Evaluation of GFRP Hat-Shape composite beam with concrete slab by finite element method and parametric analysis

Most of ordinary bridge decks are made of reinforced concrete and often deteriorate at a rapid rate in rough operational environments. The rapid deterioration of the deck often impacts other critical components of the bridge. Another disadvantage of the concrete deck is its increased weight in long-span bridges. Therefore, it is essential to examine new materials and innovative designs using hybrid system consisting conventional materials such as concrete and steel with FRP plates which is also known as composite deck. Since these decks are relatively new so it would be useful to evaluate their performances in more details. The present study is dedicated to Hat-Shape composite beam with concrete slab. The structural performance of deck was evaluated by nonlinear finite element method and numerical results have been compared with published experimental results where possible. After ensuring the validity of numerical modeling of composite deck, parametric studies has been done; such as using steel rebar in concrete slab, changing the angle of webs of Hat-Shape Section, modeling RC sections to match strength and stiffness of Hat-Shape composite beam and altering the GFRP Material into steel and aluminum. It was found that the behavior of this type of composite beams can be considered with numerical methods without executing costly experiments. Using rebar in concrete slab can increase ultimate load capacity of composite beam by 45 %. Also strength-to- weight ratio of the beam increased by changing the GFRP Material to aluminum by 51%.