Novel Joint for Assembly of All-Composite Space Truss Structures: Conceptual Design and Preliminary Study
Publication: Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 17, Issue 1
Abstract
A space truss is formed of interconnected structural components that transfer loads axially. Pultruded glass-fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites exhibit their best material strength in the axial (pultrusion) direction, and their inherent lack of material stiffness can be compensated by the structural stiffness achieved by space configuration. A novel connector made of pultruded GFRP profiles is proposed in this paper to join diagonal and chord members and to form all-composite free-form space trusses. The proposed truss unit was assembled and tested statically, and the load-displacement responses were recorded. The final collapse of the structural unit evidenced a pull-out shear failure mode in the bolt connections, and the ultimate load can therefore be well predicted by this mechanism. A detailed finite element (FE) analysis considering the interaction between the bolts and FRP profiles was conducted for the structural unit to investigate the effects of pretension force of bolted connections and the stress concentration at the joint region. A simplified FE approach was used to demonstrate one- and two-dimensional space trusses with satisfactory structural stiffnesses.
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Acknowledgments
The authors wish to acknowledge Mr. Long Goh and Mr. Kevin Nievaart for their assistance in conducting the experiments at the Monash University Civil Engineering Laboratory. Thanks are also given to Mr. Warwick Hill and Mr. Chao Xuan Lim for the work in their final year projects, and A/Prof. Shi Gang from Tsinghua University China for his valuable assistance in FE analysis. Financial support was received from the Australian Research Council through the Discovery Early Career Researcher Award scheme and Monash University. The GFRP materials were supplied by Exel Composites, Australia.
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Information
Published In
Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 17 • Issue 1 • February 2013
Pages: 130 - 138
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 30, 2011
Accepted: Jul 23, 2012
Published online: Aug 7, 2012
Published in print: Feb 1, 2013
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