Design and Analysis of GFRP Spliced H Section Short Column Connections

Abstract

Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) is a polymer composite material that is newlinegaining popularity in the construction industry due to its materialistic properties. newlineGFRPs as a construction material do not hold design codes and so this study intends newlineto establish a strong yet robust connection design for GFRP H-section short columns. newlineAs a material, GFRP s major disadvantage is the abrupt failure criteria at maximum newlineloading which can cause catastrophic problems when used in a structure. This issue is newlineresolved in this study by introducing an element of robustness in the connection using newlinea splicing gap between the two H-sections which acts as a structural fuse. Connection newlineDesigns are established to ensure the stability of joined cut sections, the joints so newlinedesigned should be based on the optimal performance as per the requirements. All the newlinemodels are designed and developed in accordance with Euro Code 3, based on the newlinedesign of steel splicing. newlineManual testing and Finite Element Analysis are carried out to derive an in-depth newlineunderstanding of the connection behavior. All samples are tested by the BS EN 13706 newlineguidelines for testing short columns. Parameters such as Ultimate Load, Displacement newlineat Ultimate Load, Stiffness, Compressive Strength, Failure mode, Load vs newlineDisplacement behavior graph, and Percentage Compressive Strength compared to the newlineUn-cut section are provided in this study. The failure mode of GFRP with linear Load newlinevs Displacement behavior of the material as a structural element is explained in newlinecomparison with the required type of failures and non-linear behavior of the Spliced newlineJoints used in this study. The research is designed in four phases with each phase newlinetesting a parameter to produce a strong and robust splicing GFRP H-section short newlinecolumn connection. The phases are also developed based on the results obtained by newlinetesting the models of the previous phase and improvising them to the parameters of newlinethe next phase. A total of 15 models with 75 manually tested samples are designed newlinephysically and digitally in this