|
FEASIBILITY STUDY OF LIGHTWEIGHT HIGH-STRENGTH HOLLOW CORE BALSA-FRP COMPOSITE BEAMS UNDER FLEXURE
|
|
|
|
 |
| Title | FEASIBILITY STUDY OF LIGHTWEIGHT HIGH-STRENGTH HOLLOW CORE BALSA-FRP COMPOSITE BEAMS UNDER FLEXURE |
| Author | O'Neill, Kevin
|
| Keywords | balsa
frp
composite
carbon
glass
fiber
|
| Abstract | The United States of America s Military, more specifically the Army, has since the late 1990 s had a vested interest in the development of super-lightweight, portable, short-span composite bridge and decking components to replace aging heavy metal-alloy machine driven modular systems. The following study looks at the feasibility of using balsa wood as the structural core material in fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) wrapped hollow-core composites in short-span bridge applications. The balsa provides shear resistance and the FRP the flexural resistance, resulting in extremely high strength-to-weight and strength-to-depth ratios. Several scaled short span specimens were constructed and tested using a variety of fibers and resins. In addition, a calibrated finite element model (FEM) was developed using data acquired through testing. Of the 3 FRP-matrices tested (carbon-polyurethane, glass-polyurethane, and carbon-epoxy-resin), the carbon-epoxy-resin had the stiffest cross-section and highest ultimate load achieved, although the fiber did not have the highest elastic modulus and ultimate rupture strength of the constituent materials. The carbon-polyurethane fiber had the largest elastic modulus and ultimate strength, but due to construction difficulties did not perform as well as expected. The glass-polyurethane fiber had the lowest elastic modulus and ultimate load with high strain values and performed accordingly during specimen testing. Given the constraints of self-weight, section geometry, and deflection set forth for lightweight short-span portable bridging solutions, this study demonstrates that the balsa-FRP composite systems are viable solutions; in particular, when carbon fabric is paired with balsa cores. |
| Adviser | Mackie, Kevin
|
| Publisher | University of Central Florida |
| Degree | M.S.C.E.
|
| Degree Discipline | Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
|
| Degree Grantor | Engineering and Computer Science
|
| Degree Program | Civil Engineering MS
|
| Graduation Date | 2010-01-01 |
| Type | Master's thesis
|
| Access Level | Public - Allow Worldwide Access
|
| Release Date | 2010-05-07 |
| Repository | University Archives
|
| Repository Collection | Electronic Theses and Dissertations
|
| Identifier | CFE0002997 |
| Access Link | http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0002997 |
|
|
|
|
|