ANALYSIS OF A GFRP STRUCTURAL BOLTED CONNECTION

Composite materials have gained space in civil engineering applications due to the corrosion resistance, low density and attractive mechanical and chemical properties. As an alternative composite material, pultruded glass fiber reinforced polymer (pGFRP), can be used in many structural applications, like telecommunications and cooling towers, footbridges, among others. The main objective of this work was to investigate the behavior of a beam-column bolted connection (double-angle). Two types of connection elements were used: steel angles and GFRP angles. The results showed that the dominant failure mode for the connection using steel angles was caused by bearing, while for GFRP angles was shear out.