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Fabrication and Testing of Cuff Connections for GFRP Box Sections |
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| Authors: | S. K. Singamsethi J. M. LaFave K. D. Hjelmstad |
| Affiliation: | 1Structural Engineer, Consoer Townsend Envirodyne Engineers, 303 East Wacker Dr., Suite 600, Chicago, IL 60601. E-mail: sudhir.singamsethi@cte.aecom.com 2Associate Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois, 3108 Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory, MC-250, 205 North Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801 (corresponding author). E-mail: jlafave@uiuc.edu 3Professor, Dept. of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Illinois, 1116 Newmark Civil Engineering Laboratory, MC-250, 205 North Mathews Ave., Urbana, IL 61801. E-mail: kdh@uiuc.edu |
| Abstract: | A new type of connection between beams and columns has been designed and fabricated specifically for use with glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) pultruded box members. The work is built on previous efforts in the area of GFRP connections, which demonstrated that innovative connections between box sections are superior to connections based on concepts from steel construction for connecting I-beams. The new connection element is designed as a monolithic connection for frame members and is fabricated using a vacuum assisted resin transfer molding process. Individual connection specimens have been fabricated and tested to verify their performance under cyclic static loads in a test frame designed to simulate conditions in a moment resisting frame. The connection configuration was found to fare better from the standpoint of both strength and stiffness in comparison with previous attempts at developing GFRP beam-to-column connections. |
| Keywords: | Composite structures Fabrication Glass reinforced plastics Connections Joints Laboratory tests Stiffness |