Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Washington State University

CE 437 Section 01 Structural Composites Design

(or “Composites Designs in Civil Infrastructure”)

Fall 2009, TU and TH: 9:10 to 10:25 AM, Sloan 150

An Introductory Infrastructure Composites Design Course for Undergraduate Students

 INSTRUCTOR: Dr. Pizhong Qiao, Ph.D., P.E., Professor (Phone: 509-335-5183)

Email: Qiao@wsu.edu

BACKGROUND: Composite Materials are being increasingly used in civil engineering infrastructure as structural shapes and reinforcements for concrete, wood, and steel.  The favorable properties of composite materials include light-weight, high strength-to-weight and stiffness-to-weight ratios, corrosion resistance, nonmagnetic, nonconductive, and the ability to tailor the material system (fibers and resins) and shape for specific applications.  Composite materials have been used for bridges, piers, retaining walls, airport facilities, storage structures exposed to salts and chemicals, chemical and water treatment plants, and many other structures.  Two major applications of composites in civil engineering structures are fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composite highway bridge structures and external reinforcement of structures with FRP fabrics to sustain seismic loads.

JUSTIFICATIONS AND NEEDS: The use of composite materials in the civil sector has been motivated primarily by the need to improve and rehabilitate our nation’s infrastructure.  The current application of composites in civil engineering structures is significant, and the use of composites in the future is expected to increase dramatically.  Currently, administrators and engineers in private practice and federal and state agencies lack formal education in composite materials and yet bear the liability for making material choices.  Thus, a need exists to train civil engineers in the design of composite and hybrid materials.  The appropriate training of future engineers in this area can have a notable impact in improving the nation’s infrastructure.  In response to this need, we propose to develop/teach a senior elective undergraduate course in design analysis of composite and hybrid materials for civil engineering students. 

OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE: This is an introductory composites design course for Junior/Senior Undergraduate students.  This class will emphasize fundamental aspects of composites design (e.g., basic mechanics of materials approach for composites) and their practical aspects and applications, and will provide design guidelines and methodologies for structural shapes and hybrid composites (e.g., reinforcements for concrete (re-bar and externally bonded fabrics) and wood (bonded plates and fabrics)).

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE COURSE:

• Constituent materials and properties (resins and fibers); manufacturing processes.

• Mechanics of Materials-based models for composites.

• Design of composite properties.

• Simplified analysis and design of thin-walled composite structural beams, columns, and applications to building structures and highway bridge decks.

• Composite reinforcing bars for concrete and reinforcing fabrics bonded externally to concrete.

• Composite reinforcements for laminated wood beams and other wood composites.

• Design of composite materials and structures with aid of computer software

CE 437 Section 01 Structural Composites Design

DESCRIPTION:

437 Composites Design in Civil Infrastructure 3 Prereq CE 330. Behavior, analysis and design of fiber-reinforced plastic composite structures; micro, ply, and laminate mechanics; reinforcement of concrete and wood.

OBJECTIVES:

1.       To understand the fundamentals about composite materials – their mechanical behaviors, fabrication process, and design flexibility

2.       To acquire the basic knowledge in mechanics of composites

3.       To learn the applications of composite materials in Civil Infrastructure

4.       To get hands-on experience with composite materials

5.       To design composite materials and structures with aid of computer software

TEXTBOOK (REQUIRED):

Barbero E.J., Introduction to Composite Materials Design, Taylor and Francis, Inc., 1990.

COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR DESIGNING COMPOSITES:

Download: CADEC - Computer Aided Design Environment for Composites at http://www.mae.wvu.edu/barbero/icmd/index.html or from the link at my homepage http://structures.ce.wsu.edu/pqiao/ 

TOPICS: (one lecture is about 50 minutes)

1. INTRODUCTION (two lectures) (01intro.pdf)

            Overview of Composites

            Applications of Composites in Civil Infrastructure

2. MATERIALS (two lectures) (02material.pdf)

            Fiber Materials (including natural fiber)

            Resin Materials

3. MANUFACTURING PROCESSES (three lectures) (03manufacturing.pdf)

            Concentration on processes suitable for structural applications:

            - Bag Molding, RTM, Pultrusion, Filament Winding, and SCRIMP.

            Vacuum Bagging: Fabrication of a Composite Plate (Project)

4. MECHANICS OF MATERIALS BASED MICROMECHANICS (four lectures) (04micromech.pdf)

            Conceptual Understanding of the Theory

            Applications to Simple Cases

            Micromechanics Analysis with the Computer Program CADEC

5. PLY MECHANICS (four lectures) (05plymech.pdf)

            Conceptual Understanding of Stress and Strain

            Coordinate Transformations

            Transformed Reduced Stiffness Matrix

            Special Cases

            Macromechanics Analysis with the Computer Program CADEC

6. LAMINATE MECHANICS (eight lectures) (06macromech.pdf)

            Conceptual Understanding of Plate Stiffness and Compliance

            Coupling Effects

            Computation of Stresses

            Definition of Laminate Types

            Engineering Elastic Constants

            Design Using Carpet Plots

            Laminate Analysis with the Computer Program CADEC

7. FAILURE AND STRENGTH CRITERIA IN DESIGN (four lectures) (07failure.pdf)

            Introduction of Relevant Failure Criteria

            Applications in Design Using Carpet Plots

            Tensile stiffness and strength of coupon samples (Project)

            Shear Stiffness and Strength of notched samples (Demo)

Project: Fabrication and Coupon tests of E-glass/epoxy laminates

8. DESIGN OF THIN-WALLED BEAMS (five lectures) (08FRP-beams.pdf)

            Overview of Mechanics of Laminated Beams (MLB)

            Engineering Equations for Beam Stiffnesses

            Conceptual Understanding of Beam Global and Local Buckling

            Simplified Design Equations for FRP Thin-walled Beams

            FRP Beam Analysis with the Computer Program CADEC

            Displacements and Strains for Simply-Supported Beams

            Lateral Torsional Buckling

9. COLUMN BEHAVIOR (three lectures) (09FRP-columns.pdf)

            Euler's Column Buckling

            Local Buckling

            Compressive Strength

            Mode Interaction

            Design Equation for Buckling of FRP Column

 10. ADVANCED COMPOSITE BRIDGES: DESIGN AND APPLICATIONS (three lectures)

            Case Applications

            Design Aspects and Considerations

            Systematic Design of FRP Bridges

11. HYBRID COMPOSITES I: REINFORCEMENT OF CONCRETE WITH FABRICS OR FRP REBAR (three lectures)

            Applications in Practice

            Design Equations for Concrete Beams Wrapped with Composite Fabrics

            Design Equations for Concrete Beams Reinforced with Composite Rebar

12. Hybrid Composites II: REINFORCEMENT OF WOOD WITH PLATES OR FABRICS (two lectures)

            Applications in Practice

            Qualification Test Methods for Interface Bond Performance

            Design of Reinforced Glulam Beams

GRADING WEIGHTS:

            Two Exams: 40%

            Homework: 40%

            Projects: 20%

STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES: Reasonable accommodations are available for students with a documented disability. If you have a disability and may need accommodations to fully participate in this class, please visit the Disability Resource Center (DRC). All accommodations MUST be approved through the DRC (Admin Annex Bldg, Room 205). Please stop by or call 509-335-3417 to make an appointment with a disability specialist.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY: Cheating or plagiarism in any form will not be tolerated. Cheating includes, but is not limited to, copying work or allowing your work to be copied.  Plagiarism includes resubmitting previously graded homework or lab reports from a previous semester, even if they were your own work.  All incidences of cheating will be reported to the Office of Student Affairs. The first incidence of cheating will result in an F for the course.  A second incident of cheating will result in possible dismissal from the University.

Pizhong Qiao

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering