Designing textile lay-up sequence of pultruded composite bridge deck using three-dimensional finite element analysis

The mechanical performance of pultruded composite bridge decks was evaluated focusing on the effect of the textile lay-up sequence on their bending rigidity. A composite deck with a multi-walled cross-section with variable thickness was chosen as the model structure and three types of textile lay-up sequences were considered for its manufacturing. Due to the varying thickness and corresponding lay-up sequence, a three dimensional finite element model was constructed for the pultruded composite decks and their material properties were calculated based on the properties of each constitutive layer. Then, the effect of the textile lay-up sequence on the bending rigidity of the pultruded composite decks was numerically calculated for two model problems: pure bending due to uniform pressure and modified three-points bending. Finally, to validate the current three-dimensional analysis, experiments were also carried out by manufacturing pultruded composite decks with the same size as the ones used in the field, in order to demonstrate that the current approach provides a useful method of designing textile lay-up sequences for specific pultruded composites.