Progressive Damage Analysis of Web Crippling of GFRP Pultruded I-Sections
Publication: Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 21, Issue 3
Abstract
Glass fiber–reinforced polymer (GFRP) pultruded profiles are prone to web buckling and/or crushing when subjected to concentrated loads in the direction transverse to the pultrusion axis due to their low elastic and strength properties. Based on a recent work in which it was concluded that the Tsai-Hill criterion does not succeed in providing reasonable estimates of the web-crippling capacity of GFRP profiles, in the present work another progressive damage model is implemented into a finite-element (FE) model for web-crippling analysis. First, previous web crippling experiments on I-section GFRP profiles are summarized. Then the basis of the FE model is presented (element types, failure initiation criteria, and damage model) and results of preliminary analyses (mesh size and viscous regularization) are discussed. Subsequently, the load versus displacement curves, damage zones, and failure modes of GFRP profiles under different load configurations and bearing lengths are presented. Finally, the model sensitivity to different parameters (transverse compressive strength, in-plane shear strength, matrix compressive fracture energy, modeling of web-flange rounded corner) is analyzed. The proposed model is shown to be much more accurate than those based on Tsai-Hill criterion. It is also shown that the in-plane shear strength governs failure initiation, while the transverse compressive strength is more influential to the profiles’ ultimate behavior. This study also highlights the major impact of fracture energy in the behavioral response of GFRP profiles subjected to transverse concentrated loads.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
The authors wish to thank Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability (CERIS) and Associated Laboratory for Energy, Transports and Aeronautics (LAETA) for funding this research. The financial support of Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), through the funding of Project No. PTDC/ECM-EST/6465/2014 (FRP-Quake), is gratefully acknowledged. The second author also acknowledges the financial support provided by FCT, through Institute of Mechanical Engineering (IDMEC), under LAETA, Project UID/EMS/50022/2013.
References
AISI (American Iron and Steel Institute). (2007). “North American specification for the design of cold-formed steel structural members.” Washington, DC.
ASCE. (2010). “Pre-standard for load and resistance factor design (LRFD) of pultruded fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) structures.” Reston, VA.
Bank, L. (2006). Composites for construction: Structural design with FRP materials, Wiley, Hoboken, NJ.
Barbero, E. J., Cosso, F. A., Roman, R., and Weadon, T. L. (2013). “Determination of material parameters for Abaqus progressive damage analysis of E-glass epoxy laminates.” Compos. Part B: Eng., 46, 211–220.
Bazant, Z., and Oh, B. (1983). “Crack band theory of concrete.” Mater. Struct., 16, 155–177.
Borowicz, D. T., and Bank, L. C. (2011). “Behavior of pultruded fiber-reinforced polymer beams subjected to concentrated loads in the plane of the web.” J. Compos. Constr., 229–238.
Borowicz, D. T., and Bank, L. C. (2013). “Effect of web reinforcement on the behavior of pultruded fiber-reinforced polymer beams subjected to concentrated loads.” Constr. Build. Mater., 47, 347–357.
Camanho, P. P., and Dávila, C. G. (2002). “Mixed-mode decohesion finite elements for the simulation of delamination in composite materials.”, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Langley, VA.
CEN (European Committee for Standardization). (2010). “Design of steel structures.” Eurocode 3, Brussels, Belgium.
Clarke, J., ed. (1996). Structural design of polymer compositesEurocomp design code and handbook, E & FN Spon, London.
CNR (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche). (2008). “Guide for the design and construction of structures made of FRP pultruded elements.” Rome.
Coelho, A. M. G., Mottram, J. T., and Harries, K. A. (2015). “Finite element guidelines for simulation of fibre-tension dominated failures in composite materials validated by case studies.” Compos. Struct., 126, 299–313.
Correia, J. R. (2008). “GFRP pultruded profiles in civil engineering: Hybrid solutions, bonded connections and fire behaviour.” Ph.D. thesis in Civil Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Technical Univ. of Lisbon, Lisbon, Portugal.
Fernandes, L. A., Gonilha, J., Correia, J. R., Silvestre, N., and Nunes, F. (2015a). “Web-crippling of GFRP pultruded profiles. Part 1: Experimental study.” Compos. Struct., 120, 565–577.
Fernandes, L. A., Nunes, F., Silvestre, N., Correia, J. R., and Gonilha, J. (2015b). “Web-crippling of GFRP pultruded profiles. Part 2: Numerical analysis and design.” Compos. Struct., 120, 578–590.
Hashin, Z. (1980). “Failure criteria for unidirectional fiber composites.” J. Appl. Mech., 47(2), 329–334.
Hashin, Z., and Rotem, A. (1973). “A fatigue failure criterion for fiber reinforced materials.” J. Compos. Mater., 7(4), 448–464.
Li, F., and Xingwen, D. (2010). “Mesh-dependence of material with softening behavior.” Chin. J. Aeronaut., 23(1), 46–53.
Nunes, F., Correia, J. R., and Silvestre, N. (2016a). “Structural behaviour of hybrid FRP pultruded beams: Experimental and numerical studies.” Thin Walled Struct., 106, 201–217.
Nunes, F., Correia, J. R., and Silvestre, N. (2016b). “Structural behaviour of hybrid FRP pultruded columns. Part 1: Experimental study.” Compos. Struct., 139, 291–303.
Nunes, F., Silvestre, N., and Correia, J. R. (2016c). “Structural behaviour of hybrid FRP pultruded columns. Part 2: Numerical study.” Compos. Struct., 139, 304–319.
Simulia. (2011). Abaqus 6.11 user’s manual, SIMULIA, Providence, RI.
Veyhl, C., Belova, I. V, Murch, G. E., Öchsner, A., and Fiedler, T. (2010). “On the mesh dependence of non-linear mechanical finite element analysis.” Finite Elem. Anal. Des., 46(5), 371–378.
Wu, C., and Bai, Y. (2014). “Web crippling behaviour of pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymer sections.” Compos. Struct., 108, 789–800.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Copyright
©2016 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 11, 2016
Accepted: Aug 23, 2016
Published online: Oct 17, 2016
Discussion open until: Mar 17, 2017
Published in print: Jun 1, 2017
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.