The application of composites (FRP) in military bridges

Janusz Szelka


Military Academy of Land Forces in Wroclaw; University of Zielona Gora (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1589-939X

Zbigniew Kamyk


Military Institute of Engineer Technology in Wroclaw (Poland)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4200-5996

Abstract

The needs of expeditionary forces involve the use of light-weight, short-span bridges so that their transport by air would be possible. A project which is currently developed in USA aims at the elaboration of a Composite Army Bridge (CAB) assault bridge and a Modular Composite Bridge – MCB logistic bridge. In 2004 CAB successfully underwent fatigue tests. A 14 m-long, all-composite treadway bridge span was loaded by using an MLC 100 vehicle and it withstood 20 000 load cycles. The MCB will be constructed by7 m of box modules and a 6.5 m access ramp. A 26 m-long and 4 m-wide bridge span is to provide the traffic ability of MLC 65. Furthermore, works on a 10 m-long, MLC 30 composite bridge are also developed in Canada too. The paper also presents the American concept of employing a deployable bridge system by utilising a composite structure. In order to formwork and reinforce the plate, fibre reinforced polyester composites (FRP) were used. The girder construction is made of aluminium pipes forming diamond truss with curved bottom chord. After they are integrated in the structure, the top chord nodes are connected through deck plate cast in-situ. The tests indicated that there exists the possibility of using polymer composites in military bridge construction and mobile structures of composite bridges.


Keywords:

composite, deployable bridge, assault bridge, modular composite bridge

Höglund T., Nilsson L. Aluminium in Bridge Decks and in a New Military Bridge in Sweden, Structural Engineering International 4/2006, pp. 348-351.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2749/101686606778995100   Google Scholar

Zobel H., Karwowski W. Kompozyty polimerowe w mostownictwie - pomosty wielowarstwowe. GEOINŻYNIERIA drogi mosty tunele 02/2006 (09). s. 42-49.
  Google Scholar

Kosmatka J.B., Policelli F.J. The Development of the DARPA/SBIR Composite Army Bridge: Phase I Accomplishments. Journal of Advanced Materials, 31(3), 1999, pp. 23-36.
  Google Scholar

STANAG 2021 (EDITION 6) Military Computation of Bridge, Ferry, Raft and Vehicle Classifications, NSA, Brussels, 7 September 2006.
  Google Scholar

Mosallam A., Abdi F., Miraj R., Wang J. Virtual Testing and Progressive Failure Analysis of Army Composite Bridge. FRP INTERNATIONAL, The Official Newsletter of the International Institute for FRP in Construction, Volume 3, Issue 2 2006, pp 10-15.
  Google Scholar

Iyer R., Abdi F., Qian Z., Xiaofeng Su. Mosallam A. Composite Army Bridge under Fatigue Cyclic Loading, Fire and Repair. 3rd International Conference on Advanced Engineered Wood Composites, Bar Harbor, ME, USA, July 10 – 14, 2005.
  Google Scholar

Abdi F., Qian Z., Mosallam A., Iyer R., Wang J., Logan T. Composite Army Bridges under Fatigue Cyclic Loading. Structure & Infrastructure Engineering: Maintenance, Management, Life-Cycle, Volume 2, Number 1/March 2006, pp. 63-73.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15732470500254691   Google Scholar

Abdi F., Qian Z., Miraj R., Mosallam A., Iyer R., Wang J., Logan T. The Residual Strength of Composite Army Bridge after Fire Exposure. 47th AIAA/ASME/ASCE/AHS/ASC Structures, Structural Dynamics, and Materials Conference, Newport, Rhode Island, 1 - 4 May 2006.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2514/6.2006-1841   Google Scholar

Mosallam A., Russell L., Iyer R. Experimental and Numerical Study on Thermal Aging and Mechanical Properties of Composite Army Bridge. MSC Software Conference, Huntington Beach, California USA, July 17-19, 2006.
  Google Scholar

Iyer R. Repair Kit for Composite Bridges using GENOA. Modeling & Simulation SMART CONFERENCE, 8-11 September 2003.
  Google Scholar

Robinson M.J., Kosmatka J.B. Light-Weight Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composite Deck Panels for Extreme Applications. ASCE - Journal of Composites for Construction, Vol.12 No. 3 May-June 2008, pp. 344-354.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0268(2008)12:3(344)   Google Scholar

Robinson M.J., Kosmatka J.B. Development of a Short-Span Fiber-Reinforced Composite Bridge for Emergency Response and Military Applications. Journal of Bridge Engineering © ASCE, July/August 2008, pp. 388-397.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1084-0702(2008)13:4(388)   Google Scholar

Landherr J.C., Dynamic Analysis of a FRP Deployable Box Beam. Master of Applied Science Thesis, Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada, September, 2008.
  Google Scholar

Hanus J.P., Bank L.C., Velazquez G.I., Ray J.C. Optimized Design and Testing of Prototype Military Bridge System For Rapid In-Theater Construction. In Proc., 25th Army Science Conference – Transformational Army Science and Technology, Asst. Sec. of the Army (Acquisition, Logistics, and Technology), (CD ROM) Orlando, FL. 2006.
  Google Scholar

Kamyk Z., Barcikowski M., Błażejewski W., Gąsior P., Kaleta J., Rybczyński R., Juskowiak E. Próby poligonowe pontonu kompozytowego. Materiały Kompozytowe. 2012, nr 3, s. 34-38.
  Google Scholar

Eurobrigde, Mobile Brűcken GmbH, D-88039 Fridrichshafen, Germany – Materiały poglądowe dotyczące DoFB.
  Google Scholar


Published
2013-06-11

Cited by

Szelka, J. and Kamyk, Z. (2013) “The application of composites (FRP) in military bridges”, Budownictwo i Architektura, 12(2), pp. 063–070. doi: 10.35784/bud-arch.2074.

Authors

Janusz Szelka 

Military Academy of Land Forces in Wroclaw; University of Zielona Gora Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1589-939X

Authors

Zbigniew Kamyk 

Military Institute of Engineer Technology in Wroclaw Poland
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4200-5996

Statistics

Abstract views: 434
PDF downloads: 170


License

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Budownictwo i Architektura supports the open science program. The journal enables Open Access to their publications. Everyone can view, download and forward articles, provided that the terms of the license are respected.

Publishing of articles is possible after submitting a signed statement on the transfer of a license to the Journal.