Analysis and testing of a prototype pultruded composite causeway structure

The preliminary design of a floating causeway system made from pultruded co mposite materials is described. As part of the design effort a 24-ft long x 15-ft wide x 5-ft high (7.3 m x 4.6 m x 1.5 m) pultruded GFRP scaled proto type was fabricated. Details of, and selected results from, the experimenta l testing and finite element modeling of this prototype are given. Testing revealed that the prototype composite structure was capable of supporting t he expected service sustained loads, as well as, the lifting loads. Strain and deflection data indicated that minimal stress levels existed in the str ucture during testing. For predictive and comparative purposes, two finite element models were developed that corresponded to the sustained load and l ifting load tests. These were relatively simple two-dimensional models, how ever, they effectively captured global and localized structural behavior. ( C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.