Impact performances of fiber reinforced polymer composites and cables: A review

An emerging application of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites is to replace steel cables for cable-supported bridges, enhancing the service lives, reducing maintenance requirements, and increasing the bridge span. Vehicle collisions on the cable for cable-supported bridges have been regarded as a concern since FRP composites are sensitive to impact loads. The present article reviews the impact performances of FRP composites and cables. Aside from the common influencing factors, such as the impact energy and fiber or matrix types, the impact performances of FRP cables are particularly affected by the pretension load, cable tonnage, cable forms, impact position, and anchorage system. Experimental or numerical investigation of the affecting factors as well as enhancement and protective methods are needed to guide the anti-collision design of FRP cables in practical applications. However, high cable manufacturing and testing costs, property sacrifice in material design, and lower computational efficiency are possible challenges in future studies.