POLY-GIRDER
Strengthen & Protect Bridge Infrastructures
I have been working with Power Polymer (Solutions) on an NCHRP project on retrofitting concrete with self-healing polymers and inspecting their performance with ultrasonics. Their multi-functional materials can bring a breakthrough to Civil Engineering by repairing and extending the service life of aging civil infrastructure, which is a critical national problem.
— Didem Ozevin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Department of Civil and Materials Engineering
University of Illinois at Chicago
Associate Professor
Department of Civil and Materials Engineering
University of Illinois at Chicago
Why PowerPolymer Solutions?
Low Cost - No Maintenance - High Value
Natural disasters, anthropogenic events, durability issues, and chemical attacks lead to the deaths of thousands of people and cost billions of dollars in property and structural damage. Our uniquely formulated C-IDA Poly-Girder system is chemically designed to strengthen existing structures and retrofit damaged or aging structures. PowerPolymer Solutions may also be constructed as a stand-alone system to absorb energy by dissipation which provides tremendous impact resistance and fracture toughness without compromising infrastructural integrity or stiffness.
BRIDGES
PowerPolymer Solutions' Poly-Girder is engineered to strengthen or retrofit girder-to-cap connection details in coastal bridges under extreme hurricane duress or bridges in zones of high seismicity.
- Easy to apply
- Conforms to any material and shape
- Impact resistant - absorbs & dissipates new energy
- Fracture toughness
- Bridge rehabilitation or new construction
- Tested & proven to withstand
- Self-healing, no maintenance
- Protects against surge & surface waves
Resilient and Sustainable Bridge and Building Protection
Concrete and steel infrastructures proven effective against seismic vertical and lateral forces
- bridges and buildings in regions of high seismicity
- coastal bridges
6 Foot Gap from Lateral & Vertical Force Waves
Girder to Cap-beam Damage
Repaired with Mortar: Low Confinement
The Solution: Girder to Cap-beam with Poly-Girder
Incredible Confinement: Enhances ductility (+ 50%) & strength (+ 100%)
Bridge Infrastructure Protection: Regions of High Seismicity
Concrete / Steel Bridge Girders (Concrete-Encased Steel Girders)
Our retrofitted concrete-encased steel girders, re-loaded in four-point bending after initially experiencing catastrophic failure, can sustain over 68% of their peak strength. The initially damaged girders experienced substantial crushing of their mid-span compression zone in addition to fracturing of 50% of the web depth of the encased steel girders. The disintegrated concrete region was then repaired and retrofitted using our innovative scientific technology. See images below.
Upon re-testing, our system allowed the retrofitted girders to absorb the release of the initial shock energy of fractured welds (re-fracturing) and crushed concrete to suddenly intercept the internal crack propagation. To put this ground-breaking result into perspective, a very similarly damaged and conventionally retrofitted girder using a high-strength carbon-fiber composite (carbon-fiber reinforced polymer, CFRP) experienced immediate failure when the reloaded CFRP-retrofitted girder reached its peak strength, correlating to the initial fracturing of the repaired welds and failing to demonstrate any realistic displacement ductility. In comparison, the ultimate displacement of the PowerPolymer-retrofitted girder was three times larger than its CFRP-retrofitted counterpart. See images below.
Our retrofitted concrete-encased steel girders, re-loaded in four-point bending after initially experiencing catastrophic failure, can sustain over 68% of their peak strength. The initially damaged girders experienced substantial crushing of their mid-span compression zone in addition to fracturing of 50% of the web depth of the encased steel girders. The disintegrated concrete region was then repaired and retrofitted using our innovative scientific technology. See images below.
Upon re-testing, our system allowed the retrofitted girders to absorb the release of the initial shock energy of fractured welds (re-fracturing) and crushed concrete to suddenly intercept the internal crack propagation. To put this ground-breaking result into perspective, a very similarly damaged and conventionally retrofitted girder using a high-strength carbon-fiber composite (carbon-fiber reinforced polymer, CFRP) experienced immediate failure when the reloaded CFRP-retrofitted girder reached its peak strength, correlating to the initial fracturing of the repaired welds and failing to demonstrate any realistic displacement ductility. In comparison, the ultimate displacement of the PowerPolymer-retrofitted girder was three times larger than its CFRP-retrofitted counterpart. See images below.
Severe damage of concrete-encased steel specimens with large fracture following large ground motion (seismic); maximum deflection of C-IDA-retrofitted girder, showing no de-bonding; and experimental load-mid span deflection responses of C-IDA and CFRP – retrofitted girders, where C-IDA is able to blunt the sudden formation of crack surfaces following dynamic fracturing of the steel web welds at peak load, resulting in tremendous strength sustainability and ductility.
Poly-Girder Testing Library
Pre Hurricane Katrina Design Without the Protection of Poly-Girder™
Pre Hurricane Katrina Design Without the Protection of Poly-Girder™
Current typical girder design of the I-10 Bayway bridge across Mobile Bay, showing catastrophic failure at the girder-to-cap beam region when subjected to less than one cycle of a wave force function (coupled dynamic surge and lateral forces) generated by the destructive Hurricane Katrina. Notice that complete failure of the as-is connection-details occur in less than a 1/2 second.
Hurricane Katrina Coastal Bridge Design With the Protection of Poly-Girder™
The Power of Chemical Advantage: The application of the PowerPolymer Solutions' technology, Poly-Girder, to the same connection-detail saves the bridge and allows it to remain fully serviceable and operational after 12 cycles of Hurricane Katrina magnitude dynamic cyclic forces.