Buckling and Postbuckling Finite-Element Analysis of Pultruded FRP Profiles under Pure Compression
This article has been corrected.
VIEW CORRECTIONPublication: Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 18, Issue 1
Abstract
Results of nonlinear finite-element analyses of commercial pultruded fiber-reinforced plastic (PFRP) I-section profiles subjected to pure compression are presented. One narrow flange and four wide flange shapes are analyzed for 10 values of the column slenderness, involving 50 finite-element (FE) models. The imperfection sensitivity is investigated with reference to different imperfection shapes. For wide flange columns, if the imperfection amplitudes are identified with the limiting amplitudes reported by the pultruders, extremely low ultimate axial loads are obtained, associated with unrealistic failure mechanisms and strong interaction between local and global buckling modes. In contrast, reduced imperfection amplitudes reported in the literature lead to well documented failure mechanisms and to a small influence of the buckling mode interaction. As is known, the local buckling of wide flange shapes is triggered by the flange instability. Conversely, the local buckling of narrow flange shapes generally is triggered by the web instability. Because of this property, the paper shows that at equal cross section area, the narrow flange profiles may exhibit higher ultimate loads with respect to the wide flange profiles in a broad range of column slenderness.
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Acknowledgments
The present investigation was developed in the framework of the National (Italian) Research Program No. 20089RJKYN coordinated by Professor Paolo Bisegna from the University of Rome ‘‘Tor Vergata’’ and of the Research Program FAR 2011 of the University of Ferrara. Financial support of the Italian Ministry of University and Research and of the University of Ferrara is gratefully acknowledged. Moreover, the analyses were developed within the activities of the (Italian) University Network of Seismic Engineering Laboratories–ReLUIS in the research program funded by the Italian Civil Protection National Service—Progetto Esecutivo 2010–2013—Research Line 3, coordinated by Professors Luigi Ascione and Giorgio Serino.
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Published In
Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 18 • Issue 1 • February 2014
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Dec 16, 2012
Accepted: Apr 8, 2013
Published online: Apr 10, 2013
Published in print: Feb 1, 2014
Discussion open until: Mar 14, 2014
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