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ACI FRP Composites Competition

 

Commonly Asked Questions

Advance Registration Form - CLOSED 

Official Registration is Closed.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Due to difficulties in shipping to countries outside the United States and Canada, all teams must provide a shipping address in North America or Canada. Schools/student teams are responsible for arranging for transshipment from the North American address they provide.  

TechFab Technical Data and Use Guide

The Hughes Brothers Data Sheet

2007 FRP Composites Competition Winners

2005 FRP Composites Competition Winners

2003 FRP Composites Competition Winners

2001 FRP Composites Competition Winners


Objective  Back to top

These are the challenges in this competition:

  • Design, construct, and test a concrete structure reinforced with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) bars and/or grids to achieve the optimal load-to-weight ratio.
  • Predict the ultimate load.
  • Predict the load that will result in a piston deflection of 2.5 mm (0.1 in).
  • Comply with the contest rules. The completed Preregistration Form and Official Registration Form must be received by the dates shown above. Teams that are located outside North America are reminded that additional time will be required for shipping and customs, and are strongly encouraged to submit the Preregistration Form well in advance of the deadline.

 


Prizes    

Prizes will be awarded in the following manner:

  • First, Second, and Third Prizes will be awarded to the teams with the HIGHEST LOAD-TO-WEIGHT RATIOS as defined in paragraph 4a. First Prize will be awarded $300, with $200 for Second Prize and $100 for Third Prize.
  • First, Second, and Third Prizes will be awarded to the teams with the MOST ACCURATE PREDICTIONS as defined in paragraph 4b. First Prize will be awarded $300, with $200 for Second and $100 for Third Prize.
  • Each school shall be eligible for only one prize in the Highest Load to Weight category and for only one prize in the Most Accurate Predictions category.
  • First, Second, and Third place entries will also be awarded a certificate of recognition, recognition on ACI's website, and will be recognized in Concrete International magazine if space allows.  


Rules  

1. THE STUDENT TEAMS:

  1. Each team must have a faculty advisor who will see that the student team complies with the rules of the contest.
  2. Each team must consist of not less than two and not more than five students currently enrolled in an undergraduate program at any college or university worldwide. Undergraduate students on cooperative or internship work assignment are eligible to compete. All members of a given team must be from the same school. A student may not be a member of more than one team.  A faculty member is permitted to advise more than one team.
  3. It is strongly recommended that at least one individual (faculty advisor or student team member) be designated to represent each team and be present during the testing of specimens at the time and location specified for this competition. Participation by additional team members is both permitted and encouraged.
  4. Each school will be permitted to send no more than two teams to the competition. The first two properly completed applications (Preregistration Form and Official Registration Form) will be accepted as that school’s entries. Additional teams will only be accepted if an earlier entry from the same school withdraws from the competition.
  5. Each team must complete and submit the Preregistration Form and the Official Registration Form.

2. THE MATERIALS AND THE SPECIMEN GEOMETRY
    (See Structure Geometry Requirements Diagram )

  1. The structure’s cross section must fit into a 200 mm (7.87 in) wide by 350 mm (13.75 in) high envelope. The cross section may vary over the length, provided the structure can be mounted on supports and loaded as shown in the attached sketch. The structure’s overall length may not be less than 950 mm (37.4 in) nor more than 1000 mm (39.4 in) on a 900 mm (35.4 in) center-to-center span. Dimensional tolerances are ± 6 mm (1/4 in) on the length and ± 3 mm (1/8 in) on all other dimensions. If time permits, structures not meeting this requirement may be tested, but the teams submitting such specimens will not be eligible for prizes.
  2. The specimen must be constructed using a minimum of one and a maximum of two of the following reinforcement forms: 1000 mm (39.4 in) long #4 FRP reinforcing bars and/or 300 mm (11.8 in) wide by 1000 mm (39.4 in) long sheet of C3000 carbon/epoxy thin grids.  Note that the width of the carbon/epoxy thin grids may be slightly less than 300 mm to insure that a continuous strand of carbon/epoxy borders the width. Other reinforcing materials are not allowed. Reinforcing bars and grids may not be prestressed. Mechanical anchorages of bars and grids are not permitted. Bars and grids may be cut to provide a larger number of shorter pieces, as long as a minimum of 1000 mm (39.4 in) and a maximum of 2000 mm (78.8 in) of FRP reinforcing bars and /or grids are used in the structure. The grid may be cut to any width as long as the limitation on total length (minimum of 1000 mm and maximum of 2000 mm) is satisfied. Reinforcement may be used in any combination of bars and/or grids as long as the limitation on total length (minimum of 1000 mm and maximum of 2000 mm) is satisfied.
  3. Every eligible student team submitting the Preregistration Form will receive 1000 mm (39.4 in) long #4 FRP reinforcing bars and 1000 mm (39.4 in) long x 300 mm (11.8 in) wide C3000 carbon/epoxy grids from the manufacturers supplying FRP for the competition. The bars and grids, along with the manufacturers’ data sheets on engineering properties, will be shipped to the US or Canadian address specified on the Preregistration Form. Due to difficulties in shipping to countries outside the United States and Canada, all teams must provide a shipping address in the United States or Canada. Schools/student teams are responsible for arranging for transshipment from the U.S. or Canadian address they provide. 
  4. A student team may use any combination of these bars and/or grids in their structure, but the competition specimen must be fabricated with a least one (1) and not more than two (2) of these bars and/or grids. Additional bars and grids are supplied for student experimentation. Reinforcing bars and grids from other sources are not permitted. Participating manufacturers have agreed to provide FRP reinforcement free of charge to the schools, in reasonable quantities consistent with the contest rules. Students and advisors, in return for receiving the FRP bars and grids free of charge, must agree to only use the FRP reinforcement supplied to them for purposes directly related to the competition. Failure to comply with the requirement prohibiting the use of FRP bars and grids supplied for the competition in other projects will disqualify the student team from the competition and may also disqualify the faculty advisor from participation in future competitions. Faculty advisors are required to sign a statement on the Preregistration Form stipulating they will not use the bars and grids for purposes (research or others) not directly related to the competition. Should faculty advisors desire to use these types of reinforcements in other projects, they are encouraged to directly contact the manufacturers.
  5. Total structure weight must be between 5 kg (11.0 lbs) and 15 kg (33.1 lbs).
  6. The cementitious materials shall consist of any combination of portland cement meeting ASTM C 150, blended cement meeting ASTM C 595 or ASTM C 1157, ground-granulated blast furnace slag meeting ASTM C 989, fly ash meeting ASTM C 618, and/or silica fume meeting ASTM C 1240. Any type of nonmetallic aggregate may be used. Chemical admixtures meeting ASTM C 494 are allowed.  Epoxies and other polymers, glue, and binders may NOT be used. 
  7. Teams must provide the actual measured batch weights of all materials (including admixtures) used in their concrete mix, as specified on the Official Registration Form.  Teams must also provide a diagram showing placement and dimensions of reinforcements used.  The diagram must accompany the specimen to the competition and be identified with the specimen beam mark.
  8. Curing shall be at atmospheric pressure, and the curing temperature must not exceed the boiling point of water at atmospheric temperature.
  9. No structure shall be more than 56 days old at the time of the test.
  10. Reinforcing support wires and/or chairs are not permitted in the clear span area. Any manner of nonmetallic bar support may be used outside the clear span, as long as the bar support does not act to enhance the behavior of the structure, such as by anchoring the bar in the concrete.
  11. At the center of the structure, a large “X” shall be painted on the upper surface where the concentrated load will be applied. In addition, student teams must select a Beam Mark (for example, the school initials followed by the numeral 1 for team #1 or 2 for team #2), which must be painted so as to be clearly visible on both sides of the structure. Teams may also apply decals of their school logo and/or decorate their entry with felt tip markers to improve its appearance, if desired. No other paint or surface treatment shall be permitted. Teams are encouraged to prepare an 11” by 17” poster with their school name and logo, their structure’s beam mark, and the names of student team members and faculty advisor, to be displayed with their structure at the competition.
  12. Entries not meeting the specified requirement may be tested if time permits but will not be eligible for prizes. MODIFICATION OF ENTRIES SHALL NOT BE PERMITTED AT THE COMPETITION SITE.

3. THE TESTING PROCESS:

  1. Entries will be weighed and measured, and those judged acceptable by the FRP Competition Committee will be positioned in the testing apparatus, which will apply a midspan concentrated load by means of a pivoting load plate. The center-to-center span is 900 mm (35.4 in) and reaction forces are through bearing surfaces measuring not less than 50 mm (2 sq in) by 50 mm (2 sq in) and providing no restraint against rotation at the ends of the specimen.
  2. Once seated in the testing apparatus, a seating load of approximately 0.25 kN (56 lbs) will be applied and recorded. Additional load will be applied until the structure fails or is loaded to the test fixture’s capacity of 67 kN (15,000 lbs). The maximum load achieved will be recorded as the maximum load prior to failure or 67 kN (15,000 lbs), whichever is smaller. In lieu of obvious physical signs of failure, failure will be assumed to have occurred when total load on the structure has decreased to 50% of the maximum load achieved by that specimen. The loading rate will be determined by adjusting the cylinder’s manual speed setting so that the manual speed valve is closed hand tight. This setting will correspond to a piston movement of approximately 1 mm/minute, but may be affected by the stiffness of the specimen. Deflection will be measured as the movement of the loading piston, which is assumed to correspond to deflection of the specimen at the loading plate.
  3. If a structure fails to reach a deflection of 2.5 mm (0.1 in) prior to either failing or reaching the test fixture’s capacity of 67 kN (15,000 lbs), that entry shall be disqualified for the Most Accurate Prediction prizes but will be permitted to compete for the Highest Ultimate Load-to-Weight Ratio prizes.
  4. To arrive at the actual load corresponding to a 2.5 mm (0.1 in) deflection, the total load at 2.5 mm (0.1 in) deflection will be reduced by the 0.25 kN (56 lbs) seating load (for which no deflection was measured).
  5. The maximum load achieved (as specified in paragraph 3b), without deduction of the seating load, will be recorded as the measured ultimate load.

4. THE EVALUATION PROCESS:

  1. Load-to-weight ratios will be calculated as the ultimate load, as defined in paragraph 3e, divided by the weight of the structure. Any structure that does not fail prior to reaching the 67 kN (15,000 lb) test fixture capacity will have its load-to-weight ratio calculated as 67 kN divided by the weight of the structure.
  2. Prediction accuracy will be measured by the relative difference between predicted and actual results. The Most Accurate Predictions of load will be the teams that achieve the smallest absolute value for “Delta”, the estimated percentage difference, computed as follows:

    D = 50{DP2.5/P2.5 + DPult/Pult}

    Where

    D    P2.5 = ½Pest @ 2.5 mm midspan deflection - P2.5½ = the absolute value of the difference between the predicted load at 2.5 mm (0.1 in) deflection and the measured load corresponding to 2.5 mm (0.1 in) deflection, where the measured load is defined in paragraph 3d.

    P2.5 = measured load corresponding to 2.5 mm (0.1 in) deflection, defined in paragraph 3d.

    DPult = ½Pest @ ult - Pult½ = the absolute value of the difference between the predicted ultimate load and the measured ultimate load as defined in paragraph 3e.

    Pult = the measured ultimate load as defined in paragraph 3e. Any structure that does not fail prior to reaching the 67 kN (15,000 lb) test fixture capacity will have D calculated with Pult taken equal to 67 kN.

  3. A panel of judges will be appointed by the FRP Competition Committee. Interpretations and decisions made by the judges will be final, and appeals will not be considered.

5. TIME AND LOCATION FOR TESTING:

  1. The competition will be held in conjunction with the ACI 2007 Spring Convention at the Hilton in Atlanta, GA on April 22, 2007.

6. CONTACT INFORMATION:

Lacey Jones
American Concrete Institute
38800 Country Club Drive
Farmington Hills, MI 48331
Fax: (248) 848-3801
E-mail: students@concrete.org