Laboratory Tests and Numerical Simulations of CFRP Strengthened RC Pier Subjected to Barge Impact Load

Abstract

Bridge piers are designed to withstand not only axial loads of superstructures and passing vehicles but also out-of-plane loads such as earthquake excitations and vessel impact loads. Vessel impact on bridge piers can lead to substantial damages or even collapse of bridge structures. An increasing number of vessel collision accidents have been reported in the past decade. A lot of researches have been conducted for predicting barge impact loads and calculating structural responses. However, in practice it is not possible to design bridge structures to resist all levels of barge impact loads. Moreover, with an increasing traffic volume and vessel payload in some waterways, the bridge piers designed according to previous specifications might not be sufficient to resist the current vessel impact loads. Therefore, strengthening existing bridge piers are sometimes necessary for protecting structures from barge impact. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) has been widely used in strengthening reinforced concrete structures under impulsive loadings. It is an effective material which has been proven to be able to increase the flexural strength of structures. In this study, CFRP composites are used to strengthen reinforced concrete piers against barge impact loads. Pendulum impact tests are conducted on scaled pier models. Impact force and pier response with and without CFRP strengthening are compared. The effectiveness of using CFRP strengthening the pier model is observed. In addition, numerical models of the bridge piers are developed and calibrated with experimental results. Parametric simulations of barge impacting on piers with or without CFRP strengthening are carried out. The results show that compared with unstrengthened pier, CFRP composite strengthened bridge pier has a higher impact resistance capacity and hence endures less structural damage under the same barge impact load. The effectiveness of CFRP strengthening with different CFRP thickness, CFRP strength and bond strength between the pier and the CFRP composite are also discussed.

Novel Crashworthy Device for Pier Protection from Barge Impact

“…Barge collisions upon bridge structures were also frequently reported. Such collisions can often lead to catastrophic consequences including human casualties and economic losses; thus substantial investigations regarding the quantification of barge impact loading and dynamic structural responses have been conducted in recent years [3][4][5][6][7][8].…”

“…e problems related to the above mentioned protective structures have led to the investigation of bridge protections from impact by strengthening the bridge piers themselves, for example, with carbon fibre-reinforced polymers (CFRPs) [6,14]. Such strengthening techniques can improve the pier resistance; that is, the pier undergoes less damage during impact.…”

“…Such strengthening techniques can improve the pier resistance; that is, the pier undergoes less damage during impact. However, such technique cannot reduce the maximum impact force; therefore, it is effective for pier protection but not for barge protection [6]. In addition, the studies by Sha and Hao [6] indicate that the effectiveness of the CFRP strengthening technique is very limited regarding the maximum pier displacement.…”

Numerical Investigation of the Collision Damage and Residual Strength of a Floating Bridge Girder

“…Yuan and Harik [5] and Consolazio and Cowan [6] calculated the impact force of barge collision with rigid bridge piers. Sha and Hao [7,8] further studied vessel-pier collisions with an emphasis on structural damages. Base on the numerical results, they proposed simplified equations for a fast estimation of the collision force [9].…”

The effect of assembling location on the performance of precast concrete beam under impact load

“…Soleimani et al (2007) conducted impact tests on RC beams, and their results indicate that inertia force cannot be ignored, and it has significant influence on the mechanical performance of the structure. Sha and Hao (2015) conducted pendulum impact tests on RC models strengthened by carbon fiber–reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. The results show that compared with unstrengthened pier, the strengthened bridge pier has a higher impact resistance capacity and hence endures less structural damage under the same barge impact load.…”