We’re throwing down the gauntlet!
Have you got a project where trusses are not feasible? Spans are greater than 15 metres? Or access to the project site restricted from large machinery? Wagners Composite Fibre Technologies new Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Super Girder could be the solution to your problem and we’re throwing down the gauntlet to put your project up to be the first in the world to use this technology!
Wagners FRP Super Girder is the brain child of our Chief Technology Officer, Michael Kemp, Custom Build Structural Engineer, Sabin Raut and Technical Lead, Dr Ali Mohammed; and the technology has come about as a result of very real on the ground project problems.
“The main reason for developing the FRP Super Girder was to achieve long span bridges where truss bridges are not suitable due to site constraints or aesthetics,” Dr Ali Mohammed said.
“We had a project where there were constraints on the end connections of the trusses so we were prompted at that time to think outside the box and develop a solution, and where we landed was the FRP Super Girder,” Dr Mohammed said.
“Unfortunately on that particular project the FRP Super Girder was not ideal owing to the increased cross sectional area as opposed to a standard truss design that has a more open cross sectional profile, attracting lower wave loading at the connection points to the existing head stock,” he said.
“But now that we’ve gone through the innovation of the FRP Super Girder we could definitely use it on another jetty application where the design of the existing headstock and connection to the FRP Super Girder was better suited to the increased wave loading.”
Pictured – Unconventional testing methods were deployed to put the FRP Super Girder through its paces.
Wagners FRP Super Girder has been put through its paces by the business’ inhouse Research and Development team with custom designed testing to evaluate its strength and serviceability limits.
“All the theoretical and numerical design has been done inhouse to predict the capacity of the FRP Super Girder and we’ve verified these calculations with full scale experimental testing where loads and deflections were measured and captured,” Dr Ali Mohammed said.
“Because Wagners CFT has a world class Research & Development team with access to test products including heavy equipment like cranes and just the space to be able to do it, we have everything we need to be able to challenge the norm and come up with solutions to problems; and with the FRP Super Girder we took this to a whole new level,” Dr Mohammed said.
“Usually we test in a frame with a loading ram, normally on sections that are 2-6 metres long, and we have gone as high as 12 metres before using those systems; but testing to 20-metres and beyond was a substantial jump,” he said.
“So due to the considerable size of the FRP Super Girder traditional testing wasn’t suitable so we had to come up with practical tests that were appropriate and in the end we landed on a crane loading the FRP Super Girder at the midspan while pinning the ends.”
“Load and movement were then measured at 10 tonne increments using a Potentiometer, which measured the linear displacement at the loading points while the girder was under load.”
“We couldn’t take it to failure owing to the high strength capacity of the FRP Super Girder and the logistics of how much force would be required to take it to ultimate failure.”
“As we all know FRP is often over engineered strength wise for projects because you design to cater for the serviceability limits including deflection and vibration, which makes the Super Girder very very VERY strong.”
Pictured – This particular FRP Super Girder is 21 metres long and weighs a mere 1.2 tonne.
The FRP Super Girder is set to enable designers to span almost twice the length of a standard beam.
“So the specific FRP Super Girder we created for the jetty job was 21 metres long and 1250mm deep and with a standard beam around 12 metres the FRP Super Girder is just under double that size,” Dr Ali Mohammed said.
“I haven’t seen anything like this out there and what enabled us to achieve the required stiffness without having vibration and natural frequency issues is the inherently high stiffness of Wagners CFT profiles,” Dr Mohammed said.
“You couldn’t just go and replicate the FRP Super Girder using imported products because Wagners FRP has an Elastic modulus grading of E40 compared to imported products that are in the E17-E23 range,” he said.
“So the stiffness is just not there to create an FRP Super Girder with imported products and if you did it would just lead to issues with vibration and frequency down the track.”
Pictured – Wagners FRP Super Grider allows designers to consider spans up to 21 metres before having to think about using a truss design.
As well as its incredible span the FRP Super Girder is lightweight.
“At 21 metres long it weighs a mere 1.2 tonne and when compared to a steel I-beam that’s around ½ the weight of an equivalent steel girder, so it’s lightweight and will really come into its own on those projects where you have limited access and can’t get big equipment in,” Dr Ali Mohammed said.
“This is a solution for where trusses aren’t feasible; sites with limited access where rather than craning in a large truss bridge we’d bring the girders in individually and assemble on site,” Dr Mohammed said.
“Less material goes into a bridge constructed using FRP Super Girders than a truss bridge, so potentially there could also be cost savings for projects where the FRP Super Girder is more suitable than a truss bridge,” he said.
“Normally when you get a span of around 12-13 metres is when you would start thinking about the project as a potential scenario for a truss bridge. But now with the FRP Super Girder you can consider spans of up to 21 metres before having to think about a truss design.”
So the team at Wagners CFT is now looking to partner on a project where this FRP Super Girder could be the ultimate solution!
If you’ve got a marine structure, boardwalk through a national park, hard to access project site or a scenario where you need to protect services like water, sewage or fibre optics and you think the FRP Super Girder could be the solution Contact Us
