Mechanical behaviour was compared for glass/ polyester laminates manufactured in the boatbuilding plant using three methods: hand lay-up, vacuum bagging, infusion. Specimens were tested in dry condition and following accelerated water immersion test (70°C- corresponding to the exposure of 30 years at 19°C). In three point bending test 40-50% reduction in laminate strength was observed due to water immersion. The highest degradation...

Glass/polyester laminate coated with gelcoat layer of different thickness 0,5; 1,5; 3 mm was studied in terms of blistering behaviour and water sorption in hot water environment. Blistering was found to be accelerated for thin (0,5 mm) gel-coat layer compared to the thick (1,5; 3 mm), however no significant difference in blistering behaviour was observed between the laminates with gel-coat thickness 1,5 and 3 mm which may suggest...

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 contribution is focused on derivation of the Ultimate Limit State (ULS) and Serviceability Limit State (SLS) design criteria for footbridges built of fibre-reinforced polymer matrix (FRP) laminates. The ULS design criterion is based on the design guidelines for above-ground, pressure, FRP composite tanks and the Tsai-Wu failure criterion, which is used to predict the onset of FRP laminates damage. The SLS criterion is based...