This thesis deals with monitoring of the durability of FRP reinforcements in alkaline environments with differing temperature exposures. The theoretical part of the thesis consists of a general description of the FRP composites, the manufacturing of these FRP reinforcements using pultrusion technology, the resistance of these composites in aggressive alkaline environments, and the influence of temperature on the speed and manner of degradation. In the experimental part of this thesis, the FRP reinforcements were placed in an alkaline environment tempered at different temperatures (20 °C, 40 °C, 60 °C). Subsequently, any optical physical changes of the reinforcements were described and evaluated by the use of optical microscopy and the destructive tests of these reinforcements.

Powertrain mounts' purpose is to mount the engine and the gearbox in the car. Besides that, it isolate the body from the powertrain movements and road excitation. The most common material in powertrain mounts bracket is aluminum but lately, fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) has been acting as a substitute for the aluminum. The major drive forces for the change is the possibility to decrease the weight and improve the attribute noise, vibrations and harshness (NVH). The main objective of this study was to compare aluminum and FRP in order to find advantages and disadvantages for use in a powertrain mount bracket. FRP's have in earlier investigations at Volvo Cars been assumed to be isotropic, although it is orthotropic due to fiber orientation. Hence, a comparison between isotropic and orthotropic material properties for the powertrain mount bracket was conducted. There was no established method for modelling orthotropic materials available at the powertrain mount department, so a suggestion of a work process was presented in this thesis. Information regarding FRP, as well as a comparison to aluminum was presented in a literature study. The different materials and material models were compared in series of stress-strain and eigenmode FEM analyses. The results from the stress-strain analyses evinced that the design for the aluminum bracket can withstand the loads without exceeding the design limit. In the FRP bracket with orthotropic material properties, the design limit was exceeded for the load cases with the highest load. The results from the stress-strain and eigenmode analyses of the isotropic and orthotropic material models showed significant differences. According to the isotropic material model, the bracket could withstand the loads, and the eigenfrequencies was 25-30% higher compared to the orthotropic material model. The conclusions drawn from this study was that FRP's may be an advantageous material for the powertrain mount bracket, compared to aluminum. The FRP's bracket will decrease the cost, weight, and carbon footprint as well as improve the NVH. However, difficulties of using FRP's have been observed and need to be further investigated. The main difficulties identified are creep, fatigue, moisture absorption, and aging. This study has also proved that orthotropic material properties must be included in order to understand the material behavior and find critical areas.

When implementing a bridge design proposal, it is common that several alternatives be considered, each with a different material of construction. Traditional building materials used for the construction of bridges have mainly been concrete, steel, timber or aluminium. With all these materials options, maintenance and replacement costs throughout the lifespan of a bridge make up for a large proportion of their total life cycle costs. Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) provides a new viable construction material, which can be implemented in bridge construction. This plastic based material has favourable material properties such a very high strength to weight ratio, high corrosion resistance and durability, as well as very low maintenance costs over its lifetime. In the feasibility analysis, a case study of an existing FRP deck bridge was taken and examined in three aspects: structural, economic and environmental. The bridge was also redesigned with a concrete deck solution, to provide a comparison to a conventional construction material. The results were found, in general to be favourable towards the FRP solution. From the structural analysis savings on deflection, support reactions and superstructure stresses were outputted. Economically, the composite material was found to have a substantial higher initial cost but much lower periodic maintenance costs than the concrete option. Finally the FRP bridge option displayed a lower construction time for the superstructure, at one third of that of concrete and an overall lower environmental impact, based on material production and the overall bridge construction process.

Thermal bowing, often referred as bulging or out-of-plane wall deflection, is a common issue on sandwich panel walls caused by a temperature differential between a building interior temperature and the environment. The stresses caused by temperature changes in concrete members are widely known in the practice of bridge design, but not on sandwich wall panels. For sandwich wall panel applications, it is common to have non-composite panels when the designer expects a high temperature gradient, what yields a less economical design, but reduces the bowing. This project aimed to validate current assumptions regarding the heat flow in sandwich wall panels and to perform a parametric study of panels subject to thermal loads, varying the concrete layer thickness, panel length, type of shear connector and separation using a commercial finite element analysis software. This study concluded that current design practices either underestimate, in the case of multiplying the classical mechanics values by the reported degree of composite behavior, or overestimate the real value of bowing, by using classical mechanics. A method for determining the percentage of composite action and compute bowing was developed and recommendations addressing the importance of this type of loading were given.

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The student inclusive Green Raven project of the KTH-Aero faculty requireda small blended wing model of their new flying wing design. The small scalemodel will be used for various flight tests. The goal of this specific project was tocreate an internal structure for the small scale model, including an outer shell.Two-dimensional drawings were created and tested in a simulation software.The model was then drawn in cad. Lastly the wing was strength tested inAnsys mechanical. The beams in the structure are made of Scots pine due toits accessibility and good strength to weight ratio. The outer shell is made outof fiberglass. A quick connection between the wing and the main body wasimplemented for easy transportation. All final testing indicate that the finaldesign had sufficient strength regarding the initial load requirements.

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yes / This paper presents an analytical method for estimating the flexural strength of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with externally bonded fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) laminates. The method is developed from the strain compatibility and equilibrium of forces. Based on the size of external FRP laminates, several flexural failure modes may be identified, namely tensile rupture of FRP laminates and concrete crushing before or after yielding of internal steel reinforcement. Upper and lower limits to the size of FRP laminates used are suggested to maintain ductile behaviour of strengthened reinforced concrete sections. Comparisons between the flexural strength obtained from the current method and experiments show good agreement. Design equations for calculating the size of FRP laminates externally bonded to reinforced concrete sections to enhance their flexural strength are proposed.

The Tom's Creek Bridge is a small-scale demonstration project involving the use of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite girders as the main load carrying members. The project is intended to serve two purposes. First, by calculating bridge design parameters such as the dynamic load allowance, transverse wheel load distribution and deflections under service loading, the Tom's Creek Bridge will aid in modifying current AASHTO bridge design standards for use with FRP composite materials. Second, by evaluating the FRP girders after being exposed to service conditions, the project will begin to answer questions about the long-term performance of these advanced composite material beams when used in bridge design. This thesis details the In-Service analysis of the Tom's Creek Bridge. Five load tests, at six month intervals, were conducted on the bridge. Using mid-span strain and deflection data gathered from the FRP composite girders during these tests the above mentioned bridge design parameters have been determined. The Tom's Creek Bridge was determined to have a dynamic load allowance, IM, of 0.90, a transverse wheel load distribution factor, g, of 0.101 and a maximum deflection of L/488. Two bridge girders were removed from the Tom's Creek Bridge after fifteen months of service loading. These FRP composite girders were tested at the Structures and Materials Research Laboratory at Virginia Tech for stiffness and ultimate strength and compared to pre-service values for the same beams. This analysis indicates that after fifteen months of service, the FRP composite girders have not lost a significant amount of either stiffness or ultimate strength. / Master of Science