Case Study of First All-FRP Pedestrian Bridge in Taiwan

Yeou-Fong Lia, Sainey Badjiea, Walter W. Chena and Yu-Tsung Chiub

a
Department of Civil Engineering , National Taipei University of Technology, Taiwan.
bIndustrial Technology Research Institute, Material and Chemical Research Laboratory, Taiwan.

Introduction
National Parks are of tremendous worth to our environment and so is Taijiang National Park, the last of the eight
national parks in Taiwan. Since the park is located close to the ocean, structures in the park that are built of
traditional building materials become subjects of chloride ion attack. Therefore, FRP composite was used to build a
steel-free pedestrian in the park. Although it is the first in Taiwan, FRP composites have been utilized in a lot of
pedestrian bridge projects elsewhere in the developed nations.
In this study, the design of the 8-m FRP pedestrian bridge is presented and finite element method was used for
analysis. Results from the theoretical analyses correlated well with the finite element results.

Keywords： Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP), Bridge deck, Three-Point Bending Test, Finite Element Analysis

Bridge inventory data Results

o Total length: 8 m (span: 7.5 m) The deflection results from the analyses were compared. For both
o Width: 1.5 m; systems, the maximum deflection was obtain at midspan. The
o Total weight (Superstructure only): approximately 1.2 tons; theoretical results had a good correlation with the finite element
o Materials: Pultruded GFRP composite and epoxy adhesive; results for the 8-m girder. On the other hand, the girder-deck
o Main components: girder, deck and diaphragm; system met the deflection requirements.
o Maximum deflection: ≤ L/500*;
8-m girder Girder-deck system
o Load capacity: 4.07 kN/m 2 Analytical methods
(cm) (cm)
FEA 0.542 1.03

EBT 0.539
Meets
deflection
Ghugal and L/500
0.544 goal
Sharma = 1.5
TBT
Equation (1) 0.562
Parts were connected using a combined connection type using
both epoxy resin in addition to FRP pins (or bolts). This 1
NODAL SOLUTION
STEP=1
SUB =1
TIME=1
UY (AVG)
NOV 26 2013
15:56:49

Y
1
NODAL SOLUTION
STEP=1
SUB =1
TIME=1
UY (AVG)
NOV 26 2013
16:11:35

RSYS=0

combined connection type has the best fatigue performance.

RSYS=0
DMX =5.42 DMX =.010303
Z MX
X SMN =-.010262
SMN =-5.4
SMX =.775E-03 MX
SMX =.517944

MN
MN
Y

Z 12
X

Methodology -5.4
-4.742
-4.085
-3.427
-2.77
-2.112
-1.455
-.797145
-.1396
.517944
-.010262
-.009036
-.00781
-.006583
-.005357
-.004131
-.002904
-.001678
-.452E-03
.775E-03
8-m GIRDER GIRDER-DECK SYSTEM

Both theoretical and numerical tools were used to study the bridge
under service loads. First, the finite element model of a component
of the bridge (an 8-m girder) is compared against theoretical Conclusion
results. After validation of the model, the girder-deck system is
modeled to check for deflection requirements.
1. An all-GFRP composite pedestrian bridge was built in the
high-chloride environment of the Taijiang National Park,
ANSYS was adopted in the finite
Taiwan to counteract corrosion.
element analysis and the model used a
2. A Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) was used to scan the
3D SOLID45 element with three d.o.f on
pedestrian bridge and produce a 3D model of the bridge
each node. A simply supported boundary
digitally for future reference.
condition was applied using structural
3. From the analysis results of the 8-m girder, the deflection
1
ELEMENTS
OCT 4 2013
loads. Continuous mesh with shared
values for the EBT and TBT are very close when
12:19:16

common nodes was used for connected

compared with the FEA result, thus verifying the
parts.
Z
Y

12
X accuracy of the FEA model.
4. Analyses results of the bridge showed that it has met
Euler Beam Theory (EBT) and
design goals of AASHTO’s Guide Specifications for
Timoshenko Beam Theory (TBT) were
GIRDER-DECK SYSTEM
Design of FRP Pedestrian Bridges for a deflection not
adopted.
Equations used in the 5wL4 wL2 …..………( more than L/500.
theoretical analysis are the dmax = d f + dc = +
384EI 8k GA 1)
well known TBT (eq. 1&2) and * AASHTO (2008) AASHTO Guide Specifications for the Design of FRP
EBT (eq. 3). …..…………( Pedestrian Bridges (1st Edition ed.). Washington, DC.: American Association of
2) State Highway and Transportation Officials.
Eq. (2) is from Ghugal and
Sharma (2011)** ………………………… ** Ghugal, Y. & Sharma, R. (2011) “A Refined Shear Deformation Theory for
Flexure of Thick Beams,” Latin American Journal of Solids and Structures , Vol. 8,
……(3) No. 2, pp. 183-195.