Proven technology

InfraCore®Inside has been frequently tested, with excellent results. The most important measurements have been performed at the Stevin Laboratory of the Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences, Structural and Building Engineering, FRP Structures. The most important conclusions are shown below.

Introduction

InfraCore Inside® is a trademark owned by FiberCore Europe, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

It represents a novel technology for making heavy duty load bearing structures in fiber reinforced plastics.

The essence of InfraCore Inside® is its ruggedness. It combines the benefits of sandwich structures (light weight, high specific stiffness), with the durability of massive material.

The properties of the materials used in InfraCore Inside® are tested, as well as it’s use as a traffic bridge for 600 kN traffic.

Conclusions

Overall, the mechanical material properties as predicted by the InfraCore Inside design tool agree very well with the measured material properties. Only the lower skin needs to be reinforced with one extra layer across the staggered layers of the InfraCore Inside skin. This was done in the bridge as built.

Also, the agreement between predicted behavior and measured scale 1:1 structural behavior is quite good.

The bending tests show equivalent behavior to that predicted by the tool. Stiffness was correctly predicted. The failure mode (local buckling of the top skin) was benign in that the damage is repairable. An overall safety factor of 8,6 was proved, a factor of 4 higher than required by Eurocodes combined with CUR-96 recommendations.

The compressive behavior was better than anticipated, showing ample safety to wheel loads and concentrated point loads. The crushing stress of more than 18000 kN/m2 is more than 8 times the safety margin required by Eurocodes and CUR-96. Compressive damage can probably also be repaired.

Fatigue is no issue for InfraCore Inside in this 600 kN traffic bridge, loaded lengthwise in 3-point bending. Even preliminary impact, followed by fatigue is no issue. No damage was reported after an equivalent of 150 years fatigue loading.

No skin-core debonding was found in these tests, confirming InfraCore Inside® characteristic properties and confirming its robustness and its applicability in bridges and bridge decks.