6.

25
Composite Materials and
Structures in Civil Engineering
L. C. HOLLAWAY
University of Surrey, Guildford, UK
and
P. R. HEAD
Maunsell, Beckenham, UK

6.25.1 INTRODUCTION 2

6.25.2 THE CURRENT USE OF AND INTEREST IN POLYMER COMPOSITE MATERIALS 4

6.25.3 DESIGN 4
6.25.3.1 Design for Cost-effectiveness 4
6.25.3.2 Composite Materials and Their Components 4
6.25.3.2.1 Fibers 5
6.25.3.2.2 Matrix 6
6.25.3.2.3 Interface 8
6.25.3.3 Current Methods of Manufacture Relevant to Civil Engineering 9
6.25.3.3.1 Manual process (hand lay-up) 9
6.25.3.3.2 The semiautomated process 10
6.25.3.3.3 The fully-automated process 11
6.25.3.3.4 Mechanical properties of composite materials 11
6.25.3.4 Limit State Design of Composite Structures 11
6.25.3.4.1 Limit states 13
6.25.3.4.2 Method of partial coefficients 13
6.25.3.4.3 Factors affecting the design of RP material 14
6.25.3.5 Manufacturing Specification 16
6.25.3.6 Causes of Failure of Composites 16
6.25.3.6.1 Design failure 16
6.25.3.6.2 Fabrication and processing errors 17
6.25.3.6.3 Fracture 17
6.25.4 APPLICATIONS 17
6.25.4.1 Current and Possible Future Areas of Utilization of Polymer Composite Material 17
6.25.4.1.1 New polymer composite building systems 17
6.25.4.1.2 Building structures 19
6.25.4.1.3 Offshore structures 19
6.25.4.1.4 Bridge structures 20
6.25.4.1.5 Bridge enclosures and aerodynamic fairings 21
6.25.4.2 Upgrading Structures 24
6.25.4.2.1 Wrapping of columns using composites 24
6.25.4.2.2 Flexural plate bonding 26
6.25.4.2.3 Plate bonding to improve the shear capacity of the beam 29
6.25.4.3 Composite Bridges 30
6.25.4.4 Cable Support for Long Span Bridges 33

1
2 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering
6.25.4.5 Fiber Composite Tendons for Prestressing/Reinforcing Concrete
6.25.4.5.1 Parafil ropes
6.25.4.5.2 Polystal
6.25.4.5.3 Arapree
6.25.4.6 Composite Rebars for Concrete Construction
6.25.4.7 The Future of FRP Structures into the Next Century
6.25.5 CONCLUSIONS
6.25.6 REFERENCES
6.25.1 INTRODUCTION
In the 50 years since the Second World War,
rebuilding and growth led to a huge workload
for the construction industry but much of the
work was procured by the State with increasing
bureaucracy in standards and little research and
development. The painful memories of war and
continuing international tensions ensured that
the patterns of massive State investment in
defense research remained and entrepreneurs
in private industry turned away from construc-
tion and switched their attention to transport
leading to the rapid development of the auto-
motive and aerospace industries.
The legacy of this lack of investment in re-
search and development in construction is
clearly visible currently. The technological re-
volution in materials and processes in all other
sectors of the manufacturing industry over the
last 60 years has exceeded the construction
industry.
The construction industry is now regarded in
recent reports such as the Latham Report (1994)
as low technology, low skill, and labor intensive
compared with most others. The mismatch
between research investment and construction
expenditure has meant that construction has
proceeded on a large scale with an inadequate
understanding of many aspects such as the
deterioration mechanisms for structures. This
has often meant that due allowance has not been
made for practical repair and maintenance.
Furthermore, the majority of engineers have
become managers of existing technologies
within a rigid technical and procurement frame-
work which stifles real invention.
It is clear from the experience of the last 30
years in Europe, Japan, and particularly the
USA that existing construction technology has
not delivered the reliability needed particularly
in bridges. Hence the conclusion has been
reached in the USA, expressed in the Civil En-
gineering Research Foundation Report (1993),
and endorsed by President Clinton, that ªto-
morrow's infrastructure must not be built using
today's technology.º
Large investments are now being made by the
US government in conjunction with private
industry in High Performance Construction
36
36
36
37
37
38
38
38
materials and Systems. Proposed materials
include advanced composites and the systems
include new methods of construction with
robotics.
Government initiatives in Europe have been
slower but the UK government launched two
initiatives in 1994, with similar objectives,
under the control of the EPSRC. These were
the ªInnovative Manufacturing Initiative
(1994)º and the ªMaterials for Better Construc-
tion Programme (1994).º
The interest in the use of advanced composite
materials in the construction market is growing
rapidly, fueled by the need to improve durabil-
ity, reduce site labor costs and construction
time, and improve safety.
This chapter demonstrates the use of ad-
vanced composites, into the twenty-first cen-
tury, in the construction industry from the
point of view of upgrading structures, main-
taining structures, and building structures com-
pletely from advanced composite materials. It
will concentrate upon the developments in Brit-
ain and the world which have led to the con-
struction of a number of landmark advanced
composite structures. Finally, it will demon-
strate that this material is an important addi-
tion to the civil engineers' list of available
construction materials.
In order to understand the significance of the
current interest in polymers and composites in
the civil engineering field, it is necessary to
explore the evolution of engineering materials.
In 1994 a discussion was held at the Royal
Society where a number of points were made
regarding the evolution of materials through-
out the ages. The following has been taken from
this discussion:
ªBefore 2000 B.C. cutting tools were mostly
made of flint. Flint is a ceramic and was an
important material in an age when stone, pot-
tery and wood were almost the only engineering
materials. metals were unknown. Flint had
a special role because it could be shaped to a
cutting edge and used as a weapon or as a knife.
It was one of the engineering materials of the
stone age, orÐas we would now call itÐthe age
of ceramics. It was an era in which metals
played almost no role and engineering (hous-
ing, boats, weapons, utensils) was dominated
 Introduction
by polymers (wood, straw, skins), composites
(like straw bricks) and ceramics (stone, pottery
and later, glass). As ways were discovered to
make metals, they began to displace ceramics.
Around 1500 B.C. the consumption of bronze
probably revealed who were the world powers;
and still later, iron. Since 1850 it has been steel;
economists correlate the level of development
of a country with the quantity of steel it pro-
duces per head of population. From this point
on, the metals dominated engineering design.
Their position was strengthened by the devel-
opment of the alloy steels, the light alloys (re-
placing wood in aircraft design) and the
superalloys. By 1960 `materials' was synon-
ymous with `metallurgy'; the world's universi-
ties taught courses and awarded degrees in
metallurgy and metal science; the graduates
had barely heard of polymers, ceramics and
composites. However, in the past twenty years
that has changed. The steel industry, world
wide, is declining and the rate of materialsÐ
high-strength polymers, ceramics, structure
compositesÐis expanding, or is poised to do
so. The production of carbon-fiber based com-
posites for instance, is growing at about 30%
per year; that is the sort of growth rate enjoyed
by steel at the peak of the industrial revolution.
We are now in the middle of another revolu-
tion, a transition from the steel age to one
dependent on other, more advanced materials.º
Over the past 100 years a massive polymer
industry has gradually been created which sym-
bolizes the twentieth century as clearly as iron
and steel characterized the nineteenth century.
Although polymer materials have been used
mainly in the aerospace and aeronautics indus-
tries as structural materials, it is within the last
10 years that the transition from the steel age to
more advanced materials is being spearheaded
by the construction industry where 30% of all
polymers produced are now utilized in that
industry. The gradual acceptance of composites
made from fiber reinforced polymers has
begun, particularly as research and develop-
ment into new fibers and matrix materials and
automated fabrication processes relevant to ap-
plications in the construction industry have
grown rapidly.
The use of polymer and composites in struc-
tures started during the Second World War,
when the manufacture of the first radomes to
house electronic radar equipment was under-
taken. In the aircraft industry some compo-
nents were also made using glass fiber
reinforced polymer (GFRP). After the war the
material tended to be expensive for use in con-
struction and was therefore used only for spe-
cial items, however, the attraction of the
polymer with its ease of moldability into com-
3
plex shapes was quickly recognized by archi-
tects and designers and in the early 1950s it was
available in the form of translucent sheets.
Considerable information was gained from
the experience of the performance of the mate-
rial and it was then possible to utilize this
knowledge in the design of cladding panels
and load bearing units for use in buildings.
Notwithstanding this early interest in polymers,
the rate of development with respect to the
needs of the construction industry, namely
mass-produced, high-quality, relatively low-
cost products with sophisticated structural re-
quirements has been very slow. This lack of
progress is mirrored in the construction indus-
try itself where over the past 40 years construc-
tion methods have changed little. It is therefore
not surprising that the plastics/composites in-
dustry did not show interest in the civil engi-
neering industry where the possibility of
utilizing new materials and therefore market
opportunities were not visible to potential in-
vestors.
Over the last 10 years the momentum of
change has moved dramatically into areas of
world politics, economics, and the environ-
ment. The sudden ending of the Cold War
and the realization that environmental issues
will need to be taken into account in future
decisions have combined to create a turbulence
in many industries, not least the composites
industry. Rapid change of this type is likely to
be disturbing for many industries but the
younger more dynamic industries such as com-
posites have a lot to offer and may be in a better
position to take advantage than other tradi-
tional well-developed industries. These obser-
vations have been justified by the increased
utilization of GFRP and CFRP in the construc-
tion industry during the 1990s; for example, the
techniques of bridge building using an all
GFRP composite system and of carbon fiber/
polymer plate bonding to improve the flexural
strength of bridge beams and the CFRP wrap-
ping of columns to improve their compressive
characteristics can be cited.
There is now a much greater awareness of the
importance of design in relation to product
performance and reliability. However, standard
specifications and codes of practice do not yet
exist in civil and structural engineering applica-
tions of composites, except for the British Stan-
dard Code of Practice for the design of
composites BS4994: 1973; therefore, the vitally
important issues of reliability and performance
are difficult to address, unless through specifi-
cally proven systems.
The limit state design methods and asso-
ciated specifications for advanced composites
have been pioneered and developed in the UK
4 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering
by Head and Templeman (1986, 1990), and are
discussed in greater detail in Section 6.25.3.4.
The approach to defining the materials criteria
for design of composites are complicated when
compared with those for steel, concrete, and
aluminum. The designer needs to become inti-
mately involved with the details of stress/strain
and strength behavior and changes in these
properties with time, temperature, stress envir-
onment, and manufacturing process. Limit
State Design Principles are ideally suited to
dealing with a large number of interacting de-
sign aspects and it should be possible to develop
design codes of practice for composites which
simplify rather than increase the complexity of
the designer's task. Limit state design may be
the essential key to unleashing the full potential
of the structural use of composites in the con-
struction industry. The broad range of applica-
tions of composites and the fact that the
material is designed in conjunction with the
structural system implies that it is inadvisable
to attempt to develop a single code of practice
to cover all possible applications; it will be
necessary to develop different codes for build-
ing design, bridge design, offshore design, etc.
6.25.2 THE CURRENT USE OF AND
INTEREST IN POLYMER
COMPOSITE MATERIALS
The particular material properties required
for the design of steel and concrete structures
are well understood by structural engineers as
are the various test methods used to determine
these properties. The properties are generally
few in number and may be determined from
standard tests which are described in the pub-
lications of nationally recognized bodies such
as the British Standards Institution.
For long fiber composite materials, which are
gaining increasing acceptance for use in civil
engineering applications, the situation is much
more complicated and as a consequence, less
well defined. It is more complicated because
these two-phase materials (stiff fibers em-
bedded in a relatively flexible matrix) are in-
herently orthotropic (for design purposes steel
and concrete are generally assumed to be iso-
tropic) and also because of the nature and
number of failure modes (e.g., fiber fracture,
matrix cracking, delamination, etc.)
Although the pressing need for standardized
tests to determine the engineering properties of
these materials has been recognized for a num-
ber of years, progress towards fulfilling this
need has been understandably slow. In the fol-
lowing sections of this chapter an attempt will
be made to provide information on the progress
that has been made towards the utilization of
composites in the construction industry.
6.25.3 DESIGN
6.25.3.1 Design for Cost-effectiveness
Advanced composites offer greatly reduced
maintenance compared with steel and concrete
and therefore offer whole life cost benefits.
However, the first cost is the major and often
the only parameter used by clients in decision
making despite much talk about whole life
costing. The material cost of the fiber and
resin constituents are a greater proportion of
total cost than the constituents of concrete and
steel, and therefore, it is of the utmost impor-
tance to minimize the quantity of fiber and resin
in construction applications. Consequently, de-
sign methods have to be very sophisticated to
avoid conservatism and material wastage and
forms of structure must be optimized in terms
of minimum material content. Furthermore, it
is of paramount importance, because of the cost
of the material, that manufacturing costs are
minimized without sacrifice in quality, hence,
automated processes with low labor input such
as pultrusion (Section 6.25.3.3.3), supplemen-
ted by filament winding (Section 6.25.3.3.3) and
resin injection (Section 6.25.3.3.3) are ideally
suited to meeting these demands. It is clear that
advanced composite structures need to avoid
the labor-intensive fabrication shop and site
practice prevalent in steel and concrete bridges
if they are to be successful commercially.
Design costs of advanced composite applica-
tions are very high because of the great com-
plexity of the design process and the need to
optimize material content. Design costs of steel
and concrete structures are typically 2±4% of
the construction costs, whereas with advanced
composites design costs can be typically at least
10±20%. Consequently, reduction in costs
through the use of standard modular system
designs has been found to be essential to reduce
the design input.
6.25.3.2 Composite Materials and Their
Components
Composites which are used to form engineer-
ing materials and which consist of strong, stiff
fibers in a polymer resin require scientific un-
derstanding from which design procedures may
be developed. The mechanical and physical
properties of the composite are clearly con-
trolled by their constituent properties and by

Table 1 The chemical composition of E- and
S-glass.
Oxides used
CaO Al2O3 MgO B2O3
For E-glass 17.5 14.0 4.5 10.0
For S-glass - 25.0 10.0 - 65.0
Source: Phillips (1989).
the microstructural configurations. It is there-
fore necessary to be able to predict properties
when parameter variations take place. The
most important aspect of composite material
design is the property of anisotropy; it is neces-
sary to give special attention to the methods of
controlling this property and its effect on ana-
lytical and design procedures.
The reinforcement of a low-modulus matrix
with high-strength and high-modulus fibers uti-
lizes the viscoelastic displacement of the low-
modulus matrix under stress to transfer the
load to the fiber; this results in a high-strength,
high-modulus composite. The aim of the com-
bination is to produce a two-phase material in
which the primary phase that determines stiff-
ness, and is in the form of particles of high
aspect ratio (i.e., the fiber), is well dispersed
and bonded by a weak secondary phase (i.e.,
the matrix). The principal constituents that
influence the strength and stiffness of the com-
posites are the reinforcing fibers, the matrix,
and the interface. Each of these individual
phases has to perform certain essential func-
tional requirements based upon their mechan-
ical properties so that a system containing them
may perform satisfactorily as a composite.
The design and analysis of any structural
member requires a detailed knowledge of the
material properties and these are dependent
upon the manufacturing and fabrication meth-
ods as well as on the nature and properties of
the constituent materials. This is discussed in
Section 6.25.3.3.4. The following discussion on
the component parts of polymer composites is
directed specifically towards the construction
industry.
6.25.3.2.1 Fibers
A fiber is a long filament of matter with a
diameter generally of the order of 10 mm and an
aspect ratio of length to diameter between a
thousand and infinity for continuous fibers. A
wide range of amorphous and crystalline mate-
rials can be used as the fiber in reinforced
polymer composites. The process of making a
Design 5
fiber is one involving axial alignment of mole-
cules of the material; the high tensile strength is
associated with improved intermolecular at-
traction resulting from the alignment. The
glass, carbon, and aramid fibers dominate
SiO2
fiber usage in the civil engineering industry.
54.0 The desirable functional requirements of the
fibers in a fiber reinforced composite are as
follows:
(i) a high modulus of elasticity for efficient
utilization of reinforcement;
(ii) high ultimate strength;
(iii) a low variation of strength between indi-
vidual fibers;
(iv) a high stability and retention of their
strength during handling;
(v) a high uniformity in the diameter and
surface dimensions between fibers.
(i) Glass fiber
Glass is the name given to a number of mu-
tually soluble oxides which can be cooled down
below their true melting point without crystal-
lization taking place. They are clear, amor-
phous solids and fail with typical conchoidal
fracture surfaces (see Chapter 1.08, Volume 1).
The main chemical compositions of the most
important grades of glass in commercial pro-
duction are shown in Table 1 and the main
oxide is silica in the form of silica sand; the
other oxides such as calcium, sodium, and alu-
minum are incorporated to reduce the melting
temperature and impede crystallization.
Glass fibers are manufactured by continuous
and rapid drawing from the melt into very fine
filaments; these range from 3 to 24 mm in com-
mercial production. During this production
stage, 200 of the individual filaments are
drawn together into a strand; the filaments
are treated with a size which binds the filaments
before they are wound onto a drum. Further
strands may be brought together to form an
untwisted bundle of fibers called rovings.
The most important grades of glass are:
(i) E-glassÐlow alkali content, is the most
common glass fiber on the market and is the
major glass used in the construction industry.
(ii) S-glassÐa stronger and stiffer fiber than
E-glass, was originally developed for military
applications;
(iii) R-glassÐa civil version of S-glass, is
used for high-technology applications;
(iv) C-glassÐused for chemical resistance,
mainly against acid attack;
(v) CemfilÐused for resisting alkali in Port-
land cement.
There are five forms in which glass fiber
strands may be used to reinforce thermosetting
polymers, these are:
6 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering
(i) chopped fibers
(ii) chopped strands
(iii) chopped strand mats
(iv) woven fabrics
(v) surface tissue.
The glass fiber strands and the woven fabrics
are the main glass fiber forms used in advanced
composite fabrication for civil engineering
structures.
(ii) High-performance fibers
Although glass fibers have excellent high
strength with relatively low cost and currently
provide the majority of structural components
in the construction industry, special structural
requirements require materials with high-mod-
ulus, high-fatigue strength values than that
which can be provided by the glass fiber. For
such cases high-performance fibers will be used
although there will be a cost penalty. There are
basically two high-performance fibers used in
civil engineering, namely carbon and aramid
fibers.
Carbon fibers (see Chapter 1.01, Volume 1)
are manufactured by controlled pyrolysis and
crystallization of certain organic precursors and
the manufacturing process consists of a se-
quence of procedures which are stabilization,
carbonization, graphitization, and surface
treatment. During the manufacturing process
most elements other than carbon are removed
and carbon crystallites are preferably orien-
tated along the fiber length. At manufacturing
temperatures above 20008 C the size of the car-
bon crystallites increases and their orientation
improves
(a) Carbon fiber. Provided that the pre-
cursor fiber carbonizes and does not melt at
the high temperatures required for manufac-
ture, these precursor fibers can be converted
into carbon fibers. There are three precursors
used currently to manufacture carbon fibers.
These are:
(i) Rayon precursorsÐwhich are derived
from cellulose materials but only about 25%
of the original fiber mass remains after
carbonization.
(ii) Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) precursorsÐ
which are the basis for the majority of carbon
fibers which are commercially available and
about 50% of the original fiber mass remains
after carbonization.
(iii) Pitch precursors (see Chapter 1.02,
Volume 1)Ðcan also be used to produce carbon
fibers. These precursors are based upon petro-
leum, asphalt, coal tar, and PVC. Pitches are
relatively low in cost and have a high carbon
yield although the nonuniformity of the manu-
factured fiber from batch to batch is a problem.
(b) Aramid fiber (see Chapter 1.07, Volume
1) (aromatic polyamide). The aromatic fiber
is typically produced by an extrusion and spin-
ning process. A solution of the polymer in a
suitable solvent at a temperature of between
7508 C and 7808 C is extruded into a hot
cylinder which is at a temperature of 2008 C;
this causes the solvent to evaporate and the
resulting fiber is wound onto a bobbin. The
fiber then undergoes a stretching and drawing
process to increase its strength and stiffness
properties.
The structure of the aramid fibers is aniso-
tropic and gives higher strength and modulus
values in its longitudinal direction compared
with its transverse direction. Aramid is resistant
to fatigue, both static and dynamic. It is elastic
in tension but it behaves nonlinearly in com-
pression and in addition has a ductile compres-
sive characteristic. The fiber possesses good
toughness and damage tolerance properties.
Table 2 gives typical mechanical properties for
glass, carbon, and aramid fibers.
6.25.3.2.2 Matrix
A polymer is an organic material composed
of molecules made from many repeats of the
same simpler unit called the monomer.
The matrix (polymer) is required to fulfil the
following functions:
(i) to wet out the fiber and cure satisfactorily
in the manufacturing process;
(ii) to bind together the fibers and to protect
their surfaces from abrasion and environmental
corrosion;
(iii) to disperse the fibers and to separate
them in order to avoid any catastrophic propa-
gation of cracks;
(iv) to transfer stresses to the fibers effi-
ciently by adhesion and/or friction, and in addi-
tion, to reduce the chance of failure in the
matrix; adhesion to the fibers must be coupled
with sufficient matrix shear strength which is, in
general, proportional to the tensile strength;
(v) to be chemically compatible with the
fibers over long periods of time;
(vi) to be thermally compatible with the
fibers;
(vii) to have appropriate fire resistance and
limit smoke propagation;
(viii) to provide finish color and surface fin-
ish for connections.
There are several different polymer matrices
which can be utilized in advanced composites,
but in construction only a relatively small num-
ber are actually used. However, within the
composite family there are two major types
which determine the methods of manufacturing
 Design 7

Table 2 Typical properties of glass, carbon, and aramid fibers.

Material Fiber Elastic modulus Tensile strength Ultimate strain

(GPa) (MPa) (%)

Glass E 72.4 2400 3.5

A 72.4 3030 3.5
S-2 88.0 4600 5.7
Aramid 49 125 2760 2.4
29 83 2750 4.0
Carbon fiber
Pan based fibers
Hysol Grafil Apollo IMa 300 5200 1.73
HMb 400 3500 0.88
HSc 260 5020 2.00
BASF Celion G40-700 300 4960 1.66
Gy 80 572 1860 1.66
Torayca T300 234 3530 1.51
Pitch based fibers
Union carbide P120 827 2200 0.27
P100 724 2200 0.31
P75-S 520 2100 0.40
P55-S 380 1900 0.50
P25-W 160 1400 0.90

a b c
Intermediate modulus. High modulus. High strength.

and the properties of the composite; these are
the thermoplastic and thermosetting polymers.
Both types are composed of a long chain mo-
lecule made by connecting many smaller mole-
cules.
Thermoplastic polymers are long-chain mole-
cules held together by relatively weak van der
Waals forces but the chemical valency bond
along the chains is extremely strong, therefore,
they derive their strength and stiffness from the
inherent properties of the monomer units and
the very high molecular weight. These polymers
will be either amorphous which implies a ran-
dom structure with a high concentration of
molecular entanglement or they will be crystal-
line with a high degree of molecular order or
alignment. In the amorphous polymer (see
Chapter 2.02, Volume 2), the random structure
will become disentangled during heating and
will change the material from a solid to a
viscous liquid, whereas heating the crystalline
polymer will change it to an amorphous viscous
liquid. However, it is difficult to make a poly-
mer which has a pure crystalline structure be-
cause of the complex physical nature of the
molecular chains, consequently, the so-called
ªcrystallineº polymer should more correctly
be described as semicrystalline.
Thermosetting polymers (see Chapter 2.01,
Volume 2) are usually made from liquid or
semisolid precursors which harden irreversibly;
this chemical reaction is known as polyconden-
sation, polymerization, or curing and on com-
pletion, the liquid resin is converted to a hard
solid by chemical cross-linking which produces
a tightly bound three-dimensional network of
polymer chains. The molecular units forming
the network and the length and density of the
cross-links of the structure will influence the
mechanical properties of the material; the net-
work and length of the units are a function of
the chemicals used and the cross-linking is a
function of the degree of cure.
Rigid polymer foam is a two-phase system of
a gas dispersed in a solid polymer. Foam poly-
mers are produced by adding a blowing agent
to chemical formulations and this causes the
material to expand and to increase the original
volume of the polymer many times by the for-
mation of small cells. The properties of the
foam and the optimum use of these properties
are complicated subjects which reflect not only
the polymer properties but also the method of
manufacture. As with solid polymers, rigid
polymer foams can be manufactured from
either thermoplastic or thermosetting polymers
and they have the advantages and limitations of
the solid phase. Furthermore, the density, cell
geometry, and gas phase composition can be
varied to modify the products.
The elastomer is another member of the poly-
mer family; the most common is rubber. The
material consists of long-chain molecules which
are coiled and twisted in a random manner and
the molecular flexibility is such that the mate-
rial is able to undergo very large deformations.
The material is then cured by vulcanization to
enable it to recover from the large deformations
8 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering
received under load. The molecules then be-
come cross-linked in a similar way to that of
the thermosetting polymer. This polymer is
used in elastomeric bridge bearings and resilient
seatings in buildings; however, this topic is out-
side the scope of this chapter and will not be
discussed further.
(i) Properties of the polymer matrix material
(a) Mechanical properties. StrengthÐa
polymer exhibits different types of strength
characteristics depending on the loading to
which it is exposed, for example, undergoing
static short- or long-term loadings or dynamic
or impact loadings. The short-term ªyieldº
strength of a polymer is dependent upon the
bonding between the molecules; generally, the
higher the degree of cross-linking, the higher
the ªyieldº strength but the toughness will de-
crease in value. Long-term rupture and fatigue
strengths of thermoplastic polymers will be in-
creased with an increase in their secondary
bond strength and crystallinity. If substantial
heating is encountered during fatiguing of the
material, all factors that influence thermal sta-
bility will also influence fatigue strengths.
Toughness-±the ability of a material to ab-
sorb energy is known as toughness and is de-
fined as the work required to rupture a unit
volume of the material. Generally an increase in
the stiffness of the material will result in a
decrease in its toughness.
(b) Thermal properties. The coefficient of
thermal expansion of polymers is generally
much higher than that of conventional materi-
als such as steel and concrete. This character-
istic must be considered in structural design.
The characteristic varies with temperature and
consequently is calculated as the slope of the
secant line of the thermal expansion curve be-
tween the reference temperature (generally
room temperature) and the temperature of in-
terest. The rate of thermal expansion for a
thermosetting polymer is influenced mainly by
the degree of cross-linking. In a thermoplastic
polymer thermal expansion is controlled pri-
marily by the strength of the secondary bond
between molecules and only partially by the
stiffness of its chains.
The thermal conductivity of all polymers is
low, consequently they act as a good heat in-
sulators. To reduce the thermal conductivity of
a polymer further it can be used in the form of a
foam. If the value is to be increased, metallic
fillers can be added to the resin at the time of
polymerization.
Chemical resistance is the ability of a poly-
mer to resist attack by chemicals, environment,
and radiation. It depends upon the chemical
nature and the bonding in the monomer and
the shape of links in the polymer chain.
Dimensional stability is the most important
thermal property of polymers as, above a cri-
tical temperature, all polymers lose their dimen-
sional stability. This critical temperature is
known as the glass transition temperature (Tg)
of the polymer, below which amorphous and
partly crystalline polymers become glassy in
nature. Consequently, polymer composite
structural units should not be exposed to tem-
peratures above this value. In general, thermo-
setting polymers have higher Tg than the
thermoplastic polymers. For polymers with a
high crystallinity, the region of acceptable di-
mensional stability above Tg can be raised. At
the thermodynamic melting point (Tm), crystal-
line polymers abruptly change into liquids and
in doing so have zero mechanical properties. At
the decomposition temperature range (Td), a
polymer may become flammable. At the flash
ignition temperature polymers react with oxy-
gen and start to burn.
Solubility is the ability of a solvent to diffuse
into the polymer and to cause it to swell. There-
fore, when selecting a polymer for a specific
application, attention should be given to any
chemicals that may come in contact with it. It is
worth mentioning here that a polymer will not
dissolve in a solvent unless the chemical struc-
ture of its monomer is similar to that of the
solvent. A plasticizer may be added to a poly-
mer to alter its property or to improve its
processing workability. It should be realized
that such an addition is likely to lower the
temperature resistance, hardness, stiffness,
and tensile strength of the polymer; however,
its toughness may be increased.
Permeability is the ability of polymers to
allow gasses and other small molecules to
permeate through it. It is likely that polymers
with high crystallinity/density will have lower
permeability. The degree of cross-linking also
reduces permeability.
The three main polymers that are used in
construction are the polyesters, vinylester,s
and the epoxies; the phenolic polymer is occa-
sionally used for increased fire resistance; their
mechanical properties are shown in Table 3.
6.25.3.2.3 Interface
The interface between the fiber and matrix is
an anisotropic transition region exhibiting a
gradation of properties. This is an important
region which is required to provide adequate
chemical and physical bonding stablility be-
tween the fibers and matrix. Its functional re-
quirements vary considerably according to the
 Design
Table 3 Typical mechanical properties of the four polymers.
Specific
Material weight tensile strength
Thermosetting
Polyester 1.28
Vinylester (BASF Palatal A430-01) 1.07
Epoxy 1.03
Phenolic (without filler) 1.5±1.75
performance requirement of the composite dur-
ing its various stages under service conditions.
The analysis and design of composite materi-
als is discussed in Section 6.25.3.4 and Section
6.25.3.6; it is sufficient, therefore, to say here
that a number of assumptions are made to
enable solutions to mathematical models to be
obtained, these are:
(i) the fiber and matrix behave as a quasie-
lastic materials;
(ii) the bond between the fiber and matrix is
perfect and consequently there will be no strain
discontinuity across the interface;
(iii) the material adjacent to the fiber has the
same properties as the material in bulk form.
6.25.3.3 Current Methods of Manufacture
Relevant to Civil Engineering
There are various techniques for the manu-
facture of advanced polymer composites (see
Volume 2 of this set), all of which will have an
influence on the mechanical properties of the
final composite product. The methods may be
considered under three broad headings:
(i) The manual processes cover such meth-
ods as hand lay-up, spray-up (both of which are
known as contact molding), pressure bag, and
autoclave moldings.
(ii) The semiautomated processes which
include compression molding and resin
injection.
(iii) The automated processes are those such
as pultrusion, filament winding, and injection
molding.
It is necessary to realize the profound effects
that the manufacturing techniques have on the
quality of the finished product and their proper-
ties. The varying degrees of compaction pro-
vided by each of the manufacturing methods,
the degree of pre- and postcure, of the resin and
the overall effect on the microstructure and in-
ternal stresses developed during the fabrication
procedure will all affect their finished quality.
The important manufacturing techniques
which are used in construction and lie within
9
Ultimate Modulus of Coefficient of
elasticity in tension linear expansion
(MPa) (GPa) (1076 8C71)
45±90 2.5±4.0 100±110
90 4.0 80
90±110 3.5±7.0 45±65
45±59 5.5±8.3 30±45
the above broad headings are as follows.
The manual process (hand lay-up)±some of
the commercial methods available to manufac-
ture the composite are:
(i) The XX-sys Technologies method
(ii) The REPLARK method
(iii) The Dupont method
(iv) The Tonen Forca method.
The semiautomated processesÐtwo commer-
cial methods which are available to manufac-
ture composites are:
(i) Resin Infusion under Flexible Tooling
(RIFT)
(ii) The XX-sys Technologies process.
The automated processÐthree methods to
produce polymer composite units for fabrica-
tion into structural units for the construction
industry are:
(i) The pultrusion technique
(ii) The filament winding technique
(iii) The resin transfer molding (RTM) and
the Siemann Composites Resin Infusion Man-
ufacturing Process (SCRIMP).
6.25.3.3.1 Manual process (hand lay-up)
The XX-sys TechnologiesÐhand applied
carbon fiber fabric wrap (ambient cured resin
system). The XX-sys method is one in which
dry carbon fiber fabric is wrapped around a
column which is required to be strengthened or
upgraded; the steps are as follows.
(i) Surface preparation is a critical operation
and may include some or all of the following
activities: grit blasting, steel reinforcement cor-
rosion control, crack injection, grinding high
spots and protrusions, radius grinding of cor-
ners, repairing damaged areas, patching holes.
(ii) Marking the concrete in advance so that
each section of carbon fiber fabric can be accu-
rately placed during installation.
(iii) Sections of the fabric are cut, rolled,
wrapped, and labeled.
(iv) The adhesive is applied to the concrete
surface and dry fabric is applied directly to the
adhesive.
10 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering
(v) The fabric is rolled with a laminating
roller to remove any trapped air.The laminating
resin is then mixed and is applied to the dry
fabric and worked into the fabric using firm
pressure.
(vi) For projects which require two or more
layers of fabric, a layer of resin must be applied
between the layers of fabric to bind them
together. Each layer is consolidated using
metal laminating rollers.
(vii) To protect the composite from UV
radiation, the whole can be painted with a
textured urethane-based paint.
The Replark fabrication technique is similar
in principle to the XX-sys technique, and uses
Mitsubishi manufactured fibers; it is marketed
and distributed in the UK by the Sumitomo
Corporation. The Replark material is manufac-
tured from unidirectional carbon fibers impreg-
nated with a small amount of polymer. Replark
can be readily applied to concrete with epoxy
resin (Epotherm). The fabrication technique to
form this material is basically a hand lay-up
method in which the mold is usually the struc-
tural unit on to which the polymer composite is
retrofitted. In addition, planar and nonplanar
composites can be manufactured independently
and used as structural units.
The application procedure as recommended
by Sumitomo is:
(i) grind the surface of the concrete on which
the composite is to be laid-up, thus providing a
clean rough surface for bonding,
(ii) prime the surface of the concrete with a
compatible resin to that of the composite,
(iii) apply an epoxy putty filler if necessary,
(iv) apply the first resin coat (undercoat),
(v) apply the carbon fiber sheet (Replark) to
the resin coat,
(vi) apply the second resin application (over-
coat),
(vi) apply a protective coating if required.
Dupont produce a system using Kevlar fibers
which are marketed as a repair system for con-
crete structures. Application of the material to
the surface to be retrofitted is similar to the
above.
The Tonen Forca is a unidirectional carbon
fiber sheet in an epoxy laminated system mar-
keted in the UK by Kyokuto Boeki Kaisha Ltd.
The system was originally developed by Mitsu-
bishi Chemical Corporation and is therefore
similar to the Replark system.
6.25.3.3.2 The semiautomated process
The semiautomated Resin Infusion under
Flexible Tooling (RIFT) process has been de-
veloped to retrofit carbon fiber composites to
steel, cast iron, and concrete bridges. The high-
quality composites which are formed in situ are
bonded to the structure in one operation, by
the laminating resin, during the manufacturing
procedure. In this process dry fibers are pre-
formed in a mold in the fabrication shop and
are sent to site. The preform is then attached
to the structure and a resin supply is channeled
to the prepreg. The prepreg and resin supply
are then enveloped in a vacuum bagging sys-
tem. As the resin flows through the dry fiber
preform it forms both the composite material
and the adhesive bond between the CFRP and
the structure. The process provides high fiber
volume fraction composites of the order of
55% which have high strength and stiffness
values.
The XX-sys Technologies continuous carbon
fiber jackets method was developed in the USA
by XX-sys Technologies, Inc., San Diego, CA,
as a semiautomated process for seismic retro-
fitting and strength restoration of concrete col-
umns using continuous carbon fiber. The XX-
sys carbon fiber composite jackets are installed
with a fully automated machine called Robo-
WrapperTM and portable oven for curing. The
technology associated with the technique is
based on the filament winding of prepreg car-
bon fiber tows around the structural unit, thus
forming a carbon fiber jacket; currently, the
structural unit to be upgraded would be a col-
umn. The polymer is then cured by a controlled
elevated temperature oven and can, if desired,
be coated with a resin to match the existing
structure. An advantage of this automated pro-
cess is that the carbon fiber prepreg is impreg-
nated with the polymer under factory
controlled conditions, providing good quality
control and as a consequence a high strength to
weight ratio. The equipment is erected on site
with minimum disturbance to traffic and the
whole operation is undertaken in minimum
time; the latter will, however, depend on the
size of the job. The carbon fiber jacket which is
eventually formed around the column will in-
crease the shear capacity of the column and will
confine the concrete and greatly enhance its
ductility in the flexural plastic hinge region.
Furthermore, it will provide lap splice clamping
and will prevent local buckling of the vertical
reinforcement. For corrosion-damaged col-
umns, the jacket restores shear capacity and
will prevent spalling of the cover concrete.
With the exception of the XX-sys method, all
the above manufacturing processes are able to
produce ªall compositeº systems as well as
independently being bonded onto conventional
constructions to act compositely with, and to
upgrade, that structure.
 Design
6.25.3.3.3 The fully-automated process
The pultrusion technique is a closed mold
system and is a fully-automated continuous
process used in the reinforced plastics industry.
Constant section shapes are produced by pas-
sing strands of fiber interleaved with any addi-
tional required layers of fabric through a heated
die, the strands having been previously passed
through a resin bath to impregnate them. Alter-
natively the fibers can be impregnated with the
resin by injecting the latter through port-holes
in the heated die as the fibers pass through it.
The process has been discussed by Hollaway
(1986).
The finished pultrusion products formed have
various geometrical cross-sectional shapes and
are generally straight, although products can be
manufactured which are curved in the lon-
gitudinal direction. This operation, however,
requires considerable experience. Furthermore,
complicated geometrical sections including
those which incorporate right-angled bends
can be manufactured. The limiting factor on
the complexity of the cross-section is the pull
force required to draw the pultruded section
through the die; the more complex the section,
the greater the force due to friction of the unit
within the die.
It is necessary to design the operation so that
the fibers are well compacted around any bends
in a section to prevent voids forming in the unit
and that they can be distributed well in all cross-
sections of the manufactured unit, thus avoid-
ing any weaknesses from voids in the section.
Although the pultrusion technique generally
refers to the utilization of thermosetting poly-
mers, such as polyester, vinylester, and epoxy
resins, in conjunction with fibers, a method has
been developed for the production of thermo-
plastic polymer and fiber composites by a simi-
lar process generally also referred to as
pultrusion. Composites made by this method
have been used in composite rebars (see Section
6.25.4.6) and for construction products such as
the Maunsell's Advanced Composites Con-
struction System (see Section 6.25.4.1.1).
In the filament winding technique continuous
strands or rovings of reinforcement are passed
through a bath of activated resin and then
wound onto a rotating Mandrel. The relative
speeds of the Mandrel and the traversing bath
determine the helix angle of the fibers in the
composite. If resin preimpregnated fibers are
used, they are passed over a hot roller until
tacky and are then wound on to the rotating
Mandrel. The composite unit is removed from
the Mandrel after completion of the initial
polymerization and is then fully cured by pla-
cing it into an oven enclosure at 608 C for 8 h.
11
In Resin Transfer Molding (RTM) and the
Seemann Composites Resin Infusion Manufac-
turing Process (SCRIMP), a fiber preform is
placed on a tool or inside a mold cavity and is
encapsulated inside a vacuum bag. Thermoset-
ting resin is then injected into the mold where it
saturates the preform and fills the mold. The
resin system is designed to undergo a curing
reaction to produce the finished part. The
mold filling process, which can take a number
of minutes, is critical to obtaining a good qual-
ity product. To prevent voids or dry spots from
forming in the finished article, the resin must
fully wet-out the preform; any voids present will
result in defects that will diminish the strength
and quality of the cured part. The SCRIMP
process is a vacuum-assisted RTM process.
6.25.3.3.4 Mechanical properties of composite
materials
Structural composites have a wide spectrum
of mechanical properties. These properties will
be dependent on the following four items.
(i) The relative proportions of fiber and
matrix materials (the fiber/matrix volume or
weight ratio).
(ii) The method of manufacture (see Section
6.25.3.3).
(iii) The mechanical properties of the com-
ponent parts (a carbon fiber array will give
greater stiffness to the composite than an iden-
tical glass fiber array).
(iv) The fiber orientation within the polymer
matrix (the fiber orientations can take the form
of unidirectional, bidirectional, various off-axis
directions, and randomly orientated arrays).
Table 4 gives typical properties of compo-
sites manufactured using long directionally
aligned fiber reinforcement of glass, aramid,
and carbon with a fiber/matrix ratio by weight
of 65%. Table 5 shows typical mechanical
properties of glass fiber composites manufac-
tured by different techniques; it clearly illus-
trates the effect that the method of fabrication
has on the properties. Table 6 shows the varia-
tion of the composite properties when the fiber/
matrix ratio is changed, the method of manu-
facture and component parts of the composite
remaining constant.
6.25.3.4 Limit State Design of Composite
Structures
To enable a cost-effective structure to be
designed and built, an understanding of the
composite material properties, the methods of
12 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering

Table 4 Typical mechanical properties of long directionally aligned fiber

reinforced composites manufactured by an automated process (epoxy matrix).

Specific Tensile Tensile Flexural Flexural

Material weight strength modulus strength modulus
(MPa) (GPa) (MPa) (GPa)

E-glass 1.9 760±1030 41.0 1448 41.0

S-2 glass 1.8 1690.0 52.0 ± ±
Aramid 58 1.45 1150±1380 70±107 ± ±
Carbon (PAN) 1.6 2689±1930 130±172 1593 110.0
Carbon (Pitch) 1.8 1380±1480 331±440 ± ±

Table 5 Typical mechanical properties of glass fiber composites manufactured by

different fabrication methods.

Method of Tensile Tensile Flexural Flexural

manufacture strength modulus strength modulus
(MPa) (GPa) (MPa) (GPa)

Hand lay-up 62±344 4±31 110±550 6±28

Spray-up 335±124 6±12 83±190 5±9
RTM 138±193 3±10 207±310 8±15
Filament winding 550±1380 30±50 690±1725 34±48
Pultrusion 275±1240 21±41 517±1448 21±41

Table 6 Typical mechanical properties of glass fiber/vinylester polymer (compres-

sion molding±randomly orientated fibers).

Fiber/matrix Specific Flexural Flexural Tensile Tensile

ratio weight strength modulus strength modulus
(%) (MPa) (GPa) (MPa) (GPa)

67 1.84±1.90 483 17.9 269 19.3

65 1.75 406 15.1 214 15.8
50 1.8 332 15.3 166 15.8

their manufacture, and a knowledge of their
design analysis methods is not sufficient. For
instance, it is possible to evaluate the strength
and stiffness of an assumed structural config-
uration so that the strength and deflection of
the structure can be predicted, but the charac-
teristics of the material do not address the
question of reliability and performance of that
structure. For the complete design of a compo-
site structure, the following questions must be
answered:
(i) which manufacturing process will pro-
duce the most reliable performance?
(ii) which is the most reliable, a thin-walled
composite section or a thicker one?
(iii) which is more important, the fire resis-
tance of the material or the environmental
resistance? (Incorporating additives into the
resin formulations to improve the fire resistance
will generally have a detrimental effect on the
durability of the material.)
(iv) which is the more cost-effective, the uti-
lization of a more expensive composite material
with better quality control or a cheaper one
with more variable quality?
(v) what stress and strain levels are accepta-
ble under normal working load conditions?
For conventional materials the answer to
these questions would be contained in a specifi-
cation or codes of practice but as yet no stan-
dard specifications or codes exist for the use of
composite materials in civil or structural appli-
cations. However, limit state design principles
provide a basis for an accurate design procedure
by incorporating into them materials, material
testing, material manufacturing processes, qual-
ity control, design procedures, and reliability.
The limit state design procedures have been
developed in Europe on a national and interna-
tional basis by the civil and structural engineer-
ing industries and are widely recognized as
providing a sound basis for the design of steel
 Design
and concrete structures. Initially there was some
opposition to use of the limit state codes of
practice, principally on the complexity of the
new codes and the difficulty of using them for
design. To a large extent this initial problem has
been overcome and the principle can now be
extended to the polymer composite field of de-
sign. The approach to defining the criteria for
composite materials is complicated when com-
pared with that for steel, concrete, and alumi-
num. The designer is required to have a detailed
knowledge of the stress±strain characteristics of
the materials, the strength behavior, and its
changes with time, temperature, stress environ-
ment, and manufacturing procedure. Limit
state design principles are ideally suited to deal-
ing with a large number of interactive design
aspects and, consequently, developing design
codes of practice for composites would greatly
simplify the complexity of the designers' task by
providing a rational limit state design philoso-
phy which would greatly enhance the design
procedures for composites.
In 1974 the Joint Committee on Structural
Safety (JCSS, an interassociation committee
sponsored by six major international associa-
tions concerned with structures and materials)
defined the aims of design as:
ªThe achievement of acceptable probabilities
that the structure being designed will not be-
come unfit for the use for which it is required
during some reference period and having regard
for its intended life. Thus, all structures or
structural elements should be designed to sus-
tain, with an appropriate degree of safety, all
loads and deformations liable to occur during
construction and proper use, to perform ade-
quately in normal use and to have adequate
durability during the life of the structure.º
There are three levels of sophistication, as
noted in Head and Templeman (1990), which
must be recognized when the degree of safety in
structures is checked at any given limit state.
(i) Level 1: A semiprobabilistic design
method in which appropriate levels of reliabil-
ity are provided by the specification of a num-
ber of partial safety factors related to nominal
values of the basic variables. (This is the one
generally adopted for design codes.)
(ii) Level 2: A probabilistic design method
in which the basic variables are represented by
their known or postulated distributions and a
defined reliability level is accepted. (This is the
one normally used in the design of codes, but
can be used directly in design if sufficient data
for the basic variables are available and the
required level of reliability justifies the cost.)
(iii) Level 3: An exact probabilistic design
method involving integration of the representa-
tion of the various uncertainties to derive opti-
13
mum failure probabilities. (This concept is
generally used in research.)
The partial coefficients in limit state design in
level 1 allow the relationship between test loads
and in-service loads and the relevant test data
on materials to the performance of structural
elements to be analyzed. For the majority of
FRP applications, level 1 will be the most ap-
propriate, once appropriate codes of practice
have been developed.
6.25.3.4.1 Limit states
It is possible to describe the performance of
all or part of an FRP structure or structural
component by a limited set of limit states be-
yond which the design requirements are no
longer satisfied.
The limit states can be divided into three
categories, these are:
(i) the ultimate limit state (ULS) corre-
sponding to the maximum load capacity;
(ii) the serviceability limit state (SLS) relat-
ing to the criteria governing normal use, e.g.,
excessive deformations, excessive vibrations;
(iii) the conditional limit state, correspond-
ing to infrequent major random events (e.g.,
fire) and which is frequently put into one of
the other limit states (ULS or SLS).
In the design of FRP structures it would be
required that all relevant limit states are con-
sidered, although it would generally be accep-
table to design on the lower of the limit stages
judged to be critical and then to check that the
remaining limit states are reached.
6.25.3.4.2 Method of partial coefficients
In the limit state analysis it is necessary to set
up a calculation model incorporating the ap-
propriate basic variables with due considera-
tion being taken of the influence of direct and
indirect loads, the structural response, and the
behavior of the material. Any variable quanti-
ties associated with the calculation model and
the material properties would be allowed for by
either a model of partial coefficients (level 1) or
by a probabilistic method (level 2).
The aim of the application of partial coeffi-
cients to FRP structures is to achieve, by means
of suitably derived partial coefficients, which
are applied to the characteristic variables of the
relevant basic variables, acceptable probabil-
ities that for each limit state the resistance of
the structure would exceed the local effects.
The variability of basic parameters would be
taken into account by the selection of charac-
teristic values of all of them; the uncertainties
associated with the characteristic values and the
14 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering
calculation model would be considered by par-
tial coefficients applied to the variables or their
effects.
The variation in mechanical properties of the
materials being considered would be analyzed
by defining the characteristic properties related
to standard test specimens and procedures; the
characteristic material value would be defined
as that value which is not attained in an un-
limited test series.
There are two partial coefficients which are
used in design, one relating to the load effects
and the other to the strength of the material or
elements. Consequently, for a particular limit
state, the design value for the different types of
variable would be:
Fd ˆ gf Fk
Fd ˆ Fk =gm
where Fd is the design value of a load, Fk is the
characteristic value of the load (calculated
load), gf is the partial coefficient, fd is the de-
sign material property, fk is the characteristic
property, and gm is the partial material coeffi-
cient. The values of g would generally be of the
order:
ULS SLS
Partial load coefficient gf Dead load %1.5 %1.2
Live load %2.0 %1.5
Partial material coefficient Strength %3.0 %±
Stiffness %± %1.2
The partial coefficient could then be subdi-
vided to enable rational and consistent values
for the individual coefficients to be defined. For
example, gf could be considered a function of
gf1, gf2, and gf3 where these coefficients might
consider unfavorable directions of loads (gf1),
reduction in probability that a combination of
loads will reach, simultaneously, their charac-
teristic value (gf2), and inaccurate assessment of
the load effects (gf3).
Further improvements could be made to the
accuracy of the coefficients by introducing a
further coefficient gn to adjust either gf or gm.
For example, gn could be divided into gn1 which
takes account of the nature of failure (whether
it is brittle or ductile) and gn2 which considers
the consequences of failure (economic consid-
erations to human safety).
6.25.3.4.3 Factors affecting the design of RP
material
(i) Introduction
Fiber reinforced polymer material is very
complex, particularly when a definition of the
material is required. For instance, the variabil-
ities in the polymer include its manufacturing
techniques and whether additives or modifiers
have been incorporated. However, most poly-
mers do exhibit similar characteristics, differ-
ing only in magnitude but compared with
conventional materials, are more complex
with more pronounced viscoelastic behavior,
temperature effects, and environmental factors.
Fiber reinforced polymers are less complex
than the polymer, considered separately. The
fibers stabilize the polymer with the effect that
the composite material has elastic characteris-
tics compared with the viscoelastic properties
of the polymer. In addition the composite ma-
terial is less affected by changes in temperature
and load duration. However, the composite
material is a complex one, due to the large
variation in the two constituent properties
and the various different fibers and their or-
ientation in the composite. All these factors are
required to be embraced in the limit state de-
sign method.
In Section 6.25.3.2 the characteristics of the
fibers, matrix, and composite have been dis-
cussed and only those aspects that require to
be covered by the limit state design method are
outlined here.
(ii) Factors affecting the limit state design
method of the component materials
(a) Fibers
(i) the type of material (strength and stiff-
ness)
(ii) the form of arrangement of the fibers
(mat, unidirectional, or bidirectional rovings,
etc.)
(iii) the fiber lay-up (woven fabric in which
kinking will occur with reduction in strength of
the composite)
(iv) the fiber/matrix volume ratio.
(b) Matrix
(i) the type of polymer
(ii) the addition of any filler and plasticizer
(generally affecting the physical properties)
(iii) the bond characteristics between fiber
and matrix.
(c) Processes. The manufacturing techni-
que used.
(d) Short-term stress±strain relation-
ship. The stress±strain characteristics of the
composite material, whether it behaves as a
quasi-isotropic or a quasi-orthothropic and
the form of the graph to failure (see Chapter
1.17, Volume 1).
(e) Long-term loading. The strain time
creep characteristics. The behavior is complex
and is influenced by temperature and environ-
ment (see Chapter 1.20, Volume 1).
 Design
(f) Fatigue. The fatigue characteristic is
highly directional and if the system is exposed
to high-frequency stress variations, the material
can generate internal heat.
The following discussion sets out the general
principles on which limit state design criteria
for polymer composite materials could be
based. A consistent and rational approach to
design must be adopted in spite of the diversity
of applications in order to give confidence to
designers and end users.
(g) Design life. It is important to evaluate
the fatigue performance and the cumulative
effects of creep under load, temperature varia-
tion, and environmental effects when specifying
the design life of a composite structure.
Although the material has reduced mainte-
nance costs compared with the more traditional
materials, it would be expected that regular
inspections would be undertaken during this
period.
(h) Limit states. It is necessary to select
all the relevant limit states for consider-
ation when designing for any structure or
component.
The following provides some indication of
the limit states which would be required to be
received for particular characteristics asso-
ciated with FRP material.
(i) Serviceability limit state
(a) Deflection/deformation
(b) Residual deformationÐthe viscoelastic
nature of the material
(c) First damageÐcrazing or cracking of the
material might accelerate the environmental
degradation
(d) Buckling (local or overall)Ðthe state of
the material after buckling
(e) Vibration
(f) Impact damageÐa reduction in proper-
ties, the effect on the appearance, or more
permanent damage.
(j) Ultimate limit state
(a) CollapseÐloss of integrity of structure
(b) Rupture of sectionÐinfluenced by fail-
ure of structure or element, would involve a
failure criteria definition, might involve an
interaction of time, temperature, stress, and
environment
(c) BucklingÐinstability problem, would
involve a reduction of stress and directional
properties
(d) Fatigue
(e) Fire resistance (see Chapter 6.23, this
volume).
(k) Methods of analysis for FRP
(a) Analysis of ultimate load: would require
taking account of nonductile characteristics of
FRP and would in most cases assume that the
stress±strain characteristics are linear.
15
(b) Global analysis: would generally assume
linear elastic models but would incorporate the
loss of stiffness due to the creep. It might be
necessary to undertake a three-dimensional
finite element analysis in order to evaluate any
stress concentrations and shear lag effects.
(c) Analysis of deflection: the analysis would
be incorporated into the global analysis; it is
important to recognize that the design of com-
posite structures is dominated by total load
deflections.
(d) Analysis of stresses: again the analysis
would be incorporated into the global analysis-
for serviceability or for ultimate limit state con-
ditions and would include:
(i) stresses due to axial forces and global
bending moments
(ii) shear stresses including those due to ten-
sion
(iii) warping stresses due to torsion
(iv) transverse stresses
(v) creep stresses
(vi) stress concentrations.
(iii) Specifications for loads used in the design
procedures
Generally, the limit state codes of practice for
the more conventional construction materials
would also be used for composites. It should be
realized, however, that the live loads would
represent a larger proportion of the total load
as the self-weight would be low in value. In
addition, the duration of the live load for the
time-dependent behavior to be assessed would
be required. Furthermore, temperature effects
might be important due to the large thermal
coefficient of expansion, but thermal restraint
would be less due to the relatively low modulus
of elasticity of the material.
(iv) Material parameters
Material design data are generally derived
from laboratory testing of specimens. For
FRP materials, the maximum reliability, the
specimens, and test conditions should represent
as closely as possible those to which the struc-
tural system is exposed in practice. In construc-
tion the characteristic material properties are
commonly taken as the lower 5% fractile, how-
ever, other relevant values may be appropriate
for different applications. The characteristic
values for FRP material used in construction
are stiffness and strength, ultimate strength,
and first damage, and these should be asso-
ciated with governing limitations, for instance,
the constituent materials, the production pro-
cess, limits of temperature, or environmental
conditions.
16 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering
(v) Partial material coefficients
The uncertainties inherent in the assumed
properties of the composite materials would
be allowed for in the partial material coefficient
gm. The value of gm would normally be derived
from a combination of a statistical analysis and
judgment aided by a pre-existing practice. One
uncertainty is the method for deriving proper-
ties of multiply laminae; this may be overcome
by one of the following:
(a) Determine the properties of the fiber and
matrix from test procedures; the properties of
the individual plies and the laminate would be
determined from theory.
(b) Determine the properties of the indivi-
dual plies from test procedures and the proper-
ties of the laminate from theory.
(c) Determine the properties of the laminate
from test procedures.
The derivation method used to determine the
material properties would influence the partial
coefficient values applied to the characteristic
values. The method of manufacture, whether by
the automated techniques or by the less precise
manual process, would influence the partial
coefficient value; a lower value would be used
for the automated techniques.
The partial coefficients for stiffness and
strength would take account of:
(a) variations in laminate thickness and rein-
forcement position flexural stiffness in two
directions
(b) membrane stresses in two directions
(c) out-of-plane shear stresses.
If the mode of failure is estimated to be
brittle, then higher values of partial material
factors are usually applied compared with more
ductile failure.
(vi) Buckling instability
For FRP structures and plates in compres-
sion, the most appropriate method to deal with
buckling instability is by incorporating strength
factors depending on the slenderness ratio, but
the uncertainties in the stiffness parameters
would require that special attention is paid to
the values of the partial material coefficients.
Consideration of the buckling instability at the
serviceability and the ultimate limit states
would be given.
(vii) Fatigue
To estimate the fatigue design life of a struc-
tural system, the characteristic S±N curves are
used to calculate the fatigue life which is re-
quired to exceed the design life. As with other
loading cases, the fatigue behavior is influenced
by temperature, environment, and direction of
stress for anisotropic materials and therefore
characteristic S±N curves should be associated
with the governing limitations.
6.25.3.5 Manufacturing Specification
It is vitally important that a detailed specifi-
cation for manufacture, testing, assembly, and
erection on site for advanced composite materi-
als should be developed. The evaluation of
partial material factors for strength and stiff-
ness is dependent on knowledge of the maxi-
mum variation in laminate thickness and glass
content or position. These tolerances need to be
realistic in relation to the manufacture of com-
plete advanced composite sections.
The design specification±manufacture inter-
faces must be carefully studied at all stages of
the design/development and a performance spe-
cification should then be developed based on
defined material types and structural geometry.
A full program of type approval, batch, and
panel assembly tests should be specified includ-
ing tests for fire resistance and effects of
weather. Clearly it is necessary to focus the
specifications relevant to each particular mate-
rial and process.
6.25.3.6 Causes of Failure of Composites
The procedures for the failure analysis of
metallic structures were established several dec-
ades ago, but as yet procedures for composite
material structures are not well defined.
Whereas some experience obtained from metals
can be used for composites, the behavior under
load of the two material groups are fundamen-
tally different, particularly when continuous
fiber composites are used.
There are three potential causes of failure of
composites, as follows.
6.25.3.6.1 Design failure
Errors can be made during the design stage of
the composite material or the structure fabri-
cated from that material. Common errors relat-
ing to the material may include those in
analyzing the nature of anisotropy of the plies
of the material, inadequate assessment of ma-
terial damage, and inadequate predictions of
the environmental situation.
It is generally assumed that strain continuity
exists throughout the thickness of the laminate.
The stress levels of each of the plies in the cross-
section of the laminate depends on the modulus
and if the stress gradient and internal shear
stresses between plies, which might be oriented
 Applications
at different angles to each other, are large in
magnitude, premature fracture may occur.
Further errors at a material level may be
caused if the composite has a high anisotropic
coefficient of thermal expansion. If the adjacent
plies in a laminate are at large angles to one
another, a high level of internal stress may
develop as the temperature changes. Further-
more, if the advanced composites are manufac-
tured at elevated temperatures but are loaded at
ambient, the temperature change can induce
stresses which would behave as residual stresses
in the laminate.
6.25.3.6.2 Fabrication and processing errors
The manufacture of advanced composites is
undertaken under controlled conditions and the
material is inspected at completion of manufac-
ture, consequently, errors should not occur,
however, some still do. The placement and
orientation of individual plies in a laminate
are critical for obtaining the required mechan-
ical properties. It can be shown that by referring
to the stiffness equations for anisotropic elasti-
city for a unidirectional fiber laminate, if there
is a misorientation of 158, the stiffness coeffi-
cient is reduced to 88% which represents a
reduction in ultimate strength of up to 50%.
If the misalignment is 308 the stiffness coeffi-
cient is reduced to 60%.
6.25.3.6.3 Fracture
Composite fracture mechanics is complex
due to the anisotropic nature of composite
materials; the types and mode of fracture will
depend on the type and direction of the applied
load and on the lay-up of the composite.
(i) Fracture in continuous fiber composites
The fracture may be classified as:
(a) Interlaminar: where the fracture occurs
between plies and in a plane parallel to the
fiber, it is influenced by matrix fracture and
fiber matrix separation; the latter occurs by
either tension (mode 1) or by in-plane shear
(mode 11). If the fiber orientations are at var-
ious angles in order to meet the required speci-
fication for the material, the path of the crack
propagation will be complex.
(b) Intralaminar: where the fracture occurs
inside one of the plies and in a plane parallel to
the fiber. The comments made in the case of
interlaminar fracture also relate to the case of
intralaminar fracture.
(c) Translaminar: where the fracture occurs
through the composite. These fractures have
17
rough fiber dominated features. Two distinct
translaminar failure mechanisms are tensile and
compressive microbuckling. One of these or a
combination is responsible for all translaminar
fractures.
(ii) Fracture in discontinuous randomly
orientated fiber composites
Discontinuous fiber composites would be
manufactured by a hot press molding technique
(Hollaway, 1993) where random fibers are dis-
tributed within the composite. Under pressure,
the fibers are compacted laterally and some
fibers may be flattened while others kink over
adjacent fibers. The matrix of such a composite
would display brittleness in tension while it may
not be brittle under complex stresses. The fail-
ure mode is complex and, in addition, it may fail
for other reasons such as wavy fiber bundles,
kinked fiber bundles, and matrix-rich regions.
(a) Tension failure: this failure criteria gen-
erally occurs with a degree of separation of fiber
bundles along the parallel planes and finally
results in a number of fiber breakages, intrala-
minar fiber separations, and separation of
fibers perpendicular to the fracture plane.
(b) Compression failure: this commences
with delamination followed by buckling of the
resulting thin layers of laminates. Kinks in the
fibers will result from this failure.
(c) Shear failure: this failure is similar to that
of tensile failure. Upon further loading, shear
cracks at 458 to the principal plane occur after
tensile cracks have appeared.
(d) Fatigue failure: as in the case of static
loading, fatigue failure results in separation.
Fatigue dust is caused by the repeated relative
motion between fibers; as a consequence the
fatigue life can be considerably reduced. If the
criteria of failure is related to an increase in
deformation of the system then this type of
failure will occur before separation of the lami-
nate and can then be defined in terms of the loss
of a specific amount of stiffness.
6.25.4 APPLICATIONS
6.25.4.1 Current and Possible Future Areas of
Utilization of Polymer Composite
Material
6.25.4.1.1 New polymer composite building
systems
An example of a composite building system
manufactured from an automated process is the
Advanced Composite Construction System
(ACCS), a cross-section of which is shown in
18 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering

Figure 1 The ACCS structural unit (The Maunsell Plank).

Figure 2 Maunsell House Design using the ACCS planks (photograph by kind permission of Maunsell
Structural Plastics, Beckenham, Kent, UK).

Figure 1. It was conceived and designed by
Maunsell Structural Plastics. The ACCS con-
struction consists of a number of interlocking
fiber reinforced polymer composite Maunsell
plank units which can be assembled into a
large range of different high-performance struc-
tures for use in the construction industry. The
system is manufactured by the pultrusion tech-
nique, discussed in Section 6.25.3.3.3, using
isophthalic polyester resin and unidirectional,
bidirectional, and chopped strand mat glass
fiber reinforced for the main structural mem-
bers. The production and material content of
the ACCS plank are optimized to provide
highly durable and versatile composites and,
in addition, structures can be formed quickly
from a small number of standard components.
As the material is lightweight, transportation
and erection on site is efficient. All site joints,
which are adhesively bonded, are made to form
a completely integrated monocoque structure.
The thermal insulation standards match the
very best in Europe and far exceed the new
British Building Regulations.
A new form of building structure has been
developed using ACCS in which the wall and
floors are bonded together to form an integral
monocoque structure. Vertical ACCS panels in
the walls, with suitable openings for doors and
windows, form the vertical box carrying mem-
bers and floors span between them and act as
stiffening diaphragms to the vertical box struc-
ture. Floors can be ribbed slabs or a beam and
slab form if the spans are large. Wall and floor
components can be delivered flat-packed and
are light enough to be handled by small cranes
or robots. Connections are made by bonding
and load continuity between end sections is
achieved by bonded lapping sections, equiva-
lent to bolted splice plates where bolts are
replaced with adhesive. Figure 2 shows a pro-
totype building structure of two-storey height
 Applications
using the ACCS; the building was used as site
offices at the second Severn crossing.
6.25.4.1.2 Building structures
Composites have been used very successfully
in specialized market sectors of the building
industry where weight and corrosion resistance
are important together with others where the
architectural possibilities of molded building
panels have been exploited. Resins have been
improved to provide good long-term perfor-
mance and adequate fire resistance. In the
past, manufacturing has relied heavily on the
hand lay-up techniques with associated conver-
sion costs and this has meant that composite
structures have not often been competitive in
price with those built using conventional mate-
rials. However, conventional building costs are
rising fast, because of the ever-increasing labor
costs fueled by skilled labor shortages, and the
higher specifications for thermal insulation
needed to improve energy efficiency. At the
same time automated fabrication techniques
for GFRP composite components linked to
innovative designs for forming complete build-
ing structures from modular systems are offer-
ing much more cost-effective solutions for
complete building structures and ones in
which greater architectural freedom of expres-
sion is possible. As the environmental assess-
ment of building designs develops, it is likely
that these structures will be increasingly attrac-
tive because of high insulation levels, low en-
ergy during manufacture, and the fact that the
glass is theoretically recyclable although it is
more likely that it would be ground to a coarse
powder and used as a filler in a lower grade
composite.
6.25.4.1.3 Offshore structures
Historically there has been very little use of
composites in any type of offshore structure
(see Chapter 6.23, this volume). Their applica-
tion in structural areas has been practically
nonexistent due to a lack of stiffness, lack of
required section sizes, concern over fire perfor-
mance, and general conservatism in the indus-
try. However, with the current low oil prices
and the need to trim weight and cost from
offshore structures, coupled with greater
awareness of composite manufacture, has led
to an increase in the assessment of composites
for offshore use.
During the last decade composites have
gained some acceptance in the offshore industry
19
for a few structural applications. The experience
that the oil and petrochemical industry have
gained utilizing the material for corrosion resis-
tance of composites in onshore installations has
led to a reappraisal of the material for use in
these situations. Coupled with this has been the
improved performance of GFRP pipework as
cargo and ballast lines for crude product and
liquefied natural gas carriers in many of the
major oil tankers. This has led to an assessment
of the use of GFRP piping for sea water systems
and these are likely to be the greatest tonnage of
composite material used during the next decade.
Furthermore, where continuous coiled tubing is
used for offshore drilling rather than jointed
pipes, operating reach with conventional steel
pipe is limited to some 7500 m. Replacing steel
drill pipes with composites could extend the
reach to over 10 km.
In the Gulf of Mexico, the Morrison
Moulded Fiber Glass Company have installed
a well bay platform entirely from glass fiber
reinforced polyester which includes structural
sections, gratings, and walkways. The structure
was designed as an access platform and there-
fore is not subjected to heavy loadings. One of
the main reasons for its use is its superior
corrosion resistance, thus eliminating mainte-
nance costs. Furthermore, the reduction in
weight compared with the more conventional
materials is a significant selling point which is
likely to lead to an increase in mobiles such as
semisub and jack-up and drilling rigs.
In addition to the utilization of composites in
the Gulf of Mexico, GFRP gratings, walkways,
and handrails have been installed by Shell Off-
shore in Brunei, by Total and Elf in Balikpapin,
and by AMOCO in the North Sea. These are
believed to have been in the splash zone areas
where the corrosion resistance of composites is
seen as a decided advantage over steel walk-
ways which, because of degradation, have to be
replaced every 3 years. Figure 3 shows Fiberline
gratings being fitted to the AMOCO oil-rig
before installation in the North Sea. Fiberline
railing and grating systems of phenolic resin
were used on the oil-rig for increased fire resis-
tance. The gratings of reinforced polymer pro-
vide a low weight, high strength, and an easy fit
and assembly solution for the site.
DML Composites, Devonport, UK, has de-
signed and installed blast wall upgrades on
Mobil Beryl B and BP Cleeton platforms and
has designed, manufactured, and installed car-
bon fiber composite structural beams on the
Alba North platform. Using composites to up-
grade steel structures is appealing to the engi-
neer because the polymers can be cold cured
which thus avoids the need for hot working
with a consequent closing down of facilities.
20 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering

Figure 3 Pultrusion grating being installed to the AMOCO oil-rig in the North Sea (photograph by kind
permission of Fiberline, Composites A/S Kolding, Denmark).

6.25.4.1.4 Bridge structures to demonstrate the capability of the materials.

The history of bridge engineering is allied to
the development of structural materials. Until
Ironbridge was built in England in 1780, timber
and stone had been used almost exclusively in
bridge construction. The invention of wrought
iron and then the development of steel and
reinforced concrete changed bridge engineering
completely in the nineteenth century. The twen-
tieth century has so far seen many develop-
ments in design and construction methods but
relatively few fundamental changes in the ma-
terial used. Bridge spans and the number of
bridge structures have increased dramatically
to meet the demands of the rapid growth of
the infrastructure, but no raw materials have
found widespread use in bridges.
In the past, when a new material such as
wrought iron or steel was invented, a prototype
bridge was often built, such as Ironbridge in
1780 and the steel bridge near Vienna in 1828,
Various forms of fiber reinforced polymer ma-
terials have been available for over 30 years and
GFRP has already been used in prototype
bridge structures; Figure 4 shows the first Eur-
opean polymer composite bridge built at Ginzi,
Bulgaria. However, the materials did not show
the immediate and obvious advantages that
iron and steel offered over timber and stone in
the nineteenth century, except perhaps their
potential for the construction of extremely
long span bridges. As a consequence, fiber
reinforced polymers had not been seen as a
material likely to make an impact on general
bridge engineering until the last 10 years when
the full implications of corrosion of steel in
modern bridges was appreciated.
Widespread and serious deterioration of re-
inforced and prestressed concrete bridges, ac-
celerated by the use of deicing salts, has affected
the infrastructure in Europe, North America,
and Japan. In addition, increasing labor costs
 Applications
Figure 4 First European bridge built in GFRP at Ginzi, Bulgaria.
for maintenance work, together with associated
traffic disruption from heavy usage, has caused
engineers to look for more durable bridge ma-
terials. Fiber reinforced polymers were seen to
have major advantages because of their excel-
lent durability particularly in marine and
industrial environments, and it is this charac-
teristic which is currently leading to a signifi-
cant step forward in their use in bridges.
6.25.4.1.5 Bridge enclosures and aerodynamic
fairings
Bridge structures require regular inspection
and maintenance, but the closure of bridges
required to facilitate maintenance will cause
considerable disruption to travelers. Further-
more, the cost of closure will be high; this is
particularly so for long span bridges. Stringent
standards are increasing costs of maintenance
work over or beside busy roads and railways.
Many bridges, designed and built over the past
30 years, do not have good access for inspec-
tion. In addition, in many North European and
North American countries, deterioration,
caused by deicing salts, is creating an increasing
maintenance workload.
The ªBridge Enclosureº is a suspended floor
beneath the girders of steel composite bridges
to provide inspection and maintenance access.
It is sealed onto the underside of the edge
girders to enclose the steelwork and to protect
it from further corrosion and ingress of moist-
ure. Research work undertaken at the TRL
(McKenzie, 1991, 1993) has shown that once
the enclosures are erected and sealed, the rate of
corrosion of uncoated steel within the protec-
21
tive environment of the enclosure is 2±10% of
that of painted steel in the open. It should be
noted that no dehumidifying equipment is
needed to prevent corrosion. The chloride and
sulfur pollutants are excluded from the enclo-
sure by the seals and although there could be
high humidity with condensation within the
enclosure, the water drops onto the enclosure
floor, which is erected below the steel girders,
where it escapes through small holes.
In the future, enclosures will be important for
long span bridges. The development of the
cable stayed bridge has resulted in an increase
in the use of plate girders for long span bridges
and a reduction in fabrication costs of steel
girders over those of the labor-intensive steel
box girder bridges. The addition of the fiber
polymer composite enclosures around such
structures not only enables maintenance costs
to be greatly reduced but also allows the shape
of the cross-section to be optimized by extend-
ing the enclosure into a fairing to give minimum
drag consistent with aerodynamic drag. One
recent example where the GFRP enclosure is
extended into a fairing is the nine structures on
the approach road to the second Severn cross-
ing (Figure 5).
The high specific strength and good durabil-
ity property of the composite materials makes
them ideal candidates for enclosure floors, in
addition, as they are situated on the soffit of the
bridge and away from the direct rays of the sun,
no ultraviolet protection is required. Most
bridge enclosures which have been erected in
the UK have utilized GFRP as the material of
construction and the first major installation as a
permanent enclosure in the UK was to the A19
Tees Viaduct. This bridge was fitted with the
22 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering

Figure 5 Fairings used in the nine structures on the approach road to the Severn crossing (photograph by
kind permission of Maunsell Structural Plastics, Beckenham, Kent, UK).

Figure 6 The ªCaretakerº bridge enclosure at Bromley South Railway Station, London (photograph by
kind permission of Maunsell Structural Plastics, Beckenham, Kent, UK).

Maunsell ªcaretakerº system. This was fol-
lowed by further retrofitting projects, one at
Botley, Oxfordshire (1990) where the hand lay-
up GFRP method was used and Nevilles Cross
(1990) near Durham where the pultruded
GFRP system was fitted to an existing bridge
over the main railway line. Two new bridges
were built with enclosures, one at Bromley
South, London, which is shown in Figure 6,
utilizing Maunsell caretaker system, the other
was in 1993 at Winterbrook, Figure 7, which
was manufactured by the hand lay-up GFRP
method. The design of this bridge structure was
undertaken by the Bridge Department of
Oxfordshire County Council and the enclosure
was designed by Mouchel Consulting, West
Byfleet, Surrey, UK.
The SPACES system was conceived by
Maunsell Group, London, UK. The structural
form, which is being developed and promoted
by a partnership of material suppliers, manu-
facturers, fabricators, bridge designers, and
constructors, is shown in Figure 8. Key tech-
nologies have been combined to form a total
structural component and many of the technol-
ogies have involved those developed for the
offshore industry.
The SPACES system consists of a steel space
frame acting compositely with a concrete deck
slab. It is manufactured predominately under
 Applications 23

Figure 7 The bridge enclosure at Winterbrook, Oxford (photograph by kind permission of Oxfordshire
County Council, Oxford, Oxfordshire, UK).

Figure 8 Spaces system developed by Maunsell Structural Plastics (photograph by kind permission of
Maunsell Structural Plastics, Beckenham, Kent, UK).

factory conditions where quality and reliability
can be achieved more readily than they can be
on site.
The space frame is enclosed by an esthetic,
aerodynamically profiled shell manufactured
from polymer composite material. The latter
acts as an enclosure and provides permanent
protection for the steel work and in addition
provides safe access for inspection and main-
tenance of the superstructure and bearings.
The economic success of the SPACES concept
is the excellent long-term performance pro-
vided by the advanced composite enclosure
skin as well as the development of a robotic
welder for the joints between cable support
decks. The SPACES system is able to accom-
modate bridge spans between 60 m and long
span cable support decks and this enables
designers to adopt a ªsystems approachº to
bridge engineering for the complete range of
spans.
The polymer composite enclosure is fabri-
cated from the ACCS and has excellent long-
term performance properties, thus providing
24 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering
good long-term durability and minimal main-
tenance requirements.
6.25.4.2 Upgrading Structures
For a variety of reasons, reinforced concrete
structures may be found to be unsatisfactory.
Design strengths of structures may not be
achieved in practice because of deficiencies at
the design phase; these deficiencies include
marginal design/design errors causing inade-
quate factors of safety, the use of inferior ma-
terials, or poor construction workmanship/
management. In service, increased safety re-
quirements, a change in use or modernization
causing redistribution of stresses, an increase in
the management or intensity of the applied
loads require to be supported, or an upgrading
of design standards may render all or part of a
structure inadequate. In addition the load car-
rying capacity of a member may be compro-
mised by deterioration of the material as a result
of corrosion of the internal reinforcement, in
the case of reinforced concrete beams, from
carbonization of the concrete or alkali±silica
reaction, hostile marine and industrial environ-
ments, and structural damage. On highway
structures, corrosion of the internal reinforce-
ment is exacerbated by the application of
deicing salts. For prestressed concrete beams,
strengthening measures may be required to
prevent further loss of prestress. These inade-
quacies may manifest themselves by poor
performance under service loading in the form
of excessive deflections and material failure,
or through inadequate fatigue or ultimate
strength. When maintenance or local repair
will not restore a deficient structure to the re-
quired standards, there are two possible alter-
natives: complete or partial demolition and
rebuild, or commencement of a program of
strengthening. The choice between strengthen-
ing or demolition depends on many factors,
such as material and labor costs, time during
which the structure is out of commission, and
distribution of other facilities. However, the
financial benefits of strengthening as opposed
to demolition can often be considerable, parti-
cularly if a simple, quick strengthening techni-
que is available. In addition, if the structure in
question has historical importance, the possibi-
lity of demolition may be precluded.
In recent years destructive earthquakes have
shown that bridge columns designed and con-
structed under older seismic design provisions
are vulnerable to seismic loadings. Steel jackets
have been used to improve the performance of
such columns, but their use tends to increase the
lateral stiffness of the column which in turn
alters the dynamic characteristics of the bridge.
The following section discusses the utilization
of GFRP material as a lateral wrap material to
columns and as a plate bonding material for
flexural and shear upgrading.
6.25.4.2.1 Wrapping of columns using
composites
As GFRP has high tensile strength and ex-
cellent durability, it is logical to consider
whether advanced composite GFRP panels
could not only be used as permanent formwork,
but as part of the structure to resist external
loads and in addition as corrosive protection. If
all these functions could be combined, then
GFRP would likely be much more cost-effec-
tive. These possibilities have been the subject of
research work and as a result helically-wound
GFRP tubes have now been used in column
construction for marine structures as a replace-
ment for steel tubes filled with concrete. Steel is
not a good material for confining concrete
because of the high modulus of elasticity,
which causes a large proportion of axial load
to be taken by the steel, and also because of the
large Poisson ratio, which is larger than that of
the enclosed concrete. Therefore, in a steel en-
cased concrete member under axial compres-
sion, there is little confinement of the concrete
as the steel tube separates from the concrete
core. On the other hand, a glass reinforced fiber
composite tube having a high proportion of
helical reinforcement is an ideal material for
encasing concrete because the concrete takes
the entire axial load, the Poisson expansion in
the circumferential direction is smaller than in
the concrete, and the tensile strength in the
circumferential direction is very high. Thus
the GFRP casing counteracts lateral expansion
of the concrete under load and when used in
short columns the axial strength of the concrete
increases over its uniaxial value and can reach a
triaxial failure strength of up to four times the
uniaxial value. Tests have demonstrated this
performance and have also shown improved
ductility of the concrete in such structures.
The majority of buildings and bridge piers
which utilize polymer composite confinements
are in the USA and Japan. The available com-
posite systems include epoxy with either carbon,
aramid, or glass fiber fabric materials. A col-
umn consisting of fiber/polymer and concrete
systems can deform much more under severe
stress conditions than a conventional material
system before failure. In addition, by providing
composite confinement to the concrete, a much
improved ultimate compressive strain is
achieved.
 Applications 25

Figure 9 The use of XX-sys Technologies to wrap a concrete column (photograph by kind permission of
XX-sys Technologies, Inc., San Diego, CA, USA).

Figure 10 The use of REPLARK to wrap a column with polymer composites (photograph by kind
permission of Sumitomo Corporation (UK), London, UK).

The two fabrication systems available for site
work are the XX-sys Technologies procedure
and the REPLARK prepreg or equivalent
hand-lay method. Figures 9 and 10 illustrate
these procedures.
The Departmental Standard BD/48/93, the
Assessment and Strengthening of Highway
Bridge Supports, was published in 1993. It sets
out criteria to be used in order to determine the
adequacy of older bridge supports in dealing
with vehicle collision loading. In 1998 a trial to
determine the effectiveness and particularly the
strengthening of bridge supports by wrapping
with advanced composite materials was under-
taken by the Highway Agency.
The A30 Bible Christian Bridge in Cornwall
was chosen for the trial because it is a fairly
typical Trunk road bridge with substantial
supports against Heavy Goods Vehicle
(HGV) impact. The structure comprises a
four span reinforced concrete superstructure
supported on three piers, each of 800 mm
diameter reinforced concrete columns. The
prototype designs for the trial were developed
to enhance the flexural and shear strength of
the piers.
Three generic types of wrapping systems with
an epoxy matrix were used, one on each column,
namely, E-glass fiber, aramid fiber, and carbon
fiber fabrics. XX-sys, DuPont, and Hexcel
26 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering
supplied the carbon, aramid, and E-glass,
respectively. Based upon design and methodol-
ogy procedures, the wrapping designs were as
follows:
(i) DuPont Aramid (Kevlar 49): 10 vertical
layers curtailed progressively towards the top of
the column, three horizontal layers reducing to
two layers at the top of the column lapped by
200 mm.
(ii) Hexel Epoxy-Glass (Hex-3R100): 15
vertical layers curtailed progressively towards
the top of the column, seven horizontal layers
lapped by 150 mm.
(iii) XX-sys Carbon Fiber (RTC): four con-
tinuous vertical layers curtailed progressively
towards the top of the column. Two horizontal
layers lapped by 300 mm All wrapping systems
terminated at the top of the columns and at the
junction with the existing base. The laps of each
wrapping system were staggered around the
circumference of each column.
Figure 11 shows the procedure used by Sika
for bonding the Hex-3R100 system on to one of
the columns.
Another practical example utilizing the
wrapping technique is the repair of a tall chim-
ney in Japan by automated winding of carbon
fiber reinforced polymer materials (Leonard,
1990).
6.25.4.2.2 Flexural plate bonding
Flexural plate bonding is becoming econom-
ically preferable to strengthen structures rather
than rebuild them, particularly if rapid, effec-
tive, and simple strengthening methods are
available.
The need to strengthen concrete structures is
a worldwide challenge, which places consider-
able importance on rehabilitation methods,
particularly with regard to bridges, for much
of the world's infrastructure was originally de-
signed for smaller vehicles in less congested
traffic. The increased vehicle loads and densi-
ties, combined with the recurrent use of deicing
salts, has ensured that many structures are near
to, or beyond, the end of their lives.
The desirable strengthening improvement
can be carried out by several techniques. These
include:
(i) increasing the size of the deficient mem-
ber by the provision of additional reinforced or
prestressed concrete layers using stapling and
pressure grouting;
(ii) introducing additional supports, beams,
or stringers;
(iii) replacing nonstructural toppings with
structural toppings;
(iv) polymer impregnation;
(v) introduce traffic management to the
bridge structure to relieve loading on each
member.
The cost of the various methods of strength-
ening will vary depending on the size of the
structure, the extent of the strengthening work
required, and in the case of bridges, the volume
of traffic carried over or under it. In techniques
where additional material is applied to the
original member, the main problem is that of
increasing adequate connection and composite
action between the reinforcing element and the
existing structure. High-strength strands or
bars, which have been post-tensioned, have
been used successfully to increase the strength
of beams in existing bridges and buildings.
However, the provision of anchorages for the
post-tensioning strands, maintaining the lat-
eral stability of the girders during the prestres-
sing procedure, and protecting the strands
against environmental corrosion present some
difficulties.
A further method of upgrading or repairing
in situ a structural system is to externally bond a
steel plate onto the structure; this technique has
been made possible by the development of
structural adhesives. Thus the area of reinforce-
ment provided is increased. The steel plates
then act compositely with the original compo-
site member, producing a section with im-
proved flexural strength and stiffness.
However, it should be stressed that the success
of the strengthening method is highly depen-
dent on the performance of the adhesive used.
When the plate is bonded to the tensile faces of
the concrete member, it is in a position to exert
maximum effect on the ultimate strength, stiff-
ness, and hence deflection of the structural
system; it also restricts the initiation and
width of cracks.
The technique of plate bonding was pio-
neered by the utilization of steel plates, and
it is recognized to be an efficient and eco-
nomic method for improving structural
performance. However, there are several dis-
advantages inherent in the use of steel; these
include:
(i) the plates are not protected by the con-
crete in the same way as internal reinforcement;
the possibility of corrosion exists;
(ii) uncertainty remains regarding the dur-
ability and corrosion effects;
(iii) all chloride-contaminated concrete
should be removed prior to bonding;
(iv) plates must be subjected to careful sur-
face preparation including the application of
resistant priming systems;
(v) the integrity of the primer must be peri-
odically checked;
 Applications
(vi) a minimum thickness of plate is typically
6 mm to prevent distortion during the gritblast-
ing operation, and to provide flatness, plates
are restricted to lengths of 6±8 m;
(vii) difficult to shape and fit complex pro-
files;
(viii) weight of plates make transportation
difficult;
(ix) elaborate and expensive falsework is
required to maintain steelwork in position dur-
ing bonding;
(x) the location of the internal reinforcement
must be ascertained prior to bolting the plates
in position, this invariably involves consider-
able site work.
The processes involved in strengthening with
steel plates can be considered as relatively time-
consuming and labor-intensive. To overcome
some of these shortcomings, CFRP plates
have been introduced into the construction in-
dustry as strong, stiff, lightweight materials to
be used in place of steel.
The benefits of using FRP material can be
listed as follows:
(i) the fibers can be introduced in a certain
position, volume fraction, and direction in the
matrix to obtain maximum efficiency allowing
the composites to be tailor-made to suit the
required shape and specification;
(ii) the resulting materials have high strength
and stiffness in the fiber direction at a fraction
of the weight of steel;
(iii) ease of transportation and handling;
(iv) requires less falsework than steel plates
and can be used in areas of limited access;
(v) continuous lengths of FRP can be easily
produced which, because of its low bending
stiffness (thickness between 1.0 and 1.5 mm)
can be delivered to site in rolls;
(vi) CFRP and AFRP composites exhibit
excellent fatigue and creep properties and
require less energy per kg to produce and trans-
port than steel.
Table 7 Comparison of characteristics of FRP sheets produced from different
fibers.
Characteristics Carabon
Tensile strength very good
Compressive strength very good
Stiffness very good
Long-term behavior very good
Fatigue behavior excellent
Bulk density good
Alkaline resistance very good
Cost adequate
Source: Meier (1995).
27
The benefits of utilizing FRP materials over
steel in plate bonding applications are thus
clear. The drawbacks are intolerance to uneven
bonding surfaces which may cause peeling of
the plate, the possibility of brittle failure modes
(Swamy and Mukhopadhyaya, 1995), and the
material, since fiber composites are between 4
and 20 times as expensive as steel in terms of
unit volume. However, in a rehabilitation pro-
ject, the installation savings can offset the
higher material cost (Meier, 1992). Peshkam
and Leeming (1994) have considered the com-
mercial viability of FRP plate bonding for
bridge strengthening. Hollaway and Leeming
(1999) have presented a detailed study of the
flexural strengthening of reinforced and pre-
stressed concrete members using fiber rein-
forced polymer composite plates. In a direct
comparison with steel plate bonding for a typi-
cal application, despite the fact that material
costs will be increased, labor and equipment
costs will be reduced, construction times will
be shorter, and durability will be improved. It
has been shown that 2 kg of FRP could replace
47 kg of steel on an equal strength basis. The
cost of installing both materials are shown to be
similar; however, when traffic management,
traffic delay, and maintenance costs are in-
cluded, the use of FRP provides a saving of
17.5% over steel.
Glass, aramid, and carbon fiber composites
may be considered for strengthening applica-
tions. With particular regard to plate bonding,
a comparison of the important characteristics
of FRP produced from these three fiber types is
shown in Table 7 in which the fiber volume
fraction is typically around 65% and the fibers
are unidirectionally aligned.
The pultrusion technique (Section 6.25.3.3.3)
is the most likely tecnique for the manufacture
of composite plates for plate bonding. As the
fibers would be unidirectionally aligned, thus
achieving the maximum possible strength and
Aramid E-glass
very good very good
inadequate good
good adequate
good adequate
good adequate
excellent adequate
good inadequate
adequate very good
 28
Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering
Figure 11 (a) Concrete column coated with thixotropic resin SikadurÐ330 LVP. (b) Dry carbon fabric Sika wrap Hex-230C is laid directly onto resin coated columns
and smoothed with rollers. (c) Top coat applied to the carbon fiber fabric for protection and esthetic purposes (photographs by kind permision of Sika Ltd., Welwyn
Garden City, Herts, UK).
 Applications
Figure 12 Plate bonding at Atlanta, GA, USA. REPLARK was wrapped around a bridge beam both
horizontally and vertically. Four operatives and two traffic controllers were involved in the bonding
operation (photograph by kind permission of Sumitomo Corporation (UK), London, UK).
stiffness in that direction, the composite would
be weak in strength and stiffness at right angles
to this direction and, therefore, care should be
taken in the handling of the composite. The
composite would have a removable peel-ply
membrane on both surfaces which is attached
during the manufacturing process. The peel-ply
protects the surfaces of the composite from dust
and other foreign matter, in addition, it pro-
vides a roughened surface for adhesion of the
adhesive. The peel-ply would be removed from
one surface of the composite immediately be-
fore the adhesive is applied to the plate and the
whole offered to the beam. If the composite is
not supplied with a peel-ply fabric, surface
treatment is necessary and this would be per-
formed by very light gritblasting followed by
degreasing with acetone or equivalent to re-
move surface contaminants and to produce a
surface more receptive to bonding. It is neces-
sary that all contaminants, in particular release
agents, should be removed from the surface of
the bonded plates as the subsequent strengths
of the joints are highly dependent on the degree
to which the surfaces are contaminated.
The thickness of the adhesive should be be-
tween 1 and 2 mm to allow for any unevenness
in the concrete surfaces formed during con-
struction or after concrete surface preparation
by grit blasting. A ªproppingº system under the
entire length of the plate may or may not be
required depending on the adhesive system used
to form the joint. If propping is required it
would be effected by either a vacuum bagging
procedure or by a physical prop under the plate.
Utilization of the latter method would be de-
29
pendent on access under the beam. If it were
necessary to take the composite plate material
up the vertical faces of the beam or to follow the
curvature of the beam, the pultruded plate
could not normally be used in this situation.
Although pultruded angles or other compli-
cated sections are produced, the engineered
sections would not normally fit the bends in
the concrete. A RIFT or REPLARK technique
(see Section 6.25.3.3.2) would then be used.
Figure 12 shows a bridge beam being upgraded
by the REPLARK technique of plate bonding
to improve the load carrying capacity of a
bridge. The installation was completed (viz.
the surface preparation to the finished coating)
within 24 h.
6.25.4.2.3 Plate bonding to improve the shear
capacity of the beam
Some site work has been undertaken to up-
grade beams in shear using composite materi-
als; pultrusion and REPLARK materials have
been used. The installation procedure for the
plates is similar to that for the flexural plates.
One problem with using pultruded plates
(which is also a problem with steel plates) is
the difficulty of obtaining a sufficient bond
length for the composite and it would be neces-
sary to resort to the use of bolts at the end of the
plate or possibly to use REPLARK to overlay
the pultrusion and extend it to incorporate part
wrapping of the column. It is worth mentioning
that the pultruded plate would contain + 458
off-axis fibers to resist the external shear and 08
30 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering
Figure 13 Shear retrofitting using pultruded composite stirrups. Pultruded flexural plate bonding is also
illustrated (photograph by kind permission of Sika Ltd., Welwyn Garden City, Herts, UK).
fibers to enable the tensile force from the pul-
truder to be taken by the uncured composite.
Figure 13 shows a system for providing stirrups
for shear upgrading; the bridge beams have
been retrofitted with flexural pultruded plates
and pultruded shear stirrups.
6.25.4.3 Composite Bridges
Prototype bridges constructed entirely from
FRP were first conceived in Europe and North
America in the late 1970s and the first FRP
bridge built in Europe is believed to be the 10 m
span bridge constructed near Sofia, Bulgaria in
1981±1982. The GFRP bridge was constructed
using chopped strand mat in a resin matrix and
fabricated by the hand lay-up method. The
second GFRP bridge to be constructed was
the Miyun Bridge in Biejing, China and com-
pleted in October 1982 (Shu, 1983). Over a
period of 25 years, considerable research re-
source went into the development of the use
of composites and much of the work was under-
taken at the Shanghai GFRP Research Insti-
tute; the investigations included aging tests on
composite materials.
Conventional civil engineering materials for
bridge construction are always likely to be
cheaper than GFRP material but savings in
fabrication costs of the latter material may be
considerable if highly automated production of
advanced polymer composite materials is devel-
oped. Thus complete box girder structures
could be pultruded in future. Speed of construc-
tion and savings in erection costs of foundation
sizes will all contribute to economy.
The deck weight is an important part of the
overall design of a long span bridge and its form
and stiffness are important with respect to aero-
dynamic stability. There are likely to be signifi-
cant advantages to be gained in the use of
advanced composites in these decks particularly
as the trend to increase bridge spans beyond
their previous limits will continue into the
twenty-first century.
The material characteristics of composites
and their successful applications in other areas
are sufficiently encouraging to show that there
are certain to be important developments in
using them in bridge deck structures.
Ingenious design with isophthalic polyester/
glass fiber composites is creating a revolution in
bridge structures. An example of this emerging
concept is the world's longest composite bridge
spanning the river Tay at the golf club at Aber-
feldy, Scotland. The footbridge has a span of
63 m, width 2.23 m, an overall length of 113 m,
and a design load capacity of 10 kN m71. The
polymer composite components which form the
deck and towers of the bridge are manufactured
from pultruded ACCS. These components are
connected by applying epoxy adhesive on each
side of the 0.08 m deep integral grooves. The
components are then brought together and
locked by sliding a toggle (dog bone) section
into the two grooves, one in each plank. Three
planks and four connectors are joined alterna-
tively in a single thickness to form the 2.12 m
wide deck. The cable stays are manufactured
from aramid fibers. Figure 14 shows the Aber-
feldy advanced composite bridge.
The concept and design of the Aberfeldy
bridge was undertaken by Maunsell Structural
 Applications 31

Figure 14 Aberfeldy cable stay bridge (photograph by kind permission of Maunsell Structural Plastics,
Beckenham, Kent, UK).

Plastics. A major research program was under-
taken within a LINK program, sponsored by
DTp, EPSRC, and industry, in which an exten-
sive test program was undertaken at the Uni-
versity of Surrey on a full-size prototype
highway bridge. Figure 15 shows the box
beams, which were fabricated from 10 ACCS
modules, under a continuous static test load of
20 tonnes for 9 months.
The canal which joins the Rivers Thames and
Severn separates Stonehouse and Bonds Mill in
Gloucester, UK, and in 1994 a link was formed
between these two areas by a single bascule lift
bridge which was designed and developed by
Maunsell Structural Plastics to carry full UK
highway loading including a 38 tonne truck. An
epoxy bonded multicelled box beam (Figure 1)
with 90 kg m73 epoxy foam filled into the com-
pressive flange and web cells of the ACCS
modules was manufactured and fabricated in
a factory and transported to site. Transverse
ACCS planks were bonded to the compressive
flange of the box beam and were also filled with
foam. The running surface of the polymer com-
posite bridge was manufactured from ACME
panels (a proprietary system of epoxy coated
panels with grit bonded to the surface); these
were bolted to the transverse ACCS planks.
Figure 16 shows the opening ceremony for the
bridge.
The bridge was required to carry concen-
trated wheel loads and to resist the large num-
ber of load cycles without fatigue damage. To
overcome these problems a slow foaming epoxy
was developed by CIBA polymers and was used
to foam in place in the 80 mm 6 80 mm 6 9 m
compressive and web member cells of the
ACCS modules. The material provided uniform
support to the walls of the cells of the ACCS
planks, thus allowing transfer of load without
high local bending stresses. The effects of the
local wheel loads on the section of the box
32 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering

Figure 15 Two 18 m composite beams back to back under a four-point load (photograph taken at the
University of Surrey).

Figure 16 The opening ceremony for the single bascule bridge at Bonds Mill, Gloucester (photograph by
kind permission of Maunsell Structural Plastics, Beckenham, Kent, UK).

beam were investigated at the University of
Surrey through a Highway Agency/EPSRC
Link program. Figure 17 shows the experimen-
tal set-up for the wheel load test.
A footbridge manufactured from pultrusion
sections by Fiberline is shown in Figure 18. It is
15 m long and has a free span of 12 m across a
purifying plant in Urmitz near Bonn, Germany.
The footbridge weighs 60% less than one fab-
ricated from a similar steel construction; this
makes installation easier and reduces transpor-
tation and fabrication costs. The bridge
requires minimum maintenance and thus
secures a longer life span compared to conven-
tional materials. The whole life cost of the
bridge is lower than a construction made from
traditional materials.
The advantage of the lightweight composite
bridge construction is illustrated by two foot-
bridges which have been airlifted into position
by helicopter because of the difficulty of trans-
portation in the severe terrain in which they
are situated. A bridge, designed by Maunsell
Structural Plastics, using the Maunsell ACCS
was lowered into position in a remote area of
Wales and is shown in Figure 19. The 17 m
long footbridge weighed only 1 tonne. The
other bridge was erected across a river at a
ski resort near St Moritz, Switzerland, and is
shown in Figure 20. The ski bridge weighing
2.5 tonne is removed by helicopter each spring
before the glacier meltwater washes tonnes
of stone and gravel downstream. The bridge
was designed by a consortium of the Munici-
pality of Pontresina, ETH Technical Univer-
sity of Zurich, and Fiberline Composites,
Denmark, who also pultruded and fabricated
the bridge.
 Applications 33

Figure 17 Experimental test of a 10 tonne wheel load on the composite box beam (photograph taken at
University of Surrey).

Figure 18 A footbridge spanning a purifying plant at Ormitz, Germany (photograph by kind permission of
Fiberline Composites A/S, Kolding, Denmark).

6.25.4.4 Cable Support for Long Span Bridges
The high specific strength of fiber reinforced
polymer composites is important when consid-
ering the supporting cables of suspension
bridges. The spans of suspension bridges con-
structed from high-strength steel wire have the-
oretical limits of 5000 m, as this is the value at
which the cables can only just support their own
weight. However, if aramid or carbon fiber
were to be used as the suspension cables, this
theoretical length would increase to 10 000 m
(Richmond and Head, 1988). At the design
stage of the cross-channel tunnel, a proposal
was made to use aramid (Parafil) cables for a
series of 4500 m span suspension bridges and to
use carbon fiber reinforced polymer cables for a
10 000 m span bridge across the Straits of Gi-
braltar (Meier, 1987). Assuming the theoretical
feasibility of the above, it is suggested that
suspension bridges built with advanced compo-
site cables have a realistic span of about 4000 m.
The cable stayed advanced composite Aber-
feldy bridge (see Section 6.25.4.3) utilized Par-
afil ropes (see Section 6.25.4.5.1) for the cable
stays.
34 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering

Figure 19 A footbridge made from the Maunsell plank being lowered by helicopter in a remote area of
Wales (photograph by kind permission of Maunsell Structural Plastics, Beckenham, Kent, UK).

A cable stayed all composite foot and cycle
bridge of 40 m span and weighing 12 tonnes
crossing an overhead electrified railway at
Kolding, Denmark, was conceived and de-
signed by the architect to the City of Kolding
in conjunction with Fiberline Composites, Den-
mark; it is shown in Figure 21.
The decking, parapets, and support columns
of the bridge were manufactured from GFRP
pultruded profiles using standard sections. The
bridge has a loading capacity of 500 kg m72
and also has the capacity to allow a 5 tonne
vehicle to pass at the same time for snow clear-
ing.
Two 35 m long CFRP stay cables with dia-
meters of 5 mm and fiber volume fraction of
the order of 68% have been used beside 22 steel
stay cables in the Storchin bridge in Winterthur
(Meier and Meier, 1996); the total length of
this road bridge is 124 m. The low density of
CFRP for stay cables is an advantage since it is
uniformly loaded by its own weight, thus caus-
ing it to sag. The more the cable weighs the
more it will sag and the ªsofterº it behaves
under load, thus reducing its usefulness as a
supporting member of the bridge structure.
Lightweight CFRP cables with smaller sag
straighten immediately under vehicle load,
thus enabling them to act in a ªstifferº manner.
The ratio of applied stress to observed cable
strain is called the relative equivalent modulus;
CFRP cables have a higher relative equivalent
modulus in comparison to steel. EMPA and
BBR Ltd., Zurich have developed a patented
anchorage system for this type of CFRP cable
stay.
 Applications 35

Figure 20 A footbridge being lowered into position at a ski resort in Switzerland (photograph by kind
permission of Fiberline Composites A/S, Kolding, Denmark).

Figure 21 Cable stayed all composite footbridge at Kolding, Denmark (photograph by kind permission of
Fiberline Composites A/S, Kolding, Denmark).
36 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering

Table 8 The three standard types of Parafil ropes (derived from Linear Composites Ltd. data sheets).

Yarn Sheath

Polyethylene-EVA Polyester Flame

Polyethylene copolymer elastomer retardant

Polyester Type A Type A/C Type A/H Type A/X

Standard modulus aramid Type F Type F/C Type F/H Type F/X
High modulus aramid Type G Type G/C Type G/H Type G/X

Table 9 Typical tensile properties of types A, F, polyethylene±EVA copolymer, polyester±elas-

and G Parafil ropes.
Ultimate tensile Tensile elastic
Rope stress modulus
(MPa) (GPa)
Type A 600 9.8
Type F 1900 77.7
Type G 1900 126.5
6.25.4.5 Fiber Composite Tendons for
Prestressing/Reinforcing Concrete
Composite materials which are used in the
construction industry as prestressing elements
are glass, aramid, and carbon fiber composites.
These materials distinguish themselves by their
high tensile strengths which are equal to or
greater than that of high tensile steel. Prestres-
sing tendons are subjected to very high perma-
nent stresses and consequently they make
efficient use of the advanced technological ma-
terial in which the strength is concentrated in
the fiber axis direction. As the tendons are
loaded to a predetermined stress value, and
although the modulus of elasticity of the fiber
composites are lower than that of high tensile
steel, they will have no detrimental effect on the
efficiency of the system.
The three systems which are commercially
available are the Parafil, Polystal, and Arapree.
6.25.4.5.1 Parafil ropes
Parafil ropes (Parafil is the registered trade-
mark for a family of high-strength synthetic
fiber ropes) are produced in three basic types
which differ by the core material. The type A
rope is made from polyester, while types F
and G have Kevlar 29 and 49 as the core
material, respectively. The mechanical proper-
ties of the ropes will be governed by the type of
core material since the external protective
sheath has no structural function. The four
types of sheaths available are polyethylene,
tomer, and the fire retardant. Parafil is the
registered trademark product range shown in
Table 8.
The specially formulated polyethylene sheath
is most commonly used and is satisfactory for
most purposes, but the polyethylene±EVA co-
polymer sheath is more flexible. Higher resis-
tance to heat and abrasion can be obtained
from the polyester elastomer.
Typical tensile properties are given in Table 9
based on the cross-sectional areas of fiber in
the core and are therefore independent of the
sheath type. The parafil ropes, which are based
on aramid fibers, have been tested at tempera-
tures between ±40 8C and +80 8C and have
shown no detectable change in properties.
The ability of a rope to resist deterioration
over long and continuous exposure to the en-
vironment is of prime importance. Parafil ropes
possess a high degree of mechanical toughness
and are inert chemically. The sheath compo-
nents have good resistance to the corrosive
action of salt water, most inorganic salts and
acids, and many organic solvents. The sheaths
used in the Parafil rope have been especially
formulated for maximum resistance to ultravio-
let degradation. Furthermore, there is poor ad-
hesion between ice and the smooth water-
repellent surface of the Parafil rope.
6.25.4.5.2 Polystal
Polystal tendons are made by grouping bars
or rods into bundles; each rod consists of
E-glass fiber in an unsaturated polymer resin.
A typical bar diameter would be 7.5 mm with a
fiber volume fraction of about 68%. A tendon,
with a working load of 600 kN, would have 19
of the bars grouped together. The tendons are
manufactured from E-glass and to prevent
stress corrosion from taking place, it should
be noted that any long-term continuous load
should not be greater than 20% of the ultimate
load that the tendon can take. Polystal is pro-
duced by Bayer AG in association with Strabag
AG, Germany.
 Applications
Table 10 Typical mechanical properties of
Arapree (based on the manufacturer's data sheets).
Property Units Values
Density kg m73 1250
Modulus of elasticity GPa 125±130
Strain to failure % 2.4
Transverse compressive strength MPa 150
Interlaminar shear strength MPa 45
Poisson's ratio 0.38
6.25.4.5.3 Arapree
Arapree is a composite which consists of
aramid fiber (Twaron) impregnated with an
epoxy resin with a fiber/matrix volume ratio
of about 50%. It was developed by AKZO in
association with Hollandsche Beton Group
(HBG) in the Netherlands and is now produced
by Sireg S.p.A. in Italy.
The cross-section of the Arapree can be cir-
cular or rectangular but both consist of up to
400 000 filaments of aramid; Table 10 provides
typical mechanical properties derived from the
manufacturer's data sheets and are based upon
aramid fiber cross-section.
When used as tendons or reinforcements in
reinforced concrete, the bond between the
concrete and composite resin is provided by
silica particles bonded to the surface of the
composite.
As epoxy resin is selected as the bonding
matrix to produce Arapree tensile elements,
the resulting composites have good stability
and resistance to many chemicals.
6.25.4.6 Composite Rebars for Concrete
Construction
When acting as a structural material, con-
crete possesses an excellent capacity for trans-
mitting compressive forces but is weak when
acting in tension. To overcome this disadvan-
tage, steel reinforcement is combined with the
concrete to give enhanced tensile strength. This
combination has proved to be a very satisfac-
tory and efficient solution as the embedded
steel is protected by the alkalinity of the con-
crete, resulting in a durable structure. However,
for structures in highly aggressive environments
such as marine structures or bridges subjected
to deicing salts, the protection surrounding the
steel is broken down and serious durability
problems result, primarily related to corrosion
of the reinforcement and the subsequent spal-
ling and weakening of the concrete.
37
There are many approaches to improvement
of the durability of embedded steel, the main
ones are the utilization of:
(i) increase in concrete cover;
(ii) reduction in the permeability of the con-
crete;
(iii) application of cathodic protection;
(iv) improved concrete quality;
(v) epoxy coated steel rebars.
A further option would be to replace the steel
rebars with polymer composite rebars.
Eurocrete investigated the utilization of glass
fiber/polymer composites as a replacement ma-
terial for the steel rebars. Eurocrete was a multi-
million pan-European project funded through
the DTI/EPSRC LINK scheme, which also had
EUREKA status. The project undertook R&D
work into the embedment of nonferrous rein-
forcements for concrete, the development of
design guidance, extensive durability testing,
as well as the construction of typical demon-
stration structures.
The most suitable fibers currently used for
the fabrication of polymers chosen for rebars
will be dependent on the required durability,
the manufacturing, and the cost. In the past,
thermosetting polymers have been used but
currently thermoplastic polymers are being in-
vestigated.
Currently the most widely used manufactur-
ing process to make rebars is the pultrusion
method (Section 6.25.3.3.3); this enables a
wide range of structural shapes to be produced.
In addition, the process enables a high propor-
tion of fibers to be incorporated into the cross-
section and hence relatively high strength and
stiffness values are achieved in the longitudinal
direction.
One drawback in the utilization of composite
rebars made from the pultrusion method is the
smooth surface of the rebar; there is insufficient
bond when used as reinforcement in concrete.
Consequently, a secondary process is required
to improve the bond; the current methods em-
ployed consist of overwinding with additional
fibers or applying a sand layer to the surface of
the pultrusion. With a 65% by weight of fiber in
the composite, the ultimate strength for the
glass and carbon fiber composites would be
about 1.2 and 2.0 GN m72, respectively, and
the corresponding elastic moduli would be 40
and 150 GN m72.
Although the durability of the polymer com-
posite is increased above that of the steel rebar,
possible disadvantages are the low elastic mod-
uli and the lack of yield at ultimate strength.
Furthermore, once the pultrusion rebar has
been polymerized, it cannot be bent to form
shear links, etc. Techniques have been used to
fabricate such shapes but until thermoplastic
38 Composite Materials and Structures in Civil Engineering
polymers have been developed to the stage
when site bending is possible, they will be avail-
able only in a limited range of sizes.
The first footbridge using glass fiber compo-
site reinforcement in Britain was built in 1995 at
Chalgrove in Oxfordshire under the auspices of
Eurocrete. The bridge was precast by Tarmac
Precast and has a span of 5 m and a cross-
section of 1.5 m 6 0.3 m; the concrete was a
grade 40. The bridge was transported to site
by Laing Civil Engineering. The rebars were
manufactured by GEC (now Fiberforce Ltd.)
and were 13.5 mm in diameter, they were used
as mesh reinforcement with the rods placed
orthogonally at 150 mm spacing at the top
and bottom of the beam. The bridge was test
loaded to 125% of the design load in accor-
dance with BS1880, using steel dead weights
and was monitored using vibrating wire gauges
and fiber-optic cables.
6.25.4.7 The Future of FRP Structures into the
Next Century
The achievements in structural engineering
are often related to the maximum length of
bridges and the maximum height of buildings
that have been constructed. Since a primary
advantage of fiber reinforced composites is
their strength to weight ratios, it is likely that
these materials will have a significant part to
play in promoting composites into the twenty-
first century.
The continuous development of new con-
struction materials has enabled increasingly
longer bridge spans to be built. Increases in
span have occurred in three jumps: one in the
mid 1800s when wrought iron was sufficiently
developed, in the late 1800s when reliable steel
was available, and the largest of all in the 1930s
when high-strength steel wire was used in major
suspension bridges.
After each new material was invented, it took
between 30 and 40 years for it to gain the
acceptance and confidence needed by engineers
before they again sought longer span bridge
technology. The confidence and knowledge of
new materials was gained over each intervening
period by the construction of smaller structures
that may have been in use for as long as 30 years
before the major step of building the world's
longest span was taken. For example, Iron-
bridge was built in 1780 very soon after
wrought iron was invented, but the world's
largest span using that material was not
achieved until 1816. The overall trend has
been that the maximum span has risen by a
factor of 3.5 in each 100 years since 1770. This
suggests that by the year 2070 bridges having
spans of (3.5 6 1400), i.e., 5000 m may be built.
Composite materials are very likely to be found
to be economic for use in both the main support
cables and the bridge deck of such structures.
A similar development can be expected in tall
buildings where the lightness and dynamic
properties of composite materials make them
ideal for the upper floors. It can also be
expected that composite materials will gain
widespread use in modular building construc-
tion where lightness, ease of connection, good
thermal insulation, and low maintenance will
make them attractive for a wide range of appli-
cations. The greatest drive for change, however,
will be the advantages that the materials offer in
improved durability in all forms of construc-
tions considered and in improved earthquake
resistance.
6.25.5 CONCLUSIONS
Many future applications of fiber matrix
composites for use in structural engineering
have been identified and it is concluded that
their utilization in construction will increase
until eventually they will take their place along-
side steel and concrete as major engineering
materials. Composites will never replace the
traditional materials but will become an indis-
pensable part of the Structural Engineer's ma-
terials selection.
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retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic,
electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without permission in writing from the publishers.
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Comprehensive Composite Materials
ISBN (set): 0-08 0429939
Volume 6; (ISBN: 0-080437249); pp. 489±527