Research Initiation: Experimental and Theoretical Investigation of the Short and Long Term Behavior of a Pultruded Composite Rigid Frame

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The response of rigid frame structures constructed of glass fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) pultruded profile sections will be investigated. The experimental program will examine the behavior of full-sized structural frames under short term loading to failure and under long term loading in which creep deformation will be significant. Strain gages, rosettes, and dial indicators will be used to monitor the strains and deformations in the frames. Hydraulic jacks and dead weights will be used to load the frames. The theoretical program will account for the anisotropic and viscoelastic properties of the material and develop a code to analyze both the short term nonlinear response and the long term creep response. The analysis of the frame will include the effects of shear deformation which is known to be significant in composite thin-walled beams. The theoretically predicted forces and deflections will be compared with those measured experimentally. The results of this investigation should provide important data which will be used to develop future methodologies of analysis and design with standardized pultruded fiber reinforced plastics.