Analysis and Design of Pedestrian Bridge using Pultruded Composites

Abstract

Over the many years, the materials which were utilized as a part of the development of pedestrian bridge are wood, steel and concrete. The impact of environment on these materials has all in all, a huge effect on expense of the structure because of its mainte- nance and rehabilitation. The need of faster and lighter and less maintenance structure has lead to the advancement of the new basic materials. The new materials are known as composites. These materials were initially utilized in 1950s. A groundbreaking part of the composites that are utilized by present day society is the Plastic Reinforced with different sorts of flaments, likewise named by fiber strengthened polymer(FRP). The application field of FRP was confined to aviation and marine commercial enterprises. However in the most recent couple of years, the need of the construction industry, the advances in the research in construction field and also the reduction in cost of FRP generation, assent the use of composites as a part of construction industry. These composites materials have been used as a part of number of structures to-date, for example, pedestrian bridges, cooling tower and walkways, etc. Due to many advantages of composites, they have been used in several ways in construction of bridges. In the present study the analysis and design of a pedestrian bridge using pultruded com- posites is studied under static load cases. Two different profiles of the pedestrian bridge are considered Beam Type and Truss Type Pedestrian Bridge. Five different spans are considered for the analysis and design. The different spans are 3m, 5m, 10m, 15m and 20m. The analysis is done using staad pro software. The design of the pedestrian bridge is done using Fiberline Design Manual and National Research Council of Italy. The parametric study is carried out for the Beam Type and Truss Type Pedestrian Bridge. The pultruded sections are compared with each other to determine the most optimum sec- tion for the particular type of pedestrian bridge. The pultruded composites are compared with steel sections to determine the difference in the load carrying capacity of both the materials. In beam type pedestrian bridge the moment capacity is kept constant and different parameters like shear capacity, defection and weight are compared for different sections. Similarly for truss type pedestrian bridge the axial load carrying capacity is kept constant and weight is compared for different sections. From the study it is found that for the beam type of pedestrian bridge by keeping mo- ment constant the shear capacity of steel sections are higher than the pultruded sections. Similarly the de ections of steel sections are lower than the pultruded sections, while the weight of the pultruded sections are lesser than the steel sections. similarly for truss type pedestrian bridge by keeping axial load constant it is observed that the weight of pultruded sections are lower than the steel sections. The cost estimation is also carried out for the pultruded composites and steel. The cost estimation is carried out for the superstructure only. The cost considered is only the material cost, and transportation cost and labour cost are not considered. From the study it is found that the cost of pultruded composites are lower than the steel sections. The total cost of superstructure of pultruded sections are lower than the steel sections.