Evaluation of Pultruded FRP Composites for Structural Applications
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 9, Issue 3
Abstract
Fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) composites (E-glass, carbon fiber, polyester, and epoxy matrix) were fabricated using “pultrusion,” a cost-effective process for manufacturing fiber/matrix composites. Investigation of the design principles governing civil structures prove that stiffness (elastic modulus)/density rather than strength/density is the most critical property of these materials. Among other variables, large fiber-volume fraction, low void ratio, and fiber straightness are essential for high modulus. The feasibility of rapidly measuring the elastic modulus of pultruded composites during the manufacturing process using acoustic wave velocity was therefore explored. Results were compared with conventional flexure tests and resonant frequency tests. Damping was also comparable to that of steel. Comparison with conventional structural materials reveal that composites currently available in the market are competitive structural materials only if secondary considerations govern the design.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
1.
Astrom, B. T., and Pipes, R. B. (1991). “Modeling of a thermoplastic pultrusion process.”Proc., 46th Annu. Conf., Soc. of the Plastics Industry, Inc.
2.
Bank, L. C., and Mosallam, A. S. (1991). “Linear and nonlinear response of pultruded FRP frames subjected to static loads.”ASME-MD Vol. 29, Plastics and plastic composites.
3.
Bank, L. C., Gentry, T. R., and Nadipelli, M. (1994). “Careful design can optimize performance of pultruded beams.”Modern Plastics (Sept.).
4.
Breitigam, W. V., and Ubrich, W. P. (1990). “High performance epoxy resin system for pultrusion.”Proc., 35th Int. SAMPE Symp., 796–809.
5.
Chambers, R. (1993). “21st century composites require ASCE standards and SDS.”Plastics composites for 21st century, R. Chambers, ed., ASCE, New York, N.Y. 56–72.
6.
Crawley, E. F., and Mohr, D. G.(1985). “Experimental measurements of materials damping in free-fall with tunable excitation.”AIAA J., 23(1), 125–131.
7.
Daniel, I. M., and Ishai, O. (1994). Engineering mechanics of composite materials Oxford University Press, New York, N.Y., 35–36.
8.
EXTREN design manual. (1989). MMFG Co., Bristol, Va.
9.
Gorthala, R., Roux, J. A., and Vaughan, J. G.(1994). “Resin flow, cure and heat transfer analysis for pultrusion process.”J. Comp. Mat., 28(6), 486–506.
10.
Grace, N. F., Bagchi, D. K., and Kennedy, J. B. (1991). “Use of composites for vibration control in buildings.”Advanced composites in civil engineering structures, S. L. Iyer and R. Sen, eds., ASCE Press, New York, N.Y., 57–68.
11.
Mantrala, S. K., and Vipulanandan, C.(1995). “Nondestructive evaluation of polyester polymer concrete.”ACI Mat. J., 92(6), 660–668.
12.
Meyer, R. W. (1985). Handbook of pultrusion technology. Chapman & Hall, Ltd., New York, N.Y.
13.
Michaeli, W., and Jurss, D. (1996). “Thermoplastic pull-braiding: pultrusion of profiles with braided fiber lay-up and thermoplastic matrix system (PP).”Composites Part A, 27A(1), 3–7.
14.
Mosallam, A. S. (1993). “Pultruded composites: materials for the 21st century.”Plastics composites for 21st century, R. Chambers, ed., ASCE, New York, N.Y. 23–55.
15.
Mumford, N. A. (1986). “Advanced composite case materials evaluation.”TR 85-085, Air Force Rocket Propulsion Lab. V 2, 4–20.
16.
Nashif, A. D., Jones, D. I. G., and Henderson, J. P. (1985). Vibration damping. Wiley Interscience, New York, N.Y., 61–112.
17.
Qiao, P., Davalos, J. F., and Barbero, E. J. (1996). “Optimal design of FRP shapes for structural applications.”Proc., ICCI '96, Fiber Compos. in Infrastruct., H. Saadatmanesh and M. R. Eshani, eds., 583–595.
18.
Smith, S. J., Parsons, I. D., and Hjelmstad, K. D. (1996). “A study of the behavior of joints in GFRP pultruded rectangular tubes and I-beams.”Proc., ICCI '96, Fiber Compos. in Infrastruct., H. Saadatmanesh and M. R. Eshani, eds., 583–595.
19.
Structural plastics design manual. (1984). ASCE, New York, N.Y., Manual No. 63.
20.
Sumerak, J. E. (1985). “Understanding pultrusion process variables for the first time.”Proc., 40th Annu. Conf., Soc. of the Plastics Industry, Inc., 1–7.
21.
Timoshenko, S., Young, D. H., and Weaver, W. (1974). Vibration problems in engineering, 4th Ed., John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y. 23–41.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Published online: Aug 1, 1997
Published in print: Aug 1997
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.