Experimental and analytical study on continuous GFRP concrete decks with steel bars

A hybrid bridge deck is proposed, which includes steel bars, concrete and glass-fiber-reinforced-polymer (GFRP) plates with channel sections. The steel bar in the negative moment region can increase the flexural stiffness, improve the ductility, and reduce the GFRP ratio. Three continuous decks with different steel bar ratios and a simply supported deck were fabricated and tested to study the mechanical performance. The failure mode, deflection, strain distribution, cracks and support reaction were tested and discussed. The steel bar improves the mechanical performance of continuous decks, and a theoretical method is proposed to predict the deformation and the shear capacity. The experimental results show that all specimens failed with shear failure in the positive moment region. The increase of steel bar ratio in the negative moment region can achieve an enhancement in the flexural stiffness and reduce the deflection without increasing GFRP. Moreover, the continuous deck can achieve a yield load, and the negative moment can be carried by GFRP plates after the steel bar yields. Finally, a nonlinear analytical method for the deflection calculation was proposed and verified, with considering the moment redistribution, non-cracked sections and nonlinearity of material. In addition, a simplified calculation method was proposed to predict the shear capacity of GFRP-concrete decks.