Pultruded FRP Composites Light Poles: Manufacturing, Design and Installation

Abstract

The utilization of Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) materials in civil/infrastructure applications is increasing rapidly given their superior characteristics such as high strength, light-weight, excellent durability, corrosion resistance, ease of transportation, speed of assembly, and nonmagnetic/nonconductive. Light poles are one of the most promising applications for pultruded FRP composite products instead of traditional light poles as it provides a sustainable solution for the frequent replacement of the latter due to aging and degradation. This paper discusses the manufacturing, design, transportation and installation stages of FRP light poles and highlights the pros and cons of each stage. The basics of the pultrusion process are presented in the light poles manufacturing stage where the novel parameters and state of the are pultrusion techniques are highlighted. The inherent properties of FRP composite materials i.e. strength and stiffness, and their effects on the design of FRP light poles are discussed in the design stage. Also, full-scale experimental tests were undertaken to evaluate the structural integrity of the pultruded FRP poles. This was followed by a numerical model that has been developed based on the experimental results. The developed model investigated the effect of important parameters such as the pole’s profile and height, which helped in the design and manufacturing of future poles. Moreover, the ease of transportation and installation of the light-weight FRP poles is also highlighted where they can be direct buried or fixed using a glued or bolted anchor base. The anchor base can be fabricated to suits any existing rag bolts layout which provides an excellent option for direct replacement of aged/degraded light poles. Finally, a case study of actual projects where FRP poles have been installed is presented highlighting their excellent performance during the serviceable life.