Static and fatigue performance of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) web-core bridge deck sandwich panels: Experimental and numerical investigation
Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: This study investigates the static and fatigue performance of glass fiber-reinforced polymer web-core bridge deck sandwich panels through experimental testing and numerical analysis. The web-core sandwich panels, spanning 2 meters, demonstrated resistance exceeding 450 kN, well above typical highway bridge wheel loads. Tested deck specimens, scaled down to half the cross-section of real decks, revealed multiple failure modes at high loads, with imperfections identified as the primary cause of failure. Finite Element Analysis supports the experimental results, showing that imperfections significantly reduce fatigue life, increasing local stresses and reducing the number of cycles. The buckling analysis suggested by the current European design recommendations was found to be conservative, as web buckling was not observed in tests. These findings underline the importance of accounting for imperfections in the design verifications, with further research needed to validate these conclusions for full-scale web-core sandwich bridge decks.
Source: Engineering Structures
Authors: Olena Karpenko, Marko Pavlovic
Institution: Delft University of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Mechanics of Materials
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,620
OpenAlex ID: W4413372478