Development of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Roof-to-Wall Connection |
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Authors: | Cetin Canbek Amir Mirmiran Arindam Gan Chowdhury Nakin Suksawang |
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Affiliation: | 1Former M.S. Student, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida International Univ., Miami, FL 33174. E-mail: ccanb001@fiu.edu 2Professor and Dean, College of Engineering and Computing, Florida International Univ., Miami, FL 33174 (corresponding author). E-mail: mirmiran@fiu.edu 3Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida International Univ., Miami, FL 33174. E-mail: chowdhur@fiu.edu 4Assistant Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Florida International Univ., Miami, FL 33174. E-mail: suksawan@fiu.edu
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Abstract: | A significant proportion of damage to buildings in hurricanes occurs owing to weak roof-to-wall connections. The objective of this study was to develop an innovative, efficient, and nonintrusive roof-to-wall connection for wood-frame structures by using high-performance fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. Several connection configurations were developed and tested at the component level under uplift loading. The most feasible configuration was selected and further tested at the component level under lateral loadings. The selected FRP tie system was then tested at a full-scale model designed to represent conventional wood-frame buildings. The objective was to assess the connection’s in situ performance under simulated uplift forces. The results of the full-scale tests were in close agreement with those obtained from the component-level tests. Control tests were also performed to evaluate the load capacity of a typical commercial metallic hurricane clip to facilitate comparison of its results with that of the newly developed FRP tie. The FRP tie system described in this study offers an easy-to-apply, nonintrusive, and viable alternative to existing metal hurricane clips for both new construction and existing structures. |
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Keywords: | Bonding Connections Fiber reinforced polymer Hurricanes Wind loads Wood structures Frames Rehabilitation |
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