Web crippling behavior of pultruded GFRP channel sections under transverse bearing load.

Abstract Pultruded glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) sections face a critical issue of premature web crippling failure when loaded in the transverse direction. However, limited research on the web crippling behavior of asymmetric sections like channel section was reported in the literature. In addition, the effect of specimen length on the web crippling behavior has not been explicitly investigated. This paper presents an experimental study on the web crippling behavior of pultruded GFRP channel sections under transverse bearing load. Four channel sections with various dimensions were tested under two transverse loading conditions, i.e. interior-two-flange (ITF) and exterior-two-flange (ETF). For each section, two specimen lengths were adopted to study the effect of specimen length on the web crippling behavior. Therefore, three variables including sectional dimensions, specimen length and loading conditions were considered in the experimental program. Two failure modes, namely web-flange junction failure and web buckling failure, were observed. The load-displacement curves and web crippling capacities of all specimens were reported and compared. Finally, design equations were proposed considering the failure mechanisms. The predicted web crippling capacities generally agreed well with the experimental results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]