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CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS
1 INTRODUCTION
With the increasing diversity of structures and the desire for new materials
of construction, many unconventional materials such as composites are being
adopted. During the past two decades the applications of composite materials have
grown rapidly and are now very common around the world.
2 COMPOSITE MATERIALS
Composite materials are formed by the combination of two or more materials that
retain their respective characteristics when combined together to achieve properties that
are superior to those of individual constituents. In generic terms, the idea of a composite
is analogous to that of reinforced concrete. However, composites present immense
opportunities for tailoring of the material to the specific requirements of the structure.
The main components of composites are reinforcing agents and matrix. The fibres,
particulates and whiskers act as the reinforcement and provide most of the stiffness and
strength. The matrix binds the reinforcement together thus effecting the load transfer
from matrix to reinforcement and adds to the performance merits of the material. Other
substances such as fillers are used to reduce the cost and improve process ability and
dimensional stability.
Today, the most common man made composites can be divided into three main
groups:
1. Polymer Matrix Composites (PMC’s): These are the most common and will be
the main area of discussion. These are also known as FRP- Fibre Reinforced
Polymers (or Plastics).
2. Metal Matrix Composites (MMC’s)
3. Ceramic Matrix Composites (CMC’s)
Fibre reinforced composites can be further divided into those containing
discontinuous or continuous fibres.
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The three most important requirements for materials which are to be used in
highly demanding applications are a high resistance to plastic deformations, resistance to
fracture and elastic stiffness.
The advantages of the use of FRP as a structural material are
1. Strong: high strength to weight ratio
2. Light weight: only two-thirds the weight of Aluminum and 20% of steel.
3. Durable: properly chosen it is resistant to atmospheric and chemical corrosion.
4. Non-conductive: excellent thermal and electrical insulating properties.
5. Maintenance: low to maintenance free; painting not required.
6. Easily workable.
3 CONSTITUENT MATERIALS
It is a well-known fact that FRP consists of high performance fibres and a matrix.
The various fibres are: glass fibres, ceramics (like silicon carbide, silicon nitride etc),
carbon fibres, tungsten, cold drawn wires etc. Among the newly explored possibilities are
those made from Coir, Hemp, Jute, Flax etc.
The matrix is usually a resin system which are usually an unsaturated polyester
resins to which additives, catalysts and pigments are added to achieve specific purposes
THE DESIRABLE PROPERTIES OF FIBRES AND MATRIX
3.1 Fibre
1. Should have a high tensile strength.
2. Variation of strength among individual fibres should be as small as possible.
3. Should belong to the same type, should have cross sectional diameter and surface area
uniform.
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Some of the Physical and Mechanical Properties of a few fibres are tabulated as below
Table 3.1 Physical and Mechanical Properties of Glass Fibre:
Fibre Type E-Glass S-Glass
(1). Diameter (µ m) 8-14 10
(2). Density (kg/m3) 2540 2490
(3). Tensile Modulus (GPa) 72.40 85.5
(4). Tensile Strength (Mpa) 2400 3450
(5). % Elongation 1.8-3.2 5-7
(6). Coefficient of thermal 5 5-6
expansion (°/C)
(7). Specific Gravity 2.54 2.49
Comparing the properties of all of the fibre types with each other, shows that they
all have distinct advantages and disadvantages. This makes different fibre types more
suitable for some applications than others. The following table provides a basic
comparison between the main desirable features of generic fibre types. ‘A’ indicates a
feature where the fibre scores well, and ‘C’ indicates a feature where the fibre is not
so good.
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Table 3.4 Fibre Type Comparisons
Property Aramid Carbon Glass
High Tensile Strength B A B
High Tensile Modulus B A C
High Compressive Strength C A B
High Compressive Modulus B A C
High Flexural Strength C A B
High Flexural Modulus B A C
High Impact Strength A C B
High Interlaminar Shear Strength B A A
High In-plane Shear Strength B A A
Low Density A B C
High Fatigue Resistance B A C
High Fire Resistance A C A
High Thermal Insulation A C B
High Electrical Insulation B C A
Low Thermal Expansion A A A
Low Cost C C A
3.2 Matrix
1. It should transfer the stress to fibres efficiently by adhesion or friction.
2. It should not react chemically with the fibres.
3. It should bind the fibres and protect its surface from damage during handling,
fabrication etc.
Polymers used as matrix materials are commonly referred to as resins. There are
two basic classes of resins. They are:
1 Thermosets – when heated they undergo an irreversible chemical change called
curing. They chemically cross link and develop a network structure that sets them
in shape. If they are heated after they have been cured they do not melt.
2 Thermoplastics – These resins melts when heated and solidify when cooled. Once
they initially melt to form the composite, heating above the lower forming
temperature can reshape them.
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Some of the Physical and Mechanical Properties of resins are listed in Table 3.4
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The plastic flow of the matrix under stress transfers the load to the fibres. As a
result a high modulus composite is obtained. A typical FRP reinforcement will consist of
60%to 65% of fibres and the remaining cross section is the matrix.
B) Filament Winding
C) Pultrusion
D) Resin Transfer Moulding
There is a very large range of mechanical properties that can be achieved with
composite materials. Even when considering one fibre type on its own, the composite
properties can vary by a factor of 10 with the range of fibre contents and orientations that
are commonly achieved. The comparisons that follow therefore show a range of
mechanical properties for the composite materials. The lowest properties for each
material are associated with simple manufacturing process and material forms (e.g. spray
lay up glass fibre), and the higher properties are associated with higher technology
manufacture (e.g. autoclave moulding of unidirectional glass fibre), such as would be
found in the aerospace industry. The graph below shows the Tensile Strength of Common
Structural Materials.
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Tensile Strength of Common Structural Materials
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woven rovings. Because of the more orderly arrangement of the fibres the maximum
percentage of glass can range between 40-65% by weight.
In the third category of composites the fibres are all laid in one direction. This is
the case with rods produced by pultrusion and certain laminates based on filament
winding. Since the fibres are all laid in one direction, the percentage of fibres is
maximum compared to the above two categories and is as high as 90.67% by volume in
theory. In practice however it ranges from 60-90% by weight.
Unidirectional
Uniaxial
Tensile strength Orthogonal
Random
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Overall, the properties of the composite are determined by:
1) The properties of the fibre
2) The properties of the resin
3) The ratio of fibre to resin in the composite (Fibre Volume Fraction)
4) The geometry and orientation of the fibres in the composite.
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The high glass content composites are also relatively less effective under shear
because the resistance to shear between the fibre layers depends predominantly on the
plastic matrix.
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7.3 COMPOSITE BRIDGE DECKS
FRP composite bridge decks are made of pultruded components that are bonded and
interlocked. They are placed transversely to the traffic and are supported by longitudinal
beams. The FRP decks comprise of double trapezoid composite connected with full depth
hexagons that provide mechanical interlock and an extensive bonding surface.
Construction of highway bridges with modular FRP decks requires the understanding of
the deck performance under traffic loads. Traffic loads include repetitive stress cycles on
bridge decks during the service life of the structure. The composite bridge decks are
modular in design and can be produced and can be produced in continuous lengths
because of inherent process adopted (pultrusion technique) and these lengths can be cut
to size depending on the users requirement. Hence, it furnishes greater flexibility in
fabrication of the composite bridge decks to suit various product dimensions.
The first ever-recorded composite bridge is the Gindji Bridge in Bulgaria, which
was constructed in 1982 using the hand lay up technique. Over the last 5 years several
bridges have been constructed, both pedestrian and highway, such as the Aberfeldy Foot
Bridge in Scotland, the Bonds Mill Lift Bridge in England, the Kolding Bridge in
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Denmark, etc. In most of these cases, the preferred method of construction is deck
supported by beams.
Composite bridge decks are being used for both permanent bridges for
state/national highways and over culverts in USA. The composite bridge decks installed
in USA were designed and tested by American Association of State Highway and
Transport Officials (AASHTO). The following data gives the some of the composite
bridge decks installed in USA.
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weight polythene face, which is thermoplastically bonded to the truss panel to resist
abrasion.
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8. MATERIALS AND DURABILITY
Although composites are often touted as having very good resistance to
environmental exposure, it must be stressed that this is highly dependent on the types of
fibre, fibre sizing and resin used. The inappropriate selection can result in premature
failure.
Most resins absorb moisture to a certain degree causing an increase in weight.
However, provided that the moisture does not react at the interfacial level the effects are
reversible after drying. In cases where it is known that the composite will be exposed to
significant moisture levels, it is recognised that the use of resin rich layers and gel coats
can be advantageous. Similarly it is expected that for primary structure bearing
significant loads the main reinforcing fibre will be graphite rather than glass, due to its
inertness in such an environment.
This underlines the need for the definition of proper safety factors and stress
levels as well as the recognition of fibre – material combinations.
The use of techniques associated with the external attachment of the composite
plates to the soffit of decks and then underside of beams is attractive due to factors
related to the ease of access and decreased need for extensive changes to the existing
structures. Although the bonding of steel plates has been used for quite some time it has
been plagued by various problems ranging in difficulty in placement to concerns related
to overall durability.
Composite plates do not suffer from these deficiencies, due to the high stiffness
and strength to weight ratio, corrosion resistance and lightweight. However, an aspect
that needs to be kept in mind during the design of such schemes is that related to long-
term environmental durability of the composite and the durability and effectiveness of the
adhesive bond between the concrete and composites.
Failure due to material aspects of the assembly can generally be associated with
one or a combination of the following modes
1. Peel failure into concrete.
2. Interfacial failure between concrete and adhesive.
3. Cohesive failure in the adhesive.
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4. Interfacial crack between the adhesive and concrete.
5. Alternating crack path between the two interfaces.
The first mode of failure occurs due to high peel stresses caused by mismatch and
concentration of shear stresses at the end of composite plates. Also it should be
remembered that the bond between the concrete is through an adhesive or the actual resin
itself and therefore one needs to pay attention to aspects such as moisture intrusion,
freeze-thaw etc.
9 SUMMARY
Composites have immense potential for use in civil infrastructure in applications
ranging from rehabilitation to new construction. However for these applications to be
successful in terms of economics and longevity proper attention needs to be paid to the
selection of materials and the processes used to fabricate and place these composites in
the field. Errors in this regard through the inappropriate use of a material system or
manufacturing technique should not be considered as flaws on the part of the technology,
but rather on the designer’s part. Composites present immense opportunities for tailoring
and for the integration of form and function, presenting the civil engineer a plethora of
design opportunities.
REFERENCES:
Cahn R.W. and Harris.B.[1970], “Natures of composites” –Glass reinforced plastics –
Brian Parkyn, Butterworth Publications,England.
Carles W.Dolan , 1999,”FRP Prestressing in the USA”,Concrete International Vol.21,No
.10, pp.21-24
Norman R.H., Stom M.H. and W.C. Wake,[1970],“Resin Glass Interface”- Glass
Sami H. Rizkalla [Dec 18-20,1995], “FRP for the 21st Century”- International Conference
Balaguru, Perumal Swamy. N, Chang and Peter, “ High Strength Composites For Repair
Rehabilitation and Strengthening of concrete Structures (ICI Journal : Jan- Mar 2003)
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Balaguru and Shah, Text boon on “Fibre Reinforced Cement Composites”.
American Society For Metals, Source book on “Reinforced Plastics For Commercial
Composites”
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