| An integral fiber reinforced plastic bridge structural system is proposed. The design concept is carefully engineered to incorporate new high performance structural materials. As a result, a number of special features evolved to produce an efficient bridge design. Along with structural system development, a design methodology is presented which consists of two stages. First, an optimal preliminary design based on a simplified model is obtained. The combination of a simplified model based on the Ritz solution of a transformed plate with a formal optimization scheme produced an effective tool for preliminary design. Second, detailed finite element analyses are performed to investigate the strength, stiffness and buckling performance of the structure. Design examples are considered to demonstrate the capabilities of this structural system and to study the important features. The design is compared with other fiber reinforced plastic bridges and with a traditional steel-concrete system. The analysis of several design cases shows that stiffness requirements govern the design and the margins of safety for material and structural failures are high. |
