Test and Finite Element Analysis of an "Aluminium - Lightweight Concrete" Composite Girder

A study has been initiated in order to develop and evaluate an aluminium – lightweight concrete (ALLC) composite girder to be used in a Polish bridge rehabilitation program. On the basis of an overview of the previous aluminium composite bridge projects and the Eurocode (EC) 9 requirements, a design for a small bridge has been prepared. According to this design the geometrical parameters of a test girder have been established, tests have been carried out on this girder and a FEM (Finite Element) numerical model has also been developed. The first part of the research project, reported in this paper, dealt with the evaluation of the load carrying capacity of an ALLC girder under service load. The test data have been used to validate the FEM model. After its validation, the FEM numerical model has been applied for the prediction of the ultimate bending capacity of the ALLC girder. The results of this prediction are presented in this paper.