EVALUATION OF STATIC STRENGTH AND FATIGUE DURABILITY OF HIGH-STRENGTH BOLTED JOINTS BETWEEN HYBRID FRP COMPOSITE GIRDERS AND STEEL GIRDERS

Abstract

 Shear joints of FRP members using bolts depend on the material strength of the FRP members, which is relatively small compared to steel. The authors proposed a high-strength bolted friction joint of GFRP plates reinforced by steel plate adhesion with steel plates as a method to improve the bearing capacity of the joint between GFRP plates and steel plates. In this study, specimens were fabricated by applying the proposed joint method to the joint between a hybrid FRP girder and a steel girder, and the load carrying capacity and fatigue durability of the girder joint were experimentally investigated. The static tests showed that the failure of girder joints was preceded by slip or delamination, and that the smaller the introduced rate of bolt axial force, the more the slip failure preceded the delamination. Fatigue tests showed that although initial delamination occurred at the adhesive joints in a small load range, the initial delamination did not affect the fatigue durability of the girder joints.