Effect of Supporting Base System on the Flexural Behavior and Toughness of the Lighting GFRP Poles

Abstract

Due to the high risk of common traffic electric poles, the use of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) material in electric poles has become essential due to its excellent advantages such as high strength to weight ratio, corrosion resistance, and electrical insulation, which keeps people safe. To reduce the accidental effect of street lighting poles on humans, the generated energy during the collision must be absorbed. Experimental and numerical investigations were carried out to identify the efficiency of tapered GFRP electric poles with handle doors using steel sleeve bases until the occurrence of failure. Six full-scale cantilever bending tests were performed to investigate the strength and ductility of the GFRP pole. Moreover, finite element (FE) models were developed using Abaqus software and verified against tests to provide alternative tools instead of lab experiments. An extensive parametric study was carried out to predict the effect of the GFRP pole wall thickness, base plate geometric (length, diameter, and wall thickness), electric cable hole diameter, material properties, and base sleeve geometric (length and wall thickness) on the toughness of the GFRP pole. Based on the results of the load–displacement (P–Δ) curves, the flexibility of the GFRP poles was directly proportional to their length and the local buckling failure often occurred at the handle door. Strengthening the zone of the handle door using a steel ring was investigated to prevent the local buckling failure at this part. However, the wall thickness of the GFRP pole, base sleeve height, base plate dimensions, and base plate material properties were the most effective parameters to enhance accidental energy absorption through large deformation kinematics. The base sleeve thickness had a slight direct effect on the ductility and toughness of the GFRP pole.