Thermal property analysis and applications of GFRP panels to integral abutment bridges

Integral abutment bridges (IABs) have been designed and constructed during the last several decades in the United States and around the world. Many benefits can be expected from IABs, especially, the joints related water-leaking issues can be resolved. However, the integral bridges have not been widely applied in practices, which may be partly due to the lack of understanding on the thermal performances of IABs. For example, the commonly adopted concrete superstructure may limit the maximum length a jointless bridge can be designed, since concrete materials have relatively large thermal expansion coefficients but small tensile strength capacities. Regarding to this issue, glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRPs) are considered as the substitute materials for IABs in this study, because GFRPs can be designed with comparatively small thermal expansion but large tensile strength. Therefore, in this paper, the thermal behaviors of IABs are firstly investigated through a numerical study on an as-built bridge, Caminada Bay Bridge, LA. Secondly, a homogenization modeling method is proposed to analyze GFRP panels under temperature loading effects. Finally, the thermal responses of an IAB are compared between two different deck conditions, i.e., GFRP panels and concrete slabs. Based on the investigation in this paper, the efficiency of the proposed homogenization modeling method for GFRP structures is discussed and the thermal benefits of applying GFRP panels to IABs are justified.