Seismic Resistance of GFRP Bolted Joints with Carbon Nanotubes
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 144, Issue 11
Abstract
Bolted joints are critical in bracing elements subjected to seismic loads. When fabricated out of glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRP), joint capacity is limited by the shear strength of the GFRP. We hypothesize that adding multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) to the epoxy resin prior to fabricating GFRP elements can improve the seismic resistance of GFRP bolted joints. Linear elastic structural analysis of a structure with GFRP bracing subjected to the 1940 El Centro earthquake was conducted. GFRP joints were fabricated using neat epoxy and epoxy nanocomposite incorporating 0.5% by weight MWCNTs. Bolted GFRP joints were tested under a seismic displacement time history identified using the finite-element (FE) model. Static tension test to failure was then used to determine the joint postseismic capacity. It is shown that the seismic resistance of GFRP bolted joints incorporating MWCNTs increased by 44% compared with neat GFRP joints. Furthermore, GFRP joints incorporating MWCNTs showed a postseismic static resistance that is 250% higher than neat GFRP joints and demonstrated a tension-stiffening behavior not observed in neat GFRP joints.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Acknowledgments
This research was partially funded by the University of New Mexico. The authors greatly acknowledge this support. The first author acknowledges the China Scholarship Council (CSC) program for supporting her visit to the University of New Mexico. The authors acknowledge the use of the 1940 El Centro strong ground motion data provided by the USGS Center for Engineering Strong Motion Data.
References
Abdelnaby, A. 2012. “Multiple earthquake effects on degrading reinforced concrete structures.” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Ascione, L., J.-F. Caron, P. Godonou, K. van Ijselmuijden, J. Knippers, T. Mottram, M. Oppe, M. G. Sorensen, J. Taby, and L. Tromp. 2016. Prospect for new guidance in the design of FRP: Support to the implementation, harmonization and further development of the Eurocodes. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
ASTM. 2015. Standard test methods for constituent content of composite materials. ASTM D3171. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Bank, L. C. 2006. Composites for construction: Structural design with FRP materials. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
Boscato, G., and S. Russo. 2009. “Free vibrations of pultruded FRP elements: Mechanical characterization, analysis, and applications.” J. Compos. Constr. 13 (6): 565–574. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)1090-0268(2009)13:6(565).
Boscato, G., and S. Russo. 2013. “Free vibrations of a pultruded GFRP frame with different rotational stiffnesses of bolted joints.” Mech. Compos. Mater. 48 (6): 655–668. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11029-013-9310-1.
FEMA. 2009. Effects of strength and stiffness degradation on seismic response. Washington, DC: FEMA.
Feo, L., G. Marra, and A. Mosallam. 2012. “Stress analysis of multi-bolted joints for FRP pultruded composite structures.” Compos. Struct. 94 (12): 3769–3780. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2012.06.017.
Genedy, M., S. Daghash, E. Soliman, and M. M. Reda Taha. 2015. “Improving fatigue performance of GFRP using carbon nanotubes.” Fibers 3 (4): 13–29. https://doi.org/10.3390/fib3010013.
Hamer, S., H. Leibovich, A. Green, R. Avrahami, E. Zussman, A. Siegmann, and D. Sherman. 2014. “Mode I and Mode II fracture energy of MWCNT reinforced nanofibrilmats interleaved carbon/epoxy laminates.” Compos. Sci. Technol. 90: 48–56. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2013.10.013.
Lemaitre, J., and R. Desmorat. 2005. Engineering damage mechanics: Ductile, creep, fatigue and brittle failures. Berlin: Springer.
Liao, W. H., H. W. Tien, S. T. Hsiao, S. M. Li, Y. S. Wang, Y. L. Huang, S. Y. Yang, C. C. M. Ma, and Y. F. Wu. 2013. “Effects of multiwalled carbon nanotubes functionalization on the morphology and mechanical and thermal properties of carbon fiber/vinyl ester composites.” ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 5 (9): 3975–3982. https://doi.org/10.1021/am400811p.
Mosallam, A. S. 2011. Design guide for FRP composite connections: ASCE manuals and reports on engineering practice no. 102. Reston, VA: ASCE.
Russo, S. 2013. “Damage assessment of GFRP pultruded structural elements.” Compos. Struct. 96: 661–669. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2012.09.014.
Russo, S. 2016. “First investigation on mixed cracks and failure modes in multi-bolted FRP plates.” Compos. Struct. 154: 17–30. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2016.07.016.
Seyhan, A. T., M. Tanoglu, and K. Schulte. 2008. “Mode I and mode II fracture toughness of E-glass non-crimp fabric/carbon nanotube (CNT) modified polymer based composites.” Eng. Fract. Mech. 75 (18): 5151–5162. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engfracmech.2008.08.003.
Soliman, E. M., U. Kandil, and M. M. Reda Taha. 2015. “Investigation of FRP lap splice using epoxy containing carbon nanotubes.” J. Compos. Constr. 19 (2): 04014045. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)CC.1943-5614.0000504.
Soliman, E. M., M. P. Sheyka, and M. M. Reda Taha. 2012. “Low-velocity impact of thin woven carbon fabric composites incorporating multi-walled carbon nanotubes.” Int. J. Impact Eng. 47 (2): 39–47. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijimpeng.2012.03.002.
Thoppul, S. D., J. Finegan, and R. F. Gibson. 2009. “Mechanics of mechanically fastened joints in polymer-matrix composite structures, a review.” Compos. Sci. Technol. 69 (3–4): 301–329. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2008.09.037.
USGS. 2017. “Center for engineering strong motion data (CESMD), strong-motion virtual data center (VDC).” Accessed August 31, 2017. https://strongmotioncenter.org/vdc/scripts/event.plx?evt=88#28.
Van Den Einde, L., L. Zhao, and F. Seible. 2013. “Use of FRP composites in civil structural applications.” Constr. Build. Mater. 17 (6–7): 389–403. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0950-0618(03)00040-0.
Wang, M. C. 2013. “Connection capacity of pultruded GRFP channels in multidirectional loading.” Ph.D. dissertation, Dept. of Civil Engineering, Univ. of Colorado.
Woo, S.-P., S.-H. Kim, S.-J. Yoon, and W. Choi. 2017. “Effect of bolt-hole clearance on bolted connection behavior for pultruded fiber-reinforced polymer structural plastic members.” Int. J. Polym. Sci. 2017: 8745405. https://doi.org/10.1155/2017/8745405.
Yasaee, M., I. P. Bond, R. S. Trask, and E. S. Greenhalgh. 2012. “Mode II interfacial toughening through discontinuous interleaves for damage suppression and control.” Compos. Part A Appl. Sci. Manuf. 43 (1): 121–128. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesa.2011.09.026.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 144 • Issue 11 • November 2018
Copyright
©2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Sep 15, 2017
Accepted: May 16, 2018
Published online: Sep 12, 2018
Published in print: Nov 1, 2018
Discussion open until: Feb 12, 2019
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.