Evaluation of fiber reinforced plastic bridge decks under fatigue loads using acoustic emission technique

This thesis presents an evaluation of Fiber Reinforced Plastic bridge deck. This evaluation is to determine the feasibility of their use in infrastructures due to their light weight and environmental corrosion resistance.;General information about the behavior of Acoustic Emission in composite materials under fatigue is provided to help familiarize the reader with the test behavior of FRP bridge deck.;Two seven foot and one fourteen foot wide bridge decks were fatigue tested using the AE technique to evaluate the damage propagation in the structure. Strain and deflection data were obtained to determine the stiffness loss of the bridge deck specimens.;The acoustic emission technique proved to be a valuable method in detecting damage levels in the specimen. The strain reading results indicated the existence of localized stress distribution due to debonding. The study reveals minor stiffness losses in all the specimens tested.