A Novel Technique for Stiffening Steel Structures [Final report]
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2009-03-01
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Edition:Final report
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Abstract:The use of composite materials for strengthening the ailing infrastructure has been steadily gaining acceptance and market share. One can state that this strengthening technique has become main stream in some applications such as in strengthening of concrete structures. The same cannot be said about steel structures since research on composite strengthening is relatively new. Several challenges face strengthening steel structures using composite materials such as the need for high modulus composites to improve the effectiveness of the strengthening system.
In this study, the research team explores a new approach for strengthening steel structures by introducing additional stiffness to buckling prone regions in thin-walled steel structures. The proposed technique relies on improving the out-of-plane stiffness of buckling prone members by bonding pultruded fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) sections as opposed to the commonly used strengthening approach that relies on in-plane FRP contribution. This report presents the results from an experimental investigation where axial tension and beam specimens were tested to explore the feasibility of the proposed technique. Based on the results, one can conclude that this strengthening technique has great potential for altering failure modes by delaying the undesirable instability (buckling) failure mode. Preliminary analyses were also conducted and are presented in the report. Recommendations for future research efforts are made to expand the knowledge base about this yet unexplored strengthening technique.
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