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FEASIBILITY STUDY OF LIGHTWEIGHT HIGH-STRENGTH HOLLOW CORE BALSA-FRP COMPOSITE BEAMS UNDER FLEXURE

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Date Issued:
2010
Abstract/Description:
The United States of AmericaÂÂ's Military, more specifically the Army, has since the late 1990ÂÂ'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.
Title: FEASIBILITY STUDY OF LIGHTWEIGHT HIGH-STRENGTH HOLLOW CORE BALSA-FRP COMPOSITE BEAMS UNDER FLEXURE.
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Name(s): O'Neill, Kevin, Author
Mackie, Kevin, Committee Chair
University of Central Florida, Degree Grantor
Type of Resource: text
Date Issued: 2010
Publisher: University of Central Florida
Language(s): English
Abstract/Description: The United States of AmericaÂÂ's Military, more specifically the Army, has since the late 1990ÂÂ'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.
Identifier: CFE0002997 (IID), ucf:47931 (fedora)
Note(s): 2010-05-01
M.S.C.E.
Engineering and Computer Science, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Masters
This record was generated from author submitted information.
Subject(s): balsa
frp
composite
carbon
glass
fiber
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002997
Restrictions on Access: public
Host Institution: UCF

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