El uso de barras de materiales compuestos (FRP) se propone como una alternativa efectiva para las tradicionales estructuras de hormigón armadas con acero que sufren corrosión en ambientes agresivos. La aceptación de estos materiales en el mundo de la construcción está condicionada a la compresión de su comportamiento estructural. Este trabajo estudia el comportamiento adherente entre barras de FRP y hormigón mediante dos programas experimentales. El primero incluye la caracterización de la adherencia entre barras de FRP y hormigón mediante ensayos de pull-out y el segundo estudia el proceso de fisuración de tirantes de hormigón reforzados con barras de GFRP mediante ensayo a tracción directa. El trabajo se concluye con el desarrollo de un modelo numérico para la simulación del comportamiento de elementos de hormigón reforzado bajo cargas de tracción. La flexibilidad del modelo lo convierte en una herramienta flexible para la realización de un estudio paramétrico sobre las variables que influyen en el proceso de fisuración. / The use of Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) as reinforcement in concrete structures is considered to be a possible alternative to steel in those situations where corrosion is present. The full acceptance of FRP reinforcement in concrete construction is contingent on a complete study and comprehension of all aspects of their structural performance. This thesis investigates the bond behaviour between Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) reinforcement and concrete. Two experimental programs were conducted. In the first program the role of the variables which affect the bond behaviour was studied through pull-out test. In the second program, GFRP RC members were tested in tension to study their cracking response. To conclude the thesis, a numerical model was developed to simulate the cracking behaviour of RC tensile members. Since the model was flexible enough to include any "user-defined" bond-slip law and variable materials' properties, a parametric study was conducted to analyze which are the variables that influence the cracking behaviour.

CAPES - Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / FAPEMIG - Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais / Este trabalho apresenta um estudo sobre o fenômeno do deslizamento na interface entre concreto e polímero reforçado com fibra (PRF) de carbono por meio da realização e análise de ensaios experimentais. O objetivo geral é investigar o efeito de escala no descolamento entre concreto e PRF. Buscou-se analisar a influência da variação da dimensão do corpo de prova de concreto no colapso de interface ao manter a mesma geometria de PRF aderida. A metodologia adotada consiste em sobrepor dois corpos de prova cilíndricos sobre o plano de seção transversal e ligados por três tiras de PRF de forma simétrica. A parte inferior do conjunto é fixa e aplica-se uma força de tração na parte superior, induzindo o surgimento de tensões de cisalhamento na interface. Foram utilizados corpos de prova moldados e extraídos de vigas de concreto, com diferentes dimensões: 5cm x 10cm, 10cm x 20cm e 15cm x 30cm. Treze geometrias diferentes do material compósito aderido foram usadas. Em alguns experimentos observou-se a ruptura no concreto, pois alcançou-se a tensão normal limite que o corpo de prova resiste antes de atingir a tensão de cisalhamento necessária para acontecer o descolamento. Isso foi notado principalmente nos corpos de prova menores, que resistem a uma força menor de tração. Não se notou uma influência da dimensão do corpo de prova na força máxima até o descolamento, tensão de cisalhamento e rigidez. Apesar de experimentos com corpos de prova menores levarem a bons resultados na análise do descolamento, verificou-se que o que limita seu uso é que muitas vezes é atingida a tensão normal limite que o concreto resiste, causando sua ruptura. Além disso, nos casos de deslizamento verificados com corpos de prova menores foi necessário utilizar uma geometria de PRF muito pequena, o que conduz a uma elevada tensão de cisalhamento máxima, exigindo o uso de um alto fator de correção. O processo de extração pode causar danos no concreto, como microfissuração, principalmente nos corpos de prova menores. Não foi possível concluir sobre a influência do uso de testemunhos no colapso de interface, mas foi notada uma alteração nas curvas de força versus deslocamento ao se usar corpos de prova extraídos, e em cada ensaio a influência foi de uma forma diferente. Não pareceu adequado analisar o deslizamento em testes com testemunhos. / This research is a study about the debonding phenomenon at interface between concrete and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) by way of performance and analysis of experimental tests. The objective of this study is to investigate the size effect in concrete and FRP debonding. The influence of variation of size concrete specimen on interface failure was analyzed when the same FRP geometry was adhered. Two concrete cylinders specimens are superimposed on plane of cross section, and the specimens are connected by three FRP pieces symmetrically adhered in the longitudinal perimeter. The lower part is fixed and the top is pulled. This induces appearance of shear stresses at interface. Different cylinders specimens made and core samples were used: 5cm x 10cm, 10cm x 20cm and 15cm x 30cm. Different thirteen geometries of the composite material were adhered. The failure happened in concrete in some experiments because concrete reached the normal strength before the shear stress required for the debonding, especially in smaller specimens because the tensile load carrying capacity for these cases is lower. An influence of specimen size was not noticed in the maximum load and shear stresses for debonding, and stiffness. Although experiments with smaller specimens generate good results, the reason that limits their use is the fact that the concrete often reaches the normal stress capacity. In addition, a very small FRP geometry was used in tests of debonding with smaller specimens. The use of a small FRP geometry resulted in a high shear stress, and with this use, it is necessary to use a high correction factor. The extraction process can cause damage to concrete such as micro cracking, especially in smaller specimens. It was not conclude about the influence of use of core samples in interface failures, but a change of the load versus displacement graph was noted. The influence of use of core samples happened differently in each test. An debonding analysis in tests with core samples may not be appropriate. / Dissertação (Mestrado)

Os Polímeros Reforçados com Fibras (PRF) são materiais compósitos constituídos por fibras unidas por uma matriz polimérica. São leves, não corrosivos, possuem alta resistência à tração e são de simples execução. O PRF em forma de tecido é utilizado para envolver o pilar de concreto armado promovendo a restrição das deformações laterais pelo efeito de membrana. Nos pilares com seção transversal circular, esse efeito de membrana é desenvolvido ao longo de todo o seu perímetro. Já para seções quadradas ou retangulares, esse efeito de membrana se desenvolve apenas nos cantos arredondados, reduzindo, assim, a eficiência do confinamento. Por conta dessa limitação, esta pesquisa propõe a utilização de um mecanismo auxiliar constituído por tirantes transversais de aço ancorados por perfis longitudinais, que juntamente com o PRF vão promover o confinamento nos maiores lados de seções de pilares retangulares. Foram realizados ensaios experimentais de dez pilares de concreto, cujos resultados confirmaram o maior incremento de força e ductilidade nos pilares devido à presença dos tirantes, verificando também que os perfis longitudinais contribuem diretamente com a força axial no pilar. Por meio da análise numérica em elementos finitos foi possível observar o acréscimo de regiões de concreto efetivamente confinado devido à presença dos tirantes. Com a análise paramétrica realizada foram identificados os parâmetros e como eles influenciam no comportamento dos pilares reforçados com a técnica: a relação entre os lados da seção transversal, a taxa de PRF; a taxa de tirantes de aço e a rigidez do perfil de ancoragem. Por fim, foi desenvolvido um modelo analítico que possibilita calcular a parcela de força resistida pelo concreto confinado e pelos perfis de ancoragem de modo independente, indicando boas correlações com os resultados experimentais e numéricos. / Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP) are composite materials consisting of fibers bonded by a polymer matrix. They are lightweight, non-corrosive, have high tensile strength and simple to apply. The FRP jacket is used to wrap the concrete column and restrict the lateral expansion by the membrane effect. In columns with circular cross section, the membrane effect is developed along its entire perimeter. However, in square or rectangular sections this effect is only developed at the rounded corners, resulting in a decrease of the confinement efficiency. Due this limitation, this research proposes the use of an auxiliary mechanism made up of transverse steel ties anchored by longitudinal bars, which together with the FRP, promote confinement on the biggest sides of rectangular sections of columns. Experimental tests were carried out on ten concrete columns, whose results confirmed the greatest force increase and ductility due to the presence of the steel ties and that the anchor bars contribute directly with the axial force. Through the numerical analysis in finite elements methods it was possible to observe the effective confined concrete regions due to the presence of the ties. With the parametric analysis performed some parameters were identified and how they influence in behavior of columns reinforced with this technique: the relationship between the sides of the cross section; the PRF rate; the steel ties rate and the stiffness of the anchor bar. Finally, an analytical model was developed allowing calculate the force resisted by the confined concrete and the anchor bars forces independently, indicating good correlations with the experimental and numerical results.

Abstract : The construction industry is expressing great demand for innovative and durable structural members such as bridge decks and piers, piling, and poles. Many steel-reinforced concrete structures subjected to de-icing salts and marine environments require extensive and expensive maintenance. Fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) have recently gained wide acceptance as a viable construction material for repair, rehabilitation, or new construction of the aging infrastructures particularly those exposed to harsh environment conditions. The promising concept of concrete-filled FRP tube (CFFT) system, that may be further reinforced with steel or FRP bars, has raised great interest amongst researchers in the last decade. The CFFT technique has been used successfully in different concrete structure elements such as pier column and girder for bridges and also as fender piles in marine structures. The FRP tube acts as a stay-in-place structural formwork, a noncorrosive reinforcement for the concrete for flexure and shear, provides confinement to the concrete in compression, and the contained concrete is protected from intrusion of moisture with corrosive agents that could otherwise deteriorate the concrete core. Using FRP bars instead of conventional steel bars in the CFFT columns can provide a step forward to develop a promising totally corrosion-free new structural system. Nonetheless, the axial behaviour of FRP bars as longitudinal reinforcement in compression members has yet to be explored, especially for the CFFT columns. To date, most of the experimental investigations performed on FRP confined concrete columns have considered short, unreinforced, small-scale concrete cylinders, tested under concentric, monotonic, and axial load. The slenderness ratio, internal longitudinal reinforcement type (steel or FRP bars), and axial cyclic loading effects on the behaviour of FRP confined concrete long columns, however, have received only limited research attention. To address such knowledge gaps, this study aimed at investigating the behaviour of the CFFT long columns internally reinforced with steel or FRP bars tested under monotonic and cyclic axial loading. A total of ten reinforced concrete (RC) and CFFT columns were constructed and tested until failure. All columns had 1900-mm in height and 213-mm in diameter. The investigated parameters were: i) the effect of internal reinforcement type (steel, glass FRP (GFRP), or carbon FRP (CFRP)) and amount, ii) GFRP tube thicknesses, and iii) nature of loading (i.e. monotonic and cyclic). The effect of the different parameters on the axial behaviour of the tested columns is presented and discussed. The research work presented in this dissertation has resulted in one paper submitted to the Elsevier Journal of Engineering Structures (manuscript ID: ENGSTRUCT-D-15-01381) and one accepted conference paper submitted to the 5 th International Structural Specialty Conference (CSCE 2016), London, Ontario, June 1st - 4th, 2016. The experimental test results showed that the CFFT columns reinforced with GFRP bars exhibited similar responses compared to their counterparts reinforced with steel bars with no significant difference in terms of ultimate axial strength and strain capacities. The GFRP tubes provided significant confinement of the tested specimens attributing to shift the mode of failure from axially dominated material failure to flexural-dominated instability failure. The results also indicated that the plastic strains of the FRP-reinforced CFFT columns was linearly proportional to the envelop unloading strains (εun,env). The relationship depended little on level of confinement, but strongly on the longitudinal reinforcement amount and type, particularly when εun,env > 0.0035. On the other hand, an analytical investigation was conducted to examine the validity of the available design provisions for predicting the ultimate load capacity of tested columns. The results of the analysis were compared with the experimental values. It was found that the ACI 440.R1 (2015), CSA S806 (2012), and CSA S6-06 (2010) design provisions provided higher conservative results for the GFRP-reinforced control specimens than that of steel-reinforced specimen. This might be due to neglecting the contribution of the compressive resistance of the GFRP bars to the axial carrying capacity. Furthermore, for FRP-reinforced CFFT columns, the ACI 440.2R (2008), CSA S806 (2012), and CSA S6-06 (2010) provisions results over the experimental results were an average of 1.68±0.31, 1.57±0.18, and 1.72±0.35 with a COV of 18.4%, 11.3%, and 20.5%, respectively. By considering the confinement codes limits, the CSA S806 (2012) showed better correlation for the ultimate carrying capacity based on the average than the CSA S6-06 (2010) and ACI 440.2R (2008), particularly for specimens cast with tube Type B. / Résumé : L'industrie de la construction exprime une grande demande pour les structures innovantes et durables tels que les tabliers de ponts et les quais, les pieux et les poteaux. Plusieurs structures en béton armé sont soumises à des sels de déglaçage et à des environnements marins qui exigent un entretien coûteux. Les polymères renforcés de fibres (PRF) ont récemment été reconnus en tant que matériau de construction viable pour la réparation, la réhabilitation ou la construction de nouvelles infrastructures vieillissantes en particulier celles exposées à des conditions d'environnement sévères. Le concept prometteur du système de tube rempli de béton PRF (CFFT), qui peut être encore renforcé avec de l'acier ou des barres en PRF, a amorcé un grand intérêt parmi les chercheurs durant la dernière décennie. La technique CFFT a été utilisée avec succès dans les différents éléments de structure en béton tels que les colonnes et les poutres de ponts et aussi comme des pieux pour les structures marines. Le tube en PRF agit comme un coffrage structural sur place, un renforcement non corrosif pour le béton en flexion et au cisaillement en utilisant l'orientation des fibres multidirectionnelle, fournit un confinement au béton en compression, et le béton est protégé de toute intrusion d'humidité des agents corrosifs qui, autrement, pourraient détériorer le noyau de béton (ACI 440. R-07 (2007)). L’utilisation des barres de PRF au lieu de barres d'acier conventionnelles dans les colonnes CFFT peut fournir un pas en avant pour développer un nouveau système structurel. Néanmoins, le comportement axial des barres en PRF comme armatures longitudinales dans les membrures en compression n'a pas encore été exploré, en particulier pour les colonnes CFFT. À ce jour, la plupart des études expérimentales effectuées sur les colonnes en béton confinés de PRF, ont considéré des cylindres en béton, courts, à petite échelle non armés, et testés sous un charge concentrique, monotone, et axiale. Le rapport d'élancement, le renfort longitudinal interne (acier ou barres en PRF), et les effets du chargement axial cyclique sur le comportement des colonnes élancées de béton confinés et en PRF, ont connu une recherche limitée. Pour combler ce manque de connaissance, cette étude vise à étudier le comportement des colonnes élancées CFFT armé en acier ou en barres de PRF testées sous charges axiales monotones et cycliques. Un total de dix colonnes en béton armé (RC) et CFFT été fabriquées et testées jusqu'à la rupture. Toutes les colonnes ont 1900 mm de hauteur et 213 mm de diamètre. Les paramètres étudiés sont les suivants: i) l'effet de type de renforcement interne et la quantité de renforcement, ii) les épaisseurs de tubes PRV, et iii) le type de chargement (monotone et cyclique). L'effet des variables considérées sur le comportement axial des colonnes testées dans le travail expérimental est présenté et discuté. Le travail de recherche présenté dans cette analyse a fait l’objet d’un article scientifique soumis à Elsevier Journal of Engineering Structures (manuscrit ID: ENGSTRUCT-D-15-01381) et un article lors d’une conférence acceptée soumis à la 5ième International Structural Specialty Conference (CSCE 2016), London, Ontario, Juin 1er - 4ième, 2016. Les résultats des essais expérimentaux ont montré que les colonnes CFFT renforcées de barres en PRFV présentaient des réponses similaires par rapport à leurs homologues renforcées avec des barres d'acier sans différence significative en termes de capacité ultime de résistance axiale et de déformation. Les tubes en PRFV fournissent un confinement significatif des échantillons testés attribuant à changer le mode de rupture, c’est-à-dire d’une rupture des matériaux axialement à une rupture d’instabilité en flexion. En outre, l'augmentation de l'épaisseur du tube en PRFV de 2,9 à 6,4 mm améliore les rapports de résistance et de déformation de 25 % et 12 %, respectivement. Les résultats indiquent également que les déformations plastiques des colonnes renforcées de PRF sont linéairement proportionnelles aux enveloppes de tension de déchargement (εde,env). La relation dépend un peu du niveau de confinement, mais fortement de la quantité et du type de renfort longitudinal, en particulier lorsque εde,env > 0,0035. D'autre part, une investigation a été menée pour examiner la validité des dispositions de conception disponibles pour prédire la capacité de la charge ultime des colonnes testées. Les résultats de l'analyse ont été comparés avec les valeurs expérimentales. Il a été constaté que les prévisions de l'ACI 440.R1 (2015), CSA S806 (2012), et CSA S6-06 (2010) ont fourni des résultats conservateurs plus élevés pour les échantillons de contrôle en PRFV que celui de l'échantillon d'acier. Cela peut être dû à la négligence de la contribution de la résistance à la compression des barres de PRFV à la capacité de charge axiale. En outre, pour les colonnes de CFFT renforcées de PRF, les prévisions de l'ACI 440.2R (2008), du CSA S806 (2012), et du CSA S6-06 (2010) étaient de 1,68 ± 0,31, 1,57 ± 0,18 et 1,72 ± 0,35 avec un COV de 18,4 %, 11,3%, et 20,5%, respectivement. En considérant les limites des codes de confinement, le code CSA S806 (2012) a révélé les meilleures prévisions pour la capacité de charge ultime basée sur la moyenne que celui du code CSA S6-06 (2010) et de l’ACI 440.2R (2008), en particulier pour les échantillons réalisés avec des tubes de Type B.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Hayder A. Rasheed / The Kansas Department of Transportation’s (KDOT) Bridge 059-045 is a reinforced concrete box girder bridge constructed in 1965 to connect the rural Shawnee Drive across Interstate 135 near McPhearson, Kansas, in between Salina and Wichita. The bridge was observed, during an annual inspection in 1998, to have experienced some settlement, which was further found to be due to its proximity to a sinkhole. This settlement progressed to noticeable levels in 2012 necessitating a semi-annual elevation profile survey that was consistently conducted by KDOT. In April 2016, KDOT determined that the bridge required a detailed finite element analysis to determine the safety and suitability of the bridge to stay open to traffic. Accordingly, a two-level Finite Element Analysis was performed using RISA 3D and Abaqus to assess the level of distress in the bridge due to the continuous differential settlement as a result of the active sinkhole deep in the soil under the bridge. The force-moment results were taken from the RISA 3D model for further analysis of various structural components that make up the bridge, including the box girder, piers, and piles. The stress distribution results from the Abaqus model were investigated for the same components of the bridge. A strengthening design scheme using near surface mounted fiber reinforced polymer rebar was developed to extend the service life of the bridge.

Abstract This thesis deals with the developing of fibre-optic instruments for monitoring the health of civil engineering and composite structures. A number of sensors have been tested for use with different road structures, concrete bridges, fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) containers and other composite specimens, the interrogation methods being mainly based on measuring optical power and time-of-flight (TOF). The main focus is on the development of a fibre-optic TOF measurement system and its applications, but different sensing needs and fibre-optic measurement systems are also reviewed, with the emphasis on commercial devices. Deformation in a road structure was studied with microbending sensors of gauge-length about 10 cm and a commercial optical time domain reflectometer (OTDR) in a quasi-distributed fashion. The responses of the optical fibre sensors during the one-year measurement period were similar in shape to those obtained with commercial strain gauges but the absolute measurement values typically deviated by several tens of per cent. Low dynamic range, crosstalk and poor signal-to-noise ratio proved to be the main problem when measuring several successive sensors with an OTDR. In another road investigation, microbending and speckle sensors were found useful for providing on/off-type information for traffic control applications. FRP composite containers were investigated with the focus on developing a continuous monitoring system for improving yield and quality by evaluating the state of cure during the manufacturing process and for assessing damage, e.g. delaminations, during service life. Standard multi-mode and single mode fibres with a typical length of a few hundreds of metres were embedded inside the walls of containers during the normal manufacturing process, and the measurements were carried out using an optical through-power technique and an OTDR. This largely empirical investigation revealed that the coating material and its thickness have an effect on loading sensitivity and on the applicability of the method for cure monitoring. The measurement data also indicated that the end-of-curing process and the location of external damage can be determined with a distributed optical fibre sensor and an OTDR. Several versions of a pulsed time-of-flight measurement system were developed for interrogating sensor arrays consisting of multiple long gauge-length sensors. The early versions based on commercial electronics were capable of producing relevant measurement data with a reasonable precision, but they suffered especially from poor spatial resolution, low sampling rate and long-term drift. The high precision TOF system developed in this thesis is capable of measuring time delays between a number of wideband reflectors, such as connectors or fibre Bragg gratings (FBG), along a fibre path with a precision of about 280 fs (rms-value) and a spatial resolution of about 3 ns (0.30 m) in a measurement time of 25 milliseconds. By using a fibre loop sensor with a reference fibre, a strain precision below 1 με and a measurement frequency of 4 Hz can be achieved. The system has proved comparable in performance to a commercial FBG interrogation system in monitoring the behaviour of a bridge deck, while the fact that it allows static and dynamic measurements with a number of long gauge-length sensors, also embedded in FRP composite material, makes this TOF device unique relative to other measurement systems.

Implicit in current design practice of minimum uplift capacity, is the assumption that the connection's capacity is proportional to the number of fasteners per connection joint. This assumption may overestimate the capacity of joints by a factor of two or more and maybe the cause of connection failures in extreme wind events. The current research serves to modify the current practice by proposing a realistic relationship between the number of fasteners and the capacity of the joint. The research is also aimed at further development of non-intrusive continuous load path (CLP) connection system using Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) and epoxy. Suitable designs were developed for stud to top plate and gable end connections and tests were performed to evaluate the ultimate load, creep and fatigue behavior. The objective was to determine the performance of the connections under simulated sustained hurricane conditions. The performance of the new connections was satisfactory.

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(工学) / 甲第22050号 / 工博第4631号 / 新制||工||1722(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院工学研究科社会基盤工学専攻 / (主査)教授 杉浦 邦征, 教授 八木 知己, 教授 KIM Chul-Woo / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Philosophy (Engineering) / Kyoto University / DFAM

Light-frame shearwall assemblies have been successfully used to resist gravity and lateral loads, such as earthquake and wind, for many decades. However, there is a need for maintaining the structural integrity of such buildings even when large openings in walls are introduced. Wood portal frame systems have been identified as a potential alternative to meet some aspects of this construction demand. The overarching goal of the research is to develop wood portal frame bracing systems, which can be used as an alternative or in combination with light-frame wood shearwalls. This is done through investigating the behavior of wood portal frames using the MIDPLY shearwall framing technique. A total of 21 MIDPLY corner joint tests were conducted with varying bracing details. Also, a finite element model was developed and compared with test results from the current study as well as studies by others. It was concluded from the corner joint tests that the maximum moment resistance increased with the addition of metal straps or exterior sheathings. The test results also showed a significant increase in the moment capacity and rotational stiffness by replacing the Spruce-Pine Fir (SPF), header with the Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) header. The addition of the FRP to the standard wall configuration also resulted in a significant increase in the moment capacity. However, no significant effect was observed on the stiffness properties of the corner joint. The FE model was capable of predicting the behavior of the corner joints and the full-scale portal frames with realistic end-conditions. The model closely predicted the ultimate lateral capacity for all the configurations but more uncertainty was found in predicting the initial stiffness.The FE model used to estimate the behavior of the full-scale portal frames constructed using the MIDPLY framing techniques showed a significant increase in the lateral load carrying capacity when compared with the traditional portal frame. It was also predicted using the full-scale FE model that the lateral load carrying capacity of the MIDPLY portal frame would increase with the addition of the metal straps on exterior faces. A parametric study showed that using a Laminated Strand Lumber (LSL) header increased the lateral load carrying capacity and the initial stiffness of the frames relative to the SPF header. The study also showed that there was an increase in the capacity if high strength metal straps were used. Doubling of the nail spacing at header and braced wall segment had a considerable effect on the lateral capacity of portal frame. Also, the initial stiffness was reduced for all the configurations with the doubling of the nail spacing at the header and braced wall segment in comparison with the reference frame.

Fiber reinforced polymeric (FRP) composite materials are beginning to find use in construction and infrastructure applications. Composite members may potentially provide more durable replacements for steel and concrete in primary and secondary bridge structures, but the experience with composites in these applications is minimal. Recently, however, a number of groups in the United States have constructed short-span traffic bridges utilizing FRP members. These demonstration cases will facilitate the development of design guidelines and durability data for FRP materials. The Tom's Creek Bridge rehabilitation is one such project that utilizes a hybrid FRP composite beam in an actual field application. This thesis details much of the experimental work conducted in conjunction with the Tom's Creek Bridge rehabilitation. All of the composite beams used in the rehabilitation were first proof tested in four-point bending. A mock-up of the bridge was then constructed in the laboratory using the actual FRP beams and timber decking. The mock-up was tested in several static loading schemes to evaluate the bridge response under HS20 loading. The lab testing indicated a deflection criterion of nearly L/200; the actual field structure was stiffer at L/450. This was attributed to the difference in boundary conditions for the girders and timber panels. Finally, the bridge response was verified with an analytical model that treats the bridge structure as a wood beam resting upon discrete elastic springs. The model permits both bending and torsional stiffness in the composite beams, as well as shear deformation. A parametric study was conducted utilizing this model and a mechanics of laminated beam theory to provide recommendations for alternate bridge designs and modified composite beam designs. / Master of Science