System transverse in-plane shear stiffness of pultruded GFRP bridge decks

The static transverse behavior of two pultruded GFRP deck systems with trapezoidal (DS) and triangular (AS) cell cross-sectional geometry was experimentally investigated in order to study their transverse in-plane shear stiffness. Symmetric three-point bending experiments up to failure were performed on 200-mm-wide beams. Their stiffness, strength and failure modes were compared. Different load transfer mechanisms were found in the DS (frame-dominated) and AS (truss-governed) systems depending on the cell geometry. The DS beams exhibited a lower apparent bending stiffness (24-30 times less) and degree of composite action between the flanges (14-17 times less) than the AS beams. These dissimilarities were attributed to the lower transverse in-plane shear stiffness provided by the trapezoidal core than by the triangular core. The low bound values for both system in-plane shear moduli were estimated from the experimental deflection results. The system in-plane shear modulus of the DS beams represented approximately 2-3% of that of the AS beams. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.