Bending Failure Behavior of the Glass Fiber Reinforced Composite I-Beams Formed by a Novel Bending Pultrusion Processing Technique

Abstract The glass fiber reinforced resin matrix composite I-beams were designed and formed via a type of novel bending pultrusion processing technique, and the three-point bending tests were carried out to analyze the mechanical bending performances. The obtained results show that the main failure mode of the composite I-beam under the bending load is the upper structure (top flange) cracks along the length direction of the fibers, and the cracks simultaneously propagate downwards in the vertical direction. The bifurcated cracks can be found at the junction area between the top flange and web. In addition, the main bending failure mechanism of the composite I-beam includes the matrix cracking, propagation of cracks, and final fracture failure. In particular, noting that when the crack reaches the I-shaped neck position, the lateral bifurcation occurs, and the resulting secondary cracks further extend in two directions, which leads to the serious damage between the top flange and web, and the ultimate fracture failure occurs.