Estudo comparativo sobre a utilização de barras de frp e de aço no projeto de tabuleiro de pontes rodoviárias de concreto

Abstract

Slabs are a constituent part of a multi-beam concrete bridge, and in most cases, they are made using steel rebars to resist stress. However, this material may present problems in the long term, such as corrosion and loss of resistance due to pathological manifestations. Therefore, an alternative to this problem would be the use of fiberreinforced polymer bars, as they have a greater capacity than steel to resist various types of pathological manifestations in the environment. Therefore, the objective of this text was to study FRP rebars applied to road bridge decks and compare them with steel rebar, searching for existing data in the bibliography mainly abroad, where its use is already more established. For the object of study, dimensioning was carried out for 4 cases of bridge slabs, two cases with steel rebars and two with FRP rebars, where a slab span typology with multiple beams was defined and the calculations were performed following the definitions of ABNT NBR 6118:2023 and ABNT NBR 17196:2025. According to the results, it is concluded that FRP rebars can be used in bridge decks, however, further studies are still needed to better quantify the benefits of their use, especially in relation to the lifespan of the material and the maintenance costs of this type of structure.