Fatigue Damage Tolerance of Adhesively Bonded Pultruded GFRP Double-Strap Joints with Adhesion Defects
Publication: Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 27, Issue 1
Abstract
This paper reports an investigation on the damage tolerance of adhesively bonded pultruded glass fiber–reinforced polymer (GFRP) joints under fatigue loading. Double-strap joints with and without bondline defects were subjected to constant amplitude fatigue loading. The study investigated the effects of the defect location, size, and number on the fatigue performance of the joints (i.e., failure mode, fatigue life). Results showed that the failure mode was a combination of delamination and adhesive fiber–reinforced polymer (FRP) interface debonding at the defect vicinities. The fatigue life of the joints was significantly reduced (up to 90%) when the defect was at the overlap end. A defect size larger than 10% of the total bonded area could yield a substantial reduction in fatigue life. Small defects (less than 10% of the total bonded area) could yield a reduction in fatigue life of up to 73% when their number exceeded four. The joint exhibited better damage tolerance under static than fatigue loading conditions.
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Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial support provided by the National Science Foundation of China (51978025).
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Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 27 • Issue 1 • February 2023
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Apr 30, 2022
Accepted: Sep 16, 2022
Published online: Nov 25, 2022
Published in print: Feb 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Apr 25, 2023
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Adhesives
- Bonding
- Defects and imperfections
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Fatigue (material)
- Fatigue life
- Fiber reinforced polymer
- Joints
- Material mechanics
- Material properties
- Materials characterization
- Materials engineering
- Materials processing
- Polymer
- Pultrusion
- Structural engineering
- Structural members
- Structural systems
- Synthetic materials
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