A Life Prediction Methodolgy for Thick
Section Composites Used in Civil Infrastructure
Jolyn Senne, John J. Lesko and Scott W. Case
As fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) structures find
application in highway bridge structures, methodologies for describing their long-term
performance under service loading will be a necessity for designers. The designer of FRP
bridge structures will be faced with out-of-plane damage and delamination at ply
interfaces. The damage most often occurs between hybrid plys and dominates the life time
response of a thick section FRP structure. In this discussion a model is developed to
address these issues. The methodology employs the quadratic delamination initiation
failure criteria, in conjunction with a delamination growth law to describe the
out-of-plane damage under bending. These phenomena are combined with the critical element
residual strength life prediction tool to determine remaining bending stiffness and moment
capacity of a pultruded and hybrid FRP 20.3 cm deep structural shape. The model
successfully describes the onset of delamination prior to fiber failure and suggests that
out-of-plane failure controls the life of the structure.