Application of High-Performance Thermoplastic GFRP Bars in Fuzhou Port Project

Release time: 2025/12/23 Publisher： original Views：

Traditional marine engineering, mainly utilizing reinforced concrete and steel structures, faces severe durability challenges in harsh marine environments. While Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars offer a promising solution to corrosion issues in steel structures and serve as an ideal alternative for marine engineering, their applicability is constrained by the inability to perform on-site bending. To address this limitation, thermoplastic resin-based GFRP bars—featuring recyclable multiple molding capability, enhanced toughness, and superior durability—provide an optimized material system that overcomes field adaptability barriers, thereby meeting the stringent demands of marine engineering applications.

In the construction of Berth 6 and 7 in Luoyuan Bay of Fuzhou Port, the achievements obtained by Harbin Institute of Technology from NEXCEL 2024 SFP project “Performance Research and Demonstration of Thermoplastic Composite Stirrups” are successfully applied. Based on this project, the high-performance thermoplastic GFRP bars has improved the long-term service performance of wharf concrete deck slab and kerb structure, providing a good demonstration effect for the large-scale application of thermoplastic GFRP bars in marine engineering.

The project is located on the south bank of Luoyuan Bay in northeast of Fujian Province as shown in Figure 1. This project is a key demonstration project of the “Safe Century Quality Project” in Fujian Province.

Figure 1. Geographical location map of Fuzhou Port.

Thermoplastic GFRP bars was used as an alternative to steel in the wharf concrete deck slab (Figure 2) and kerb structure (Figure 3) of Berth 6 and 7 at Fuzhou Port. The implementation comprised: Over 2,000 linear meters of 12-mm diameter GFRP bars for concrete deck slab reinforcement; Over 230 linear meters of 12-mm diameter GFRP stirrups for kerb structural enhancement.

Thermoplastic GFRP bar has the advantages of multiple repeated molding, high toughness and good durability. By applying high-performance GFRP bars, it ensures that no harmful cracks occur in the deck slab and kerb structure, and improves the long-term durability of the components. The demonstration application has led to more durable solutions for concrete structures in marine environments, and promotes the development of China's marine engineering structures towards extended service life.

Figure 2. Application of thermoplastic GFRP bars in deck slab

Figure 3. Application of thermoplastic GFRP stirrups in kerb structure