The microstructures, water absorption as well as blistering was studied for bi- and tri- axial glass fibre vinyl ester and polyester -matrix laminates coated with gel coat layer and uncoated. The effect of manufacturing technique on water sorption characteristics was considered. It was found that water sorption characteristics of GFRP depend on manufacturing methods. The least water intake was found for specimens having perfect...

The paper studies the mechanical properties of glass fibre reinforced polymers (GFRP) with various types and orientation of reinforcement. Analyzed specimens manufactured in the infusion process are made of polymer vinyl ester resin reinforced with glass fibres. Several samples were examined containing different plies and various fibres orientation [0, 90] or [+45, –45]. To assess the mechanical parameters of laminates, a series...

Water absorption and surface blistering behaviour was studied for polyester-matrix laminates with SiO2 nanoparticle reinforced gel coats. Accelerated water immersion tests at 37°C showed that addition of 10% nanoparticles increases blisters incubation time by ca. 50% compared to 5% and 0% nanoparticles composites.

The paper formulates new design conditions for composite footbridges, taking into account the material and structural specificity of these objects, i.e. the strength condition, the serviceability condition and the frequency condition. A GFRP composite footbridge labelled with CFB2 code has been designed, with the original superstructure in the form of an opened-closed 5-box girder. The foot and cycle track bridge is simply supported,...

The paper contains analysis of full-scaled three meters long segment of a novel composite footbridge. Both numerical modeling and experimental validation were performed. Analyzed object is a shell type sandwich channel-like structure made of composite sandwich with GFRP laminates as a skin and PET foam as a core. Several static load schemes were performed including vertical and horizontal forces. In FEM analysis multilayered laminate...