Date of Award

Spring 2006

Document Type

Thesis - Restricted

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering

First Advisor

Foley, Chris

Second Advisor

Heinrich, Stephen

Third Advisor

Wan, Baolin

Abstract

A high interest in Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composite bridges has created a need for engineers to understand the behavior of FRP bridge decks. Fiber Reinforce Polymer (FRP) reinforcement and stay-in-place deck forms can be used to save construction time, improve safety, and to eliminate corrosion caused by conventional steel. While tests have shown that FRP components are able to meet the same specifications that are applied to steel reinforcement, there is still not much known about how the FRP formwork bond between the concrete, Concresive® ,and aggregate behaves over time and with environmental effects. Several bridge decks are in use in Wisconsin that utilize FRP components. Freeze-thaw tests have been performed, but no conclusive results were reported on the ability of the FRP stay-in-place deck forms to act compositely with the concrete after exposure to freeze-thaw cycling. Another concern that has not been fully addressed yet is how maintenance crews will be able to visually inspect the decks if the bottom of the concrete is covered by FRP formwork. NDE methods have been studied for metal stay-in- place forms and for the quality of concrete, but are still being investigated for Looking at the bond between FRP formwork and concrete decks. This thesis will evaluate freeze-thaw moisture effects on the shear strength of the concrete-FRP interface, correlate the experimental shear strengths with the demand seen in the deck, evaluate non-destruc6ve evaluation (NDE) techniques to evaluate the concrete-aggregate interlock in-situ, and evaluate and document the initial condition of the IBRC decks in Waupun and Fond du Lac, WI.

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