Postbuckling Behavior of FRP Bending-Active Arches Subjected to a Central Point Load
Publication: Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 27, Issue 5
Abstract
A bending-active arch derives its curved shape from elastic bending of an initially straight strut. The recent revival of interest in this special structural form has been largely driven by the use of pultruded hollow-section fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) profiles. Stability is a crucial concern for bending-active arches, because their unique forming method demands a sufficiently high flexibility (slenderness) to facilitate curvature development. However, previous theoretical results, especially those associated with postbuckling behavior, have not been verified with test results due to the lack of loading tests. To fill this gap, this study conducted central point loading tests on FRP bending-active arches, which successfully captured the full-range postbuckling response. The test data fulfilled the intended goal of verifying a nonlinear load–deflection (equilibrium path) analysis. In this paper, the results of the loading tests are first presented. The differential equations governing the equilibrium path are next formulated and then solved as a boundary value problem (BVP) using a numerical BVP solver. Finally, the results of parametric studies performed using the verified BVP solver are presented. The results show that the effect of gravity on the mechanical behavior of FRP bending-active arches is negligible, whereas the forming-induced prestresses have a negative effect on the buckling load. In the range of practical arch shapes, the loss in buckling load due to this effect is approximately 10%.
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Acknowledgments
The authors are grateful for the financial support provided by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation (Project No.: LY15E080007).
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- b
- width of an FRP strip;
- D
- outer diameter of an FRP pipe;
- Ef
- flexural modulus;
- Et
- tensile modulus;
- HA
- horizontal reaction force at Point A;
- Hcr
- Euler’s buckling load;
- h
- rise of an arch;
- I
- area moment of inertia;
- L
- length of an arch;
- l
- span of an arch;
- M
- moment;
- MA
- reaction moment at Point A;
- Mnom
- normalized moment;
- Q
- vertical point load at the arch crown;
- Qnom
- normalized vertical point load at the arch crown;
- Qp
- arch buckling load;
- normalized buckling load;
- Qv
- valley load;
- s
- arc length from Point A;
- s0
- varying arc length from Point A in the range of 0 and s;
- t
- thickness of an FRP strip;
- tw
- wall thickness of FRP pipe;
- VA
- vertical reaction force at Point A;
- w
- gravity per unit length;
- x
- abscissa value;
- x0
- abscissa value corresponding to s0;
- y
- ordinate value;
- ΔL
- displacement of an arch end;
- Δmid
- midspan deflection;
- normalized midspan deflection;
- axial strain capacity;
- η
- buckling load ratio;
- θ
- rotation;
- θ0
- initial tangential angle of an companion arch segment;
- θ1
- rotation of an companion arch segment;
- θA
- rotation at Point A;
- κ
- curvature;
- λ
- slenderness ratio;
- ξ
- percentage loss of buckling load; and
- ρ
- density.
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Published In
Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 27 • Issue 5 • October 2023
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 18, 2022
Accepted: Apr 13, 2023
Published online: Jun 20, 2023
Published in print: Oct 1, 2023
Discussion open until: Nov 20, 2023
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