-mail address: jhlee@sejong.ac.kr (J. Lee).

0263-8223/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2006.04.076

duced in continuous lengths using well-established

methods such as pultrusion process [1].
In recent years, a number of researchers have investigated the behavior of FRP decks experimentally and analytically. Davalos and his collaborators [2] developed a
simplied design procedure for cellular FRP bridge decks
based on the rst-order shear deformation plate solution.
They also studied the FRP deck system under static load
for various load conditions [3]. Aref and parsons [4] developed modular type FRP deck systems, and also proposed
an optimum design procedure for FRP decks [5]. McGhee
et al. [6] presented results of the least-weight design of four
cross-section types of FRP bridge decks according to
AASHTO regulation. Zureick [7] conducted nite element
analysis in FRP deck with box-shaped cells. Another FRP
deck panel composed of hexagonal shaped and doubletrapezoidal cells was developed by Gangarao and Siva
[8]. The hexagonal and double-trapezoidal components
were composed of E-glass bers embedded in a vinylester
resin. Hayers et al. [9] developed square tubes deck that
bounded with two skin plates, top and bottom, using epoxy

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J. Lee et al. / Composite Structures 80 (2007) 141151

adhesive to form a FRP deck. While most of the FRP

bridge decks are studied or designed by using standard
design truck load, Khalifa et al. [10] presented the analysis
and design of a FRP pedestrian bridge.
In this paper, a composite bridge deck system assembled
from a modular prole with double-rectangular cell has
been developed for light-weight vehicles. Flexural test has
been performed for cellular decks consisting of multiple
FRP box beams. Multicell box sections are commonly used
in deck construction due to their ecient geometry and
inherent stiness in exure and torsion. Furthermore, this
type of deck has the advantage of being relatively easy to
build. A numerical analysis by nite element program
ABAQUS has also been performed for verication.
2. Deck construction and component material properties
2.1. Applied loads
The dead load and the vehicular live load are applied in
dierent combinations to obtain the maximum eect. The
dead load includes the weight of the structural system,
wearing surface, barriers and all attachments. The design
live loads for passenger cars by Kim and Kim [11] has been
used in this study. The two specied types of vehicular live
loading are:

210mm170mm

Front wheel

Rear wheel
13.24kN

1500 mm

(i) Design car load: two axles with loads 13.24 kN and
8.83 kN. The spacing between the axles is 2.7 m as
shown in Fig. 1.
(ii) Design lane load: a uniformly distributed load of
9.3 kN/m applied over a 3.0 m wide strip.
It is known that the design car load is dominant for deck
design while the design lane load is dominant for stringer
design.
2.2. Strength criteria
Emphasis is placed upon three modes of failure: rst ply
failure, buckling, and adhesive failure at the interface
between the modules. First ply failure is predicted using
Tsai-Wu failure criterion [12], and it is assumed that this
represents the total failure of the structure. Linearized
buckling analysis is used to determine whether local and
global instabilities exist prior to reaching the ultimate
strength of the structure. The design relies on bonding at
the interface between the modules to transfer shear through
the bridge, avoiding the use of mechanical fasteners.
2.3. Deck system
The rectangular dual-cell prole is formed through a
pultrusion process with E-glass ber embedded in a polyester resin. The prole is then assembled by bonding with a
structural polyurethane adhesive (PLIOGRIP 8000/6660
system from Ashland Chemical). As shown in Fig. 2, the
bridge deck that is simply supported consists of a deck of
9 m in width and is supported by steel stringers spaced at
2.5 m.
2.4. Fiber architecture

8.83kN

2700 mm

Fig. 1. Design car live load.

A typical pultruded section mainly includes the following three types of layer: (1) chopped strand mats (CSM),
which is made of short bers randomly oriented resulting
in nearly isotropic in-plane properties, (2) multi-axial
stitched fabrics and (3) single-end rovings or bulky rovings.

Steel stringer
H - 800 300 14 26 mm

Direction of traffic
Unit module (299.5 mm 110 mm)
Bridge deck
Adhesive bonded interface

Fig. 2. Schematic of a GFRP deck on steel stringers.

J. Lee et al. / Composite Structures 80 (2007) 141151

143

Table 1
Layer construction
Fabric

Series

Orientation

Series

Orientation

Uniaxial

L series

0

T series

90

Biaxial and double bias

LT series

0

DB series

+45

45

90

Triaxial

Quadriaxial

DBL series

DBLT series

0

DBT series

+45

+45

90

45

45

0
+45
90
45

www.iparamaxc.de.

Multi-axial stitched fabrics shown in Table 1 are a new

reinforcement fabric with multi-orientations combining
the longitudinal (0), transverse (90), and double bias
(45) directions, constructed with straight bers and
stitched together through the thickness direction to
enhance as interlaminar properties of composites [2,13,14].
In this study, the ber system of the decks was designed
by two types of DBT [45/90/45] series and LT [0/90] series. The dimensions of unit module and ber architectures
are shown in Fig. 3 and the thicknesses of the top ange,
bottom ange and web of the deck are 10, 8, 8 mm, respectively. It is noted that the thickness of the top ange is
thicker than that of bottom ange in consideration of the
vehicle impact.
2.5. Material properties
Properties of many composite materials are strongly
dependent on the arrangement and distribution of ber
(ber architecture). The constituent materials used in the
GFRP deck consist of E-glass bers and polyester resin,
and their properties are listed in Table 2. Although most
calculations on composite materials are based on the volume fractions of the constituents, it is sometimes important, particularly when calculating the density of the
composite, to use weight fractions [12].

In this study, it is assumed that the ber weight fraction

and resin weight fraction are 60% and 40%, respectively.
The present approach is based on elementary macromechanics. The ber volume fraction can be calculated as
follows:
Vf

wf =qf
;
wf =qf wm =qm

Vm 1Vf

where, V, w and q are volume fraction, weight and density,

respectively. Subscript f and m denote ber and matrix,
respectively.
The computation of lamina properties is an essential rst
step in the determination of the behavior of the component
as a whole. Based on the ber volume fraction, the stiness
of each lamina shown in Table 3 can be predicted from rules
of mixture (ROM) of micromechanics model [15].
E1 Ef V f E m V m ;

G12 

Vm
Gm

1
VGff

;

E2 

1
Vf
Ef

VEmm

;

m12 mf V f mm V m

where E1, E2 are Youngs moduli along the ber and perpendicular to ber direction; G12 is the Shear moduli in
12 plane; m12 is the Poissons ratio.

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J. Lee et al. / Composite Structures 80 (2007) 141151

7.5

10

Top flange

Web

110

Bottom flange

59

y
5.5
120

59.5

60

60
(unit : mm)

299.5

12 layers through the thickness of top flange

CSM 300g
DBT 1350 or LT
Roving #8800
DBT 1350 or LT
CSM 300g
Roving #8800
DBT 800 or LT
DBT 1350 or LT
CSM 300g
Roving #8800
DBT 1350 or LT
CSM 300g

8 layers through the thickness of bottom flange and web

(t=0.279 mm)
(t=1.257 mm)
(t=1.392 mm)
(t=1.257 mm)
(t=0.279 mm)
(t=0.768 mm)
(t=0.279 mm)
(t=1.257 mm)
(t=0.279 mm)
(t=1.696 mm)
(t=1.257 mm)
(t=0.279 mm)

CSM 300g
DBT 1350 or LT
Roving #8800
CSM 300g
DBT 1350 or LT
Roving #8800
DBT 1350 or LT
CSM 300g

( t=0.279 mm)
(t=1.257 m m)
( t=1.955 m m)
( t=0.279 mm)
(t=1.257 m m)
( t=1.420 m m)
(t=1.257 m m)
( t=0.279 mm)

Fig. 3. Dimensions and stacking sequences of a GFRP deck.

3. Numerical analysis

Table 2
Properties of the constituent materials
Materials

E (GPa)

G (GPa)

q (g/cm3)

E-glass ber
Polyester resin

72.5
3.38

27.6
1.38

0.22
0.38

2.54
1.24

Table 3
Lamina properties
E1 (GPa)

E2 (GPa)

G12 (GPa)

m12

32.599

5.663

2.306

0.312

Table 4
Properties of constituent materials
Fabric type

Components

Xt
(MPa)

Yt
(MPa)

Xc
(MPa)

Yc
(MPa)

S
(MPa)

DBT

Top ange
Web

310
269

150
129

336
372

106
121

155
135

LT

Top ange
Web

300
351

140
119

322
383

137
156

150
175

For the numerical calculations, a nite element bridge

deck model is developed by using the commercial nite element program ABAQUS [16] as shown in Fig. 4. The type
of nite element used in the analysis is an eight node laminated shell element with reduced integration and six
degrees of freedom per node (S8R). It is assumed that all
parts of the deck system are perfectly bonded together.
One of the most demanding parameters during the nite
element modeling of the structure is the material modeling.
In this analysis, the ber directions of CSM is randomly
distributed with short ber, and is assumed as quasiisotropic. The ber direction of the fabrics with DBT or
LT architecture is followed by the stacking sequence as
given in Table 1. The rovings are assumed to be unidirectional bers. Tsai-Wu failure criterion [12] is used in order
to predict failure load of the deck. The ABAQUS nite element model is shown in Fig. 4.
4. Experimental investigation
4.1. Specimens

Table 4 provides the results of coupon test. Xt and Xc

indicate tensile and compressive strength in transverse
direction of trac direction shown in Fig. 2, respectively.
Also, Yt and Yc are tensile and compressive strength in
trac direction. S is in-plane shear strength.

The overall objective of the structural test is to determine the characteristics of unit or two module specimens
for four-point bending tests and of the bridge deck under
vehicle loads. The rst set of specimen is a unit module
with a length of 2.5 m. This unit module of the proposed

J. Lee et al. / Composite Structures 80 (2007) 141151

145

Fig. 4. ABAQUS FE-model with S8R element.

deck consists of a rectangular dual-cell prole, several of

which are bonded together to build the deck, accordingly,
it is necessary to know their mechanical behavior and failure modes. The next set of samples is made by bonding the
two unit modules together longitudinally along one of their
surfaces using an adhesive. The connection type used in the
present study is adhesive (PLIOGRIP 8000/6600) over a
60 mm lap length. The third set of specimen is an assembly
of ve of 2.5 m long unit modules. The unit module specimen is designed by DBT series only while the other specimen sets are designed with both DBT and LT series (see
Fig. 5).
4.2. Unit module test
Three of the unit module specimens with DBT fabrics
are tested in four-point bending conguration as shown
in Figs. 6 and 7a. The specimens are simply supported at
both ends using two hinges spaced at a distance of 2.5 m.
Spreader beam is used to apply the load at mid-span.
The LVDT (linear variable dierential transformers) at
mid-span (LVDT1) and quarter-span (LVDT2) are used
to measure the vertical deection of the unit module specimens. The vertical deection of the experimental results

are compared with ABAQUS results in Fig. 8 indicating

that the results by ABAQUS agree well with the experimental results. The failure of the test specimens occurs at
a load level of 67.7, 81.8, and 75.9 kN, respectively (see
Table 5). The result predicted by ABAQUS is 94.2 kN
which is relatively larger than the experimental results.
The failure mode for all the three specimens is exural failure with ber breakage and delamination of the bottom
ange (Fig. 9).
4.3. Double module test
Two of the double module specimens with DBT and LT
fabrics, respectively, are tested in four-point bending conguration as shown in Figs. 6 and 7b. All the other experimental congurations are the same as for the unit module
specimens. The vertical deection of the experimental
results are compared with ABAQUS results in Fig. 10.
While the deection of the DBT specimen agree well with
the ABAQUS result, the deection of the LT specimen
shows some discrepancy with the ABAQUS result as the
load level increases. This is because the LT double module
beam shows geometric nonlinearity, which is neglected in
ABAQUS model, before it reaches the nal failure.
Two module (DBT, LT)

Unit module (DBT)

110

110

299.5

540.5

Deck (DBT, LT)

110

1262

(unit : mm)

Fig. 5. Dimensions and cross-sections of specimens.

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J. Lee et al. / Composite Structures 80 (2007) 141151

Actuator
Spreader beam
Loading pad

Specimen

LVDT 2

LVDT 1
600

625

250

250

2500

(unit : mm)

Fig. 6. Schematic of the four-point bending test for unit and double module assembly.

Fig. 7. Four-point bending test set-up for: (a) unit module, and (b) double module assembly.

100

Table 5
Failure load for unit module

Load (kN)

80

60

Test number

Failure load (kN)

Experiment

ABAQUS

Test #1
Test #2
Test #3

67.7
81.8
75.9

94.2

40
TEST#1(LVDT1)
TEST#2(LVDT1)

20

TEST#3(LVDT1)
ABAQUS

20

40

60

80

100

120

Deflection (mm)

ABAQUS are 172 and 159 kN for DBT and LT, respectively. It is found that the compressive failure of the top
ange at loading point and the shear failure of the web
occur at the same time, and no bonding failure occurs.
That is, the bonding strength of the adhesive connection
is high enough to carry the ultimate load (see Fig. 11).

Fig. 8. Loaddeection curve from four-point bending test for unit

module.

4.4. GFRP deck test

The failure load of the double module assembly

designed by DBT and LT fabric are found to be 152 and
164 kN, respectively, as given in Table 6. The results by

4.4.1. Design load test

In order to verify the deection limit of the proposed
GFRP decks, the design load test is performed on both
DBT and LT specimens under wheel load conguration

J. Lee et al. / Composite Structures 80 (2007) 141151

Fig. 9. Delamination of the bottom ange for unit module.

200
LT

Load (kN)

160

120
DBT

80

TEST (LT)
TEST (DBT)

40

ABAQUS (LT)
ABAQUS (DBT)

20

40

60

80

100

Deflection (mm)
Fig. 10. Loaddeection curve from four-point bending test for two
module.

Table 6
Failure load for double module assembly
Fabric type

DBT
LT

Failure load (kN)

Experiment

ABAQUS

152
164

172
159

147

as shown in Figs. 12 and 13. These rectangular loading

patches of 170 mm 210 mm, with the larger dimension
transverse to the direction of trac, are used to simulate
the action of wheel loads of vehicle on the top of the deck.
The specimen was simply supported at the ends using two
hinges spaced at a distance of 2.5 m so that the specimen
extended 0.25 m beyond the support hinges at each end.
The design wheel load of 26.5 kN is applied by MTS
hydraulic actuator xed to a strong frame. The instrumentation of the specimens consisted of LVDT to measure vertical displacement and 5 mm long 120 X electrical
resistance strain gages for strain measurement. Load,
deection and strain signals were continuously recorded
during testing using TML TDS 303 data logger.
As shown in Fig. 14, both DBT and LT specimens satisfy the deection limit, which is l/425 [17] (5.9 mm), and
the behavior was linear elastic throughout the test. Contrary to the four-point bending test of double module
assembly, the DBT specimen is stier than the LT specimen. That is, for the two-way action of the deck, o-axis
bers (45) play an important role in stiness. During
the whole process of the loading history, neither visible
nor audible damage occur in both DBT and LT deck
specimens.
4.4.2. Ultimate load test
The ultimate load test of the GFRP deck is performed to
evaluate the overall margin of safety and mode of failure,
and to provide conclusive evidence as to the strength of
the bridge deck. The wheel load is applied to the deck in
the conguration that causes maximum moment as shown
in shown Fig. 15. The arrangement of the strain gages and
LVDT is illustrated in Fig. 16 for DBT specimen. Until the
failure of the specimen, the load is applied at a constant
rate of approximately 0.01 kN/s with the strain and deection data recorded at constant load interval.
A total of 11 strain gages on the top and bottom anges
of the deck specimen are tted at the positions as shown in
Fig. 16. LVDTs were installed at mid-span and quarter
span to measure deection of the deck. Load, deection

Fig. 11. Failure mode of double module assembly: (a) compressive failure of the top ange, (b) shear failure of the web.

148

J. Lee et al. / Composite Structures 80 (2007) 141151

Actuator

Spreader beam

Loading pad
Specimen

LVDT 2

LVDT 1

625

170

170
1500

250

150

2350

250

(unit : mm)

Fig. 12. Schematic of the design load test for deck specimen.

Fig. 13. Design load test set-up for deck specimen: (a) isometric view, (b) end view.

30
Design load (26.5kN)

25

Load (kN)

20
Deflection limit
(5.9mm)

15
10

DBT

LT

0
0

Deflection (mm)
Fig. 14. Loaddeection curve from design load test for deck.

and strain signals are continuously recorded during testing

using high-speed data acquisition system. The loaddeection curves and the loadstrain curves are generated in
Figs. 17 and 18 for GFRP decks. It is found that the
loaddeection relation is approximately linear until the
nal failure of the deck. The ABAQUS results of the LT
deck agree well with the experimental result, but for DBT
deck, there are some disagreement.
All of the tested strains are shown in Fig. 18. The TS
(strain of the top ange) and BS (strain of the bottom
ange) are measured at the positions shown in Fig. 16.
The failure of the DBT specimen did not occur while
ABAQUS predicts 204 kN for failure load. This suggests
that the rst-ply failure criterion used in this analysis might
not be adequate for the o-axis (DBT) decks, and the progressive failure criterion should be employed to predict the
failure of the DBT deck (see Table 7).

J. Lee et al. / Composite Structures 80 (2007) 141151

149

Actuator

Spreader beam
Loading pad
Specimen

LVDT 2

LVDT 1

625
1500

170

170

250 150

2350

(unit : mm)

250

Fig. 15. Schematic of the ultimate load test for deck specimen.

Top flange

231

TS 5
Load patch (170 210 mm)
TS 1

400

TS 2
200

Boundary axis
250

850

TS 4

200

TS 3

231

400

625

475

150 250

3000

231

Bottom flange
LVDT 3

BS 4
400

BS 3

Boundary axis
250

625

BS 2

BS 1
LVDT 1

LVDT 2

200

BS 5

200

BS 6

231

625

625

625

250

3000

(unit : mm)

Fig. 16. LVDT and strain gages of deck designed DBT series.

When the load is arrived at 236.6 kN, the actuator is

stopped due to the loading capacity of actuator (250 kN).
For the LT specimen, local failure of the top ange at
the loading point occurred as shown in Fig. 19. The rst

few cracking sounds started at about 90 kN. The origin

of the sound could not be determined. The microfracture
continued to occur with increasing loads. The cause of
the sounds may involve in the multiple damage such as

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J. Lee et al. / Composite Structures 80 (2007) 141151

Table 7
Failure load for ultimate load test

250

Load (kN)

200

Fabric type

Failure load (kN)

Experiment

ABAQUS

DBT
LT

No failure
187.8

204
192

LT

DBT

150

100
TEST (LT)

S 187:8=26:5 7:09

TEST (DBT)

50

ABAQUS (DBT)

10

20

30

5. Concluding remarks

40

50

Deflection (mm)
Fig. 17. Loaddeection curve from ultimate load test for deck.

300
250
200
Load (kN)

ABAQUS (LT)

TS 1
TS 2

150

TS 3
TS 4

100

TS 5
BS 1
BS 2
BS 3

50

BS 4
BS 5

0
-2000

-1000

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

Microstrain
Fig. 18. Loadstrain curve from ultimate load test for representative deck
specimen designed DBT series.

ber breakage, matrix cracking, delamination, or a combination of these failures. It is found that the safety margin S
of the LT deck can be calculated by

A composite bridge deck system assembled from a modular prole with double-rectangular cell has been developed for light-weight vehicles. Flexural testing has been
performed for cellular decks consisting of multiple GFRP
box beams. A numerical analysis by the nite element program ABAQUS has also been performed for verication. It
is found that the proposed GFRP deck meets the deection
limit as well as strength limit, and is suitable for the bridge
decks under light-weight vehicles.
From the experimental work and numerical verication
of the present approach, the following remarks can be
made:
The behavior of all the specimens is almost linearly elastic and shows brittle fracture in bending. Experimental
results for unit module and double module assemblies
indicate that the specimens with LT fabrics are stier
than DBT fabrics.
For the design load test of the deck specimens, the
deection limit of the design specication is suciently
satised. The failure load of the LT deck is found to
be 187.8 kN, which is almost seven times higher than
the design wheel load (26.5 kN). The DBT deck exhibits
higher stiness and strength than LT specimen.
More experimental work such as dynamic loading and
fatigue on the FRP decks awaits further attention.

Fig. 19. Failure mode of deck designed by LT fabric series: (a) exterior local failure of the top ange, (b) interior local failure of the top ange and web.

J. Lee et al. / Composite Structures 80 (2007) 141151

Acknowledgment
The support of the research reported here by Korea Research Foundation through Grant KRF-2004-041-D00760
is gratefully acknowledged.
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