Experimental investigation on behavior of splicing glass fiber–reinforced polymer-concrete–steel double-skin tubular columns under axial compression

Splicing glass fiber–reinforced polymer (GFRP)-concrete–steel double-skin tubular column (DSTC) is to set connection component at the joint of two or more separated GFRP tubes, and then pour concrete in the double-tube interlayer to form a continuous composite member. In this paper, the splicing DSTC composite members based on steel bar connection were designed and tested under axial compression to determine its mechanical performance. The main parameters include the connection steel ratio, the hollow ratio, and the thickness of GFRP tube. The results show that the GFRP tube presents apparent constraint effect on the concrete at about 60% of the ultimate load. The failure of splicing specimen occurred in the non-splicing section at a certain distance from the splice joint, and the stirrups at the splice joint provide effective constraint effect on the internal concrete. The proposed DSTC splicing method based on steel cage connection can satisfy the strength requirements of splice joint. Nevertheless, the increase of axial steel bar ratio cannot improve the bearing capacity of the splicing column, and the steel ratio of 2.44% is suggested for the splice joint of DSTCs under axial compression. The axial bearing capacity of splicing DSTCs significantly increases with the increase of GFRP tube thickness, but the amount of stirrups should be increased properly when a larger tube thickness is used. Two models were selected to calculate the bearing capacity of splicing members and it is found that Yu’s model is more accurate in predicting splicing DSTCs.

Investigation bending behaviors of the slabs with glass fiber reinforced polymer composite and steel bars

Glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites have been frequently used in engineering applications in recent years. GFRP composites produced by using glass fiber and epoxy resin have significant advantages such as high strength, lightness, and resistance against corrosion. However, GFRP composites exhibit a more brittle behavior than steel bars. This study aims to investigate both the experimental and numerical bending behavior of slabs with GFRP bars, steel bars, and polypropylene fiber. Within the scope of experimental studies, 5 slabs were built. Two slabs called SS-1 and SS-2 have only steel bars. Two slabs called GFRPS-1 and GFRPS-2 have only GFRP composite bars. A slab called GFRPS-F has both GFRP composite bars and polypropylene fibers. Polypropylene fibers are added to fresh concrete to improve the slab’s ductility. Three-point bending tests have been carried out on the slabs. All slabs are subjected to monotonic increasing distributed loading until collapse. As a result of tests, GFRPS slabs have carried %53 higher load than SS slabs. However, the SS slabs have exhibited a more ductile behavior compared to the GFRPS slabs. GFRPS slabs have more and larger crack width than other slabs. The addition of 5% polypropylene fiber by volume to concrete has a significant contributed to ductility and tensile behavior of slab. The average displacement value of GFRPS-F slab is 22.3% larger than GFRPS slab. GFRPS-F slab has better energy consumption capacity than other slabs. The energy consumption capacity of GFRPS-F slab is 1.34 and 1.38 times that of SS and GFRPS slabs, respectively. The number of cracks in GFRPS-F slab is fewer than GFRPS slabs. The fibers have contributed to the serviceability of the GFRPS slabs by limiting the displacement and the crack width. GFRPS-F exhibits elastoplastic behavior and almost returns to its first position when the loading is stopped. In addition, experimental results are verified with numerical results obtained by using Abaqus software. Finally, it is concluded that GFRP composite bars can be safely used in field concretes, concrete roads, prefabricated panel walls, and slabs.

Analysis of lightning ablation damage performance of glass fiber reinforced polymer materials

Glass fiber-reinforced polymer materials have been effectively used in civil aviation aircraft, but due to low electrical conductivity, a large area of ablation damage will occur after lightning strikes, which greatly threatens the safety of civil aircrafts. Based on this, the coupled electrical-thermal finite element analysis model for a lightning ablation damage of glass fiber reinforced polymer materials is established, and the analysis results are compared with the experiment, and the error rate is 1.26%, which verifies the accuracy of the model. In addition, different influencing factors are analyzed to study the lightning protection characteristics of glass fiber reinforced polymer on carbon fiber-reinforced polymer laminates. The results show that glass fiber reinforced polymer materials have low lightning resistance, but they can effectively reduce the lightning ablation damage area of carbon fiber reinforced polymer laminates under the joint protection of them and aluminum coating. However, they have different protective effects on different protective forms of laminates. Among them, the thickness of aluminum coating has a higher impact on the lightning protection efficiency of full spraying aluminum protective laminates, and the thickness of glass fiber reinforced polymer materials has a higher impact on the lightning protection efficiency of local spraying aluminum protective laminates.