PSI - Issue 52

ScienceDirect Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2022) 000 – 000 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2022) 000 – 000 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Procedia Structural Integrity 52 (2024) 99–104

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© 2023 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of Professor Ferri Aliabadi Abstract During the last decade, web-core sandwich fibre composite panels have gained substantial attention for small footbridges. Their design heavily relies on serviceability criteria, i.e. deflections and vibration comfort, rather than on the ultimate limit state. The longitudinal flexural stiffness, and as a consequence the axial stiffness of the top and bottom faces, is for that reason the main structural design parameter. However, glass fibre based composites in combination with the infusion based manufacturing process limit the stiffness that can be achieved. In this paper, three hybrid steel / glass fibre composite laminates are explored, with the aim of increasing the longitudinal stiffness, while maintaining the vacuum infusion based manufacturing process. For this purpose, two perforated steel sheet types with different permeation percentages and one steel wire mesh are chosen, and infused together with a typical glass fibre ply arrangement. Due to the open nature of the steel sheets, no problems concerning the flow of the resin were expected and encountered during the infusi on process. Tensile tests then revealed an increase of 120% of the apparent Young’s modulus for sheet type A, 130% for sheet type B, and no significant effect for the steel wire mesh. Concurrently, the tensile strength reduced between 21% and 26% for both steel sheets, and by 18% for the wire gauze. This can be attributed to the incompatibility of ultimate strain of the various materials. However, as the design of web-core sandwich panel based footbridges is dominated by stiffness and not by strength, the hybrid laminates with perforated steel sheets seem to be a promising idea to extend the achievable span or slenderness of FRP footbridges. Fracture, Damage and Structural Health Monitoring Exploration Of Hybrid Steel / Fibre Composite Laminates For Web Core Sandwich Panel Footbridges Wouter De Corte a,* , Jordi Uyttersprot a , Wim Van Paepegem b a Department of Structural Engineering and Building Materials, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Tech Lane Ghent Science Park 60, 9052 Zwijnaarde, Belgium b Department of Materials, Textiles and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Tech Lane Ghent Science Park 46, 9052 Zwijnaarde, Belgium Abstract During the last decade, web-core sandwich fibre composite panels have gained substantial attention for small footbridges. Their design heavily relies on serviceability criteria, i.e. deflections and vibration comfort, rather than on the ultimate limit state. The longitudinal flexural stiffness, and as a consequence the axial stiffness of the top and bottom faces, is for that reason the main structural design parameter. However, glass fibre based composites in combination with the infusion based manufacturing process limit the stiffness that can be achieved. In this paper, three hybrid steel / glass fibre composite laminates are explored, with the aim of increasing the longitudinal stiffness, while maintaining the vacuum infusion based manufacturing process. For this purpose, two perforated steel sheet types with different permeation percentages and one steel wire mesh are chosen, and infused together with a typical glass fibre ply arrangement. Due to the open nature of the steel sheets, no problems concerning the flow of the resin were expected and encountered during the infusi on process. Tensile tests then revealed an increase of 120% of the apparent Young’s modulus for sheet type A, 130% for sheet type B, and no significant effect for the steel wire mesh. Concurrently, the tensile strength reduced between 21% and 26% for both steel sheets, and by 18% for the wire gauze. This can be attributed to the incompatibility of ultimate strain of the various materials. However, as the design of web-core sandwich panel based footbridges is dominated by stiffness and not by strength, the hybrid laminates with perforated steel sheets seem to be a promising idea to extend the achievable span or slenderness of FRP footbridges. Keywords: Bridges, Hybride composites, GFRP, Experimental research Fracture, Damage and Structural Health Monitoring Exploration Of Hybrid Steel / Fibre Composite Laminates For Web Core Sandwich Panel Footbridges Wouter De Corte a,* , Jordi Uyttersprot a , Wim Van Paepegem b a Department of Structural Engineering and Building Materials, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Tech Lane Ghent Science Park 60, 9052 Zwijnaarde, Belgium b Department of Materials, Textiles and Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Ghent University, Tech Lane Ghent Science Park 46, 9052 Zwijnaarde, Belgium

Keywords: Bridges, Hybride composites, GFRP, Experimental research

* Corresponding author. Tel.: +32 9 243 25 30 E-mail address: Wouter.DeCorte@UGent.be

2452-3216 © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of Professor Ferri Aliabadi 10.1016/j.prostr.2023.12.010 2452-3216 © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of Professor Ferri Aliabadi 2452-3216 © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of Professor Ferri Aliabadi * Corresponding author. Tel.: +32 9 243 25 30 E-mail address: Wouter.DeCorte@UGent.be