Comparative Study on Static and Fatigue Performances of Pultruded GFRP Joints Using Ordinary and Blind Bolts
Publication: Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 19, Issue 4
Abstract
Bolted connections are often used in pultruded glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) structures. Blind bolts, which require installation from one side only, become convenient when access is limited to tighten the ordinary bolts, especially for tubular GFRP sections. This paper presents the results of a comparative study on pultruded GFRP double-lap joints using ordinary bolts and blind bolts. Static experiments were conducted on pultruded GFRP double-lap joints with two columns of bolts, whereas the number of rows varied by one, two, and three. The static behaviors of ordinary bolted and blind bolted joints were compared in terms of load-displacement response, failure modes, and failure load. Then, constant amplitude fatigue tests were carried out on the double-lap joints with two bolts in a row. The maximum fatigue load varied from 30 to 80% of the static failure load of the corresponding joint. The fatigue life of each specimen was recorded and S-N curve was obtained. It was found that the static failure loads of blind bolted joints were lower by a maximum of 21% than those of ordinary bolted joints, whereas the fatigue performance was not much affected by the type of the bolts.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the Australian Research Council through the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award scheme and Monash University. The second author would like to acknowledge the support of NSFC project (51278276). The authors also wish to thank Mr. Ka-Chun Choi and Mr. Kanishka M. Atapattu for preparation of specimens. Mr. Mark Taylor and Mr. Long Goh are acknowledged for their assistance in carrying out the experimental testing in Structural Laboratory at Monash University.
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Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 19 • Issue 4 • August 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 1, 2014
Accepted: Aug 8, 2014
Published online: Sep 17, 2014
Discussion open until: Feb 17, 2015
Published in print: Aug 1, 2015
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