Structural Performance of Hybrid Composite Pontoon Compared to Steel

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 M.sc. gradute student, Civil Eng. Dept., Military Technical College, Cairo, Egypt.

2 Assco. Prof., Civil Eng. Dept., Military Technical college, Cairo, Egypt.

3 Prof., Civil Eng. Dept., Faculty of Engineering, Ein Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.

Abstract

Abstract Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have been increasingly used in civil infrastructure applications. They are a viable alternative to conventional construction materials such as steel and reinforced concrete due to their advantageous properties such as high strength-to-weight, corrosion resistant and durability. Several studies suggested the effective use of hybrid FRP composite sections to utilize the physical and mechanical properties of each of the used materials. Foam is most frequently employed as structural core material for composite laminates to improve the structural behavior in the transverse direction and reduce lateral buckling for laminates.Steel pontoon has disadvantages like rapid corrosion as it requires frequent maintenance and may require extensive repairs. It has heavy own weight which is deducted from the pontoon load carrying capacity. In this paper, a numerical simulation study is carried out to investigate the structural performance of 70 ton pontoon made of hybrid composite FRP to overcome the disadvantages of steel pontoon and get benefits of composite materials. Finite element model is constructed using ANSYS Composite Prep Post (ACP) software version 15.0. The design and factor of safety of the hybrid composite pontoon (HCP) is carried out according to EUROCOMP design code. The parametric study included different structural geometric configuration of the HCP, the option of using foam is considered in order to increase the structural capacity of the HCP and finally the influence of lamina orientation on the structural performance and load carrying capacity of the HCP is studied. The results of the parametric studies represented by different structural parameters is discussed and compared to its counterparts of the steel pontoon. The proposed HCP system is found to be structurally reliable as the pontoon draft is significantly reduced and it supports higher load carrying capacity compared to the steel pontoon and has the advantage of own weight reduction by 83.9 %.

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