• Login
    View Item 
    •   Home
    • Graduate Theses, Dissertations and Projects
    • Queen's Graduate Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    •   Home
    • Graduate Theses, Dissertations and Projects
    • Queen's Graduate Theses and Dissertations
    • View Item
    JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.

    Experimental and Numerical Investigations into Optimal Partial Concrete Filling of FRP and Steel Tubular Poles

    Thumbnail
    View/Open
    Mitchell_Jeff_R_200809_MSc(Eng).pdf (3.640Mb)
    Date
    2008-09-15
    Author
    Mitchell, Jeff
    Metadata
    Show full item record
    Abstract
    Glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) tubular poles can be superior to conventional poles, in that they are lighter in weight and more durable. Thin-walled tubular poles, however, tend to fail in flexure by local buckling, before fully utilizing the high tensile strength of GFRP. Increasing the wall thickness would solve this problem, but at a significant material cost. A simple and economical solution is to partially fill the tube with concrete. The aim of this study is to establish the optimal length of concrete filling that is required to achieve the highest moment capacity at a minimum dead weight in cantilevered GFRP and steel poles.

    The study comprises experimental and numerical phases. Six 3660 mm long and 220 mm in diameter GFRP tubes of 4.15 mm wall thickness as well as four 1855 mm long and 114 mm in diameter steel tubes of 3 mm wall thickness, were filled with concrete of varying lengths, ranging from zero to a 100% of the span. The tubes were tested to failure in cantilever bending. The completely filled tubes achieved nearly double the strength of the hollow ones. Furthermore, it was found that the optimal ratio of concrete filling length was 0.34 and 0.46 of the span, for the GFRP and steel tubes, respectively. This is defined as the minimum filling length required to achieve the capacity of the completely filled tube.

    Numerical models have been developed to predict the behaviour of partially concrete-filled GFRP and steel tubes as well as the optimal filling ratio. The models incorporate other models developed for hollow and completely filled tubes and account for the slight non-linearity of multi-layer GFRP tubes, concrete, and steel plasticity. An important feature of the models is their ability to account for ovalization and local buckling of the hollow part of thin tube. The models were successfully validated and used in a parametric study to investigate the effects of key parameters, namely diameter-to-thickness (D/t) ratio, GFRP laminate structure and steel yield strength. It was shown that the optimal filling ratio increases as D/t ratio is reduced or as more GFRP fibres become oriented longitudinally. However, it was unaffected by the steel yield strength.
    URI for this record
    http://hdl.handle.net/1974/1429
    Collections
    • Department of Civil Engineering Graduate Theses
    • Queen's Graduate Theses and Dissertations
    Request an alternative format
    If you require this document in an alternate, accessible format, please contact the Queen's Adaptive Technology Centre

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
    Contact Us
    Theme by 
    Atmire NV
     

     

    Browse

    All of QSpaceCommunities & CollectionsPublished DatesAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypesThis CollectionPublished DatesAuthorsTitlesSubjectsTypes

    My Account

    LoginRegister

    Statistics

    View Usage StatisticsView Google Analytics Statistics

    DSpace software copyright © 2002-2015  DuraSpace
    Contact Us
    Theme by 
    Atmire NV