Experimental study on static and dynamic performance of a novel GFRP bridge girder

Abstract A novel glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bridge girder was developed and implemented in a bridge superstructure as the result of the domestic R&D project. The novel GFRP girder consists of a shell with trapezoidal cross-section and a sandwich deck slab, both acting compositely owing to structural bonding. Before superstructure implementation, a test specimen fabricated as a full-scale prototype of the GFRP bridge girder was subjected to a series of static and dynamic tests to evaluate its structural performance and to verify design predictions and to check relevant code requirements. This paper presents a prototype GFRP girder itself and the selected results of an experimental study on its stiffness, strength, ultimate capacity and failure mode, global factors of safety against failure and dynamic characteristics. The output of testing confirmed that the proposed GFRP bridge girder has an appropriate structural performance and fulfils the design assumptions and relevant standard requirements to be considered in an actual road bridge design.