TENSILE AND COMPRESSIVE BEHAVIORS OF THE PULTRUDED GFRP LAMINA

Abstract

The use of composite materials in civil engineering is increasing day by day due to their superior priorities such as high strength to weight ratio, high corrosion resistance, and durability. One of the recent materials used in the civil engineering application is pultruded glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP). Many studies are available in the literature related to the behavior of component (structural) level of the pultruded GFRP; however, very limited data is available related to the behavior of the lamina level of the pultruded GFRP. Since the behaviors of the pultruded GFRP in longitudinal and transverse directions are quite distinct, it is aimed to provide the tensile and compressive behavior of the pultruded GFRP in terms of stiffness, capacity and failure modes. Pursuant to this goal, longitudinal and transverse direction of the pultruded GFRP laminas were tested under both compressive and tensile forces according to ASTM standards. A total of 12 specimens, three replicates for each type, were tested. Moreover, these tests were modelled with the aid of Abaqus. The numerical and experimental results revealed that the transverse strength of pultruded GFRP is much weaker than its longitudinal strength for both compressive and tensile forces. While the damages in tensile tests started in micro dimension and continued as macro and the result of the damage was progressive damage, the rapid progression of damages in compression experiments led to the development of catastrophic damage.