Influence of Bracing on Buckling Strength of Pultruded Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Frames

Abstract

A numerical study of the influence of structural bracing on the buckling strength of pultruded Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) frames is presented. Although the influence of bracing on frames made from other materials such as steel have been studied in the past, this paper investigates the performance of pultruded GFRP portal frames with pinned or fixed column bases. Each frame is constructed with pultruded GFRP I-section members. The influence of I-section column major and minor axis orientation is also investigated. The results demonstrate the practical significance of bracing pultruded GFRP frames. The results show that the buckling loads for braced frames are seven to nine times greater than those for unbraced frames when the column bases are pinned. The corresponding gain in the buckling load capacity due to the addition of bracing is more than three times if the column bases are fixed.