| Design of fibreglass composite sheet pile seawalls is traditionally based on the flexural rigidity (EI) of the piling system. To compare with commonly used steel or wood sheet piling, there is a strong need to properly characterise the flexural behaviour of composite piling systems. Directed by this industrial need, the research reported herein is focused on the flexural response of a pultruded sheet pile seawall panel consisting of E-glass fibre-reinforced polyester. The analysis consists of an experimental investigation, analytical modelling, and finite element simulation to determine the flexural and shear rigidities of the seawall panel for use in computing the deflections of the piling system.; A novel testing method was developed to simultaneously determine the flexural rigidity (EI) and shear rigidity (kAG) of the panel using Timoshenko's beam theory. Three- and four-point bending tests were performed on six different span lengths and the results were self-consistent from the two different tests. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
