This paper presents a review of waste disposal methods for fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) materials. The methods range from waste minimisation, repurposing, reusing, recycling, incineration, and co-processing in a cement plant to dumping in a landfill. Their strength, limitations, and key points of attention are discussed. Both glass and carbon fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP and CFRP) waste management strategies are critically reviewed. The energy demand and cost of FRP waste disposal routes are also discussed. Landfill and co-incineration are the most common and cheapest techniques to discard FRP scrap. Three main recycling pathways, including mechanical, thermal, and chemical recycling, are reviewed. Chemical recycling is the most energy-intensive and costly route. Mechanical recycling is only suitable for GFRP waste, and it has actually been used at an industrial scale by GFRP manufacturers. Chemical and thermal recycling routes are more appropriate for reclaiming carbon fibres from CFRP, where the value of reclaimed fibres is more than the cost of the recycling process. Discarding FRP waste in a sustainable manner presents a major challenge in a circular economy. With strict legislation on landfill and other environmental limits, recycling, reusing, and repurposing FRP composites will be at the forefront of sustainable waste-management strategies in the future.

This paper reviews Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites in Civil Engineering applications. Three FRP types are used in Structural Engineering: FRP profiles for new construction, FRP rebars and FRP strengthening systems. Basic materials (fibres and resins), manufacturing processes and material properties are discussed. The focus of the paper is on all-FRP new-build structures and their joints. All-FRP structures use pultruded FRP profiles. Their connections and joints use bolting, bonding or a combination of both. For plate-to-pate connections, effects of geometry, fibre direction, type and rate of loading, bolt torque and bolt hole clearance, and washers on failure modes and strength are reviewed. FRP beam-columns joints are also reviewed. The joints are divided into five categories: web cleated, web and flange cleated, high strength, plate bolted and box profile joints. The effect of both static and cyclic loading on joints is studied. The joints’ failure modes are also discussed.

Fibre-reinforced polymer composites (FRPs) offer various benefits for bridge construction. Lightweight, durability, design flexibility and fast erection in inaccessible areas are their unique selling points for bridge engineering. FRPs are used in four bridge applications: (1) FRP rebars/tendons in concrete; (2) repair and strengthening of existing bridges; (3) new hybrid–FRP bridges with conventional materials and (4) all–FRP composite new bridges made entirely of FRP materials. This paper reviews FRP bridges, including all–FRP and hybrid–FRP bridges. FRP bridges’ history, materials, processes and bridge components—deck, girder, truss, moulded parts and cables/rebars are considered. This paper does not discuss the use of FRP as an architectural element and a strengthening system. While lack of design codes, material specifications and recycling are the major challenges, the high cost of FRPs still remains the most critical barrier to the progress of FRPs in bridges.

This paper presents a numerical investigation into the behaviour of headed shear stud in composite beams with profiled metal decking. A three-dimensional finite element model was developed using general purpose finite element program ABAQUS to study the behaviour of through-deck welded shear stud in the composite slabs with trapezoidal deck ribs oriented perpendicular to the beam. Both static and dynamic procedures were investigated using Drucker Prager model and Concrete Damaged Plasticity model respectively. In the dynamic procedure using ABAQUS/Explicit, the push test specimens were loaded slowly to eliminate significant inertia effects to obtain a static solution. The capacity of shear connector, load-slip behaviour and failure modes were predicted and validated against experimental results. The delamination of the profiled decking from concrete slab was captured in the numerical analysis which was observed in the experiments. ABAQUS/Explicit was found to be particularly suitable for modelling post-failure behaviour and the contact interaction between profiled decking and concrete slabs. It is concluded that this model represents the true behaviour of the headed shear stud in composite beams with profiled decking in terms of the shear connection capacity, load-slip behaviour and failure modes.