Biaxial Wrinkling of Thin-Walled GFRP Webs in Cell-Core Sandwiches

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sandwich structures offer several advantages compared to structures made of traditional materials, such as high specific strength, good corrosion resistance, low thermal conductivity and rapid component installation. In this context, glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) cell-core sandwiches composed of outer GFRP face sheets, a foam core and a grid of GFRP webs integrated into the core to reinforce shear load capacity are well suited for load-bearing applications in civil engineering i.e. in bridge deck and roof construction. Despite the great potential of these structural concepts, the use of heterogeneous materials in FRP sandwiches results in more complex failure mechanisms compared to conventional structural components and lack of knowledge regarding the prediction of failure modes makes the design of structural components difficult. This is one of the major disadvantages limiting the acceptance of cell-core sandwiches in civil engineering applications. One of the critical failure modes of cell-core sandwich structures is wrinkling in the webs. A great deal of information exists concerning the phenomenon of skin wrinkling failure of sandwich laminates loaded in compression but comparatively little on wrinkling in the webs of sandwich structures where the pure compression loading is complicated by supplementary transverse tension. The purpose of this research is to develop an appropriate model for the prediction of wrinkling in the webs of cell-core sandwich structures. Two new approaches were developed to predict the wrinkling loads of webs. The first approach examines the wrinkling behavior in webs as an in-plane biaxial compression-tension buckling problem according to the rotated stress field theory. In this regard, extensive experimental, numerical and analytical studies were performed to investigate the interaction between the compression and tension stress tensors during the buckling/wrinkling instability phase of GFRP plates and sandwich panels subjected to biaxial compression-tension loading. The investigations demonstrated that the transverse tension in the biaxial compression-tension set-up induced two simultaneous counteracting effects: a stabilizing and a lateral contraction effect. The stabilizing effect tends to push the plate back to the median plane and thereby delays the onset of buckling/wrinkling instability. In contrast, lateral contraction accelerates the bending of the plate, which leads to a significant decrease in buckling/wrinkling loads. In composite plates, the first effect predominates and increases the buckling loads while in sandwich panels the second effect is dominant and decreases the wrinkling loads. Using the second approach, the wrinkling behavior of foam-filled web-core panels was modeled by applying an improved mixed-mode interaction formula in which two approximate models are developed based on the energy method in order to determine the critical loads when the pure shear and bending stresses act independently on the web. The application of both approaches to a real case study, the GFRP cell-core sandwich roof of the Novartis Campus Main Gate Building proved that they are sufficiently accurate to be used as valid tools assisting the optimum design of sandwich structures whereas existing models result in too conservative predictions.

Fire endurance of multicellular panels in an FRP building system

Craig Tracy

Fiber-reinforced synthetic polymers (FRP) are the building materials that may permit both the improvement of long-term building performance and the simplification of the construction process. Thanks to their high specific strength, low thermal conductivity, good environmental resistance, and their ability to be formed into complex shapes, FRP materials are well-suited to fulfilling many building functions. By integrating traditionally separate building systems and layers into single function-integrated components and industrially fabricating those components, the amount of on-site labor can be greatly reduced and overall quality can be improved. In order to profit from the advantageous qualities of FRP, however, it is essential to address the unique weaknesses and disadvantages of the material. Most notably, the problems of poor fire safety and high material costs must be overcome. In response to these challenges, a new multiple-story building system employing FRP materials is proposed. Within this system, fire safety is ensured through the use of an internal liquid cooling system, which circulates a cooling medium through the load-bearing FRP elements to maintain their temperature within a safe operating range. This system is made cost-effective through the integration of the building's heating and cooling system. By controlling the temperature of the circulating liquid, the building's structural elements can serve as heating or cooling emitters (radiators). Further, the addition of the liquid within the cells of the FRP elements helps maintain a more constant interior climate through the "thermal flywheel" effect, which improves energy efficiency and comfort. Experimental investigations were performed to explore the fire safety aspects of the proposed system. An existing FRP cellular bridge deck material was adapted to incorporate an internal liquid cooling system. After several preliminary investigations, large-scale experiments involving structural and fire loading were conducted on both liquid-cooled and non-liquid cooled specimens. The experiments demonstrated the efficacy of the system in protecting load-bearing FRP elements from the weakening effects of high temperatures, especially those that are stressed in compression. Structural fire endurance times were improved from less than one hour to more than two hours (EC1 Part 1.2) through the implementation of the liquid cooling system. Alongside the experimental program, a series of mathematical models were developed. Numerical thermochemical and thermomechanical models simulate the response of loaded liquid-cooled FRP panels in fire, while analytical models predict the post-fire mechanical behavior of fire-damaged sections. All models provide predictions that are within 10% of experimentally measured values.

EPFL2005

Structural Response of R-UHPFRC - RC Composite Members Subjected to Combined Bending and Shear

Talayeh Noshiravani

The addition of a thin overlay of Ultra-High Performance Fibre Reinforced Concrete (UHPFRC) to Reinforced Concrete (RC) members is an emerging technique to strengthen and protect existing structures and to design durable new structures. Combining UHPFRC with closely spaced, small-diameter steel rebars in Reinforced UHPFRC (R-UHPFRC) layers improves the UHPFRC's strain hardening behaviour. For reasons of practicality, R-UHPFRC layers are cast or glued (in the case of prefabricated elements) on top of RC members, thus changing the latter into R-UHPFRC - RC composite members. The high strength and deformation capacity of R-UHPFRC elements make them a suitable external flexural reinforcement for RC members over intermediate supports, e.g., bridge decks and slabs or beams in buildings. Over reinforcement of RC beams and slabs with tensile flexural reinforcement can result in their shear failure at either a lower resistance or deformation than the associated values for member failure in flexure. A comprehensive experimental program was conducted to study the flexure-shear behaviour of R-UHPFRC - RC composite beams. The program comprises two test series on cantilever beams and continuous beams. The test parameters include shear span-depth ratio (a/d), the amount of transverse reinforcement ( ρν), the amount of longitudinal reinforcement, and the strength and bond condition of the R-UHPFRC rebars. The experimental results reveal the different failure modes of R-UHPFRC - RC composite members and the contribution of the R-UHPFRC elements to the member resistance, ductility and capacity to redistribute the internal stress. It was shown that in R-UHPFRC - RC beams with ribbed rebars and a shear span to depth ratio greater than 2.5 the stresses are carried by beam action. Depending on the degree of longitudinal reinforcement, all but two of the beams with 3.0≤a/d≤3.4 and ρν≤0.17 had a flexure-shear failure; the rest failed in flexure. The flexure-shear failure of the composite beams was at an approximately equal rotation level as their RC reference beam but at a resistance 2.3 times that of the RC beam. This is due to (1) the debonding interface zone between the elements that allows the R-UHPFRC - RC beams to rotate more freely and (2) the out-of-plane resistance of the R-UHPFRC element that contributes to the shear resistance. The internal flow of forces and the structural response of composite members strongly depend on the bond condition between the R-UHPFRC and RC, the UHPFRC and its rebars, as well as the concrete and its rebars. Cracking of the concrete along the interface zone causes bond reduction, i.e., softening of the shear connection, between the two elements. In presence of high shear stresses and diagonal flexure-shear cracks, interface zone softening is observed between the elements prior to the maximum resistance, while UHPFRC is strain hardening. The cause of this softening behaviour is the prying action due to the relative rotational movement of the RC rigid bodies separated by the flexure-shear cracks. Static and kinematic solutions of the theory of plasticity for RC beams are extended to predict the collapse load of R-UHPFRC - RC composite beams at the ultimate limit state. A mechanical model for predicting the structural response of composite beams is proposed. In combination with truss models, the concept of an R-UHPFRC - RC plastic hinge is introduced to calculate the force-displacement response of composite beams. The failure criterion based on the collapse mechanisms (kinematic solutions) sets the limit of the force-displacement response. The model is corroborated by the experimental results. This model provides a tool for analysis of RC members reinforced with an added tensile R-UHPFRC element.

EPFL2012

Minimal mass design of active tensegrity structures

Yafeng Wang

Tensegrity structures have been widely utilized as lightweight structures due to their high stiffness-to-mass and strength-to-mass ratios. Minimal mass design of tensegrity structures subject to external loads and specific constraints (e.g., member yielding and buckling) has been intensively studied. However, all the existing studies focus on passive tensegrity structures, i.e., the structural members cannot change their lengths actively and the structure has to passively resist external loads. An active tensegrity structure equipped with actuators can actively adapt its internal forces and nodal positions and thus can actively resist external loads. Therefore, it is expected that active tensegrity structures use less material compared to passive tensegrity structures thus leading to a smaller mass. Due to the integration of the active control system, the design of active tensegrity structures is different from passive tensegrity structures. This study proposes a general approach for the design of minimal mass active tensegrity structures based on a mixed integer programming scheme, in which the member crosssectional areas, prestress, actuator layout and control strategies (i.e., actuator length changes) are designed simultaneously. The member cross-sectional areas, prestress level, and actuator control strategies are treated as continuous variables and the actuator layout is treated as a binary variable. The equilibrium condition, member yielding, cable slackness, strut buckling, and the limitations on the nodal displacements as well as other practical requirements are formulated as constraints. Three typical active tensegrity structures are designed through the proposed approach and the results are benchmarked with the equivalent minimal mass passive designs. It is illustrated that the active designs can significantly decrease the material consumption compared with the equivalent passive designs thus leading to more lightweight tensegrity structures.

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