Paper Title
BEHAVIOUR OF PULTRUDED GFRP CHANNEL BEAMS UNDER TRANSVERSE LOADING

Abstract
Abstract - Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) beams often encounter web crippling failure under transverse loading. In case of unsymmetrical sections such as channel beams, however, limited studies are reported. In the present investigation, behaviour of GFRP channel profiles under transverse bearing load has been assessed considering end-two-flange (ETF) and interior-two-flange (ITF) loadings. Experimental program comprised mechanical characterization tests and web crippling experiments conducted on 12 specimens extracted from three channel profiles. Primarily, effect of web slenderness ratio and effect of varying loading conditions on the web crippling behaviour were investigated. Two failure modes, namely, web crushing and web buckling failure were observed in the specimens. In addition, it was found that changing loading condition from ETF to ITF increased the ultimate crippling capacity of the specimens by upto +184.7%. Keywords - Pultruded GFRP Channel Profile; Web Crippling; Web Buckling; Bearing Length.