Influence of bone joints on the axial compression stability of GFRP hollow cross arms

Abstract

Axial compression tests are carried out for GFRP hollow cross-arms with different slenderness ratios. With increase in the slenderness ratio of a member, its buckling bearing capacity decreases significantly compared with its axial compression failure bearing capacity. To address this issue, according to the principle of bionics, in this study, a glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) hollow cross arm model with bone joints is proposed and examined for axial compression buckling; this is followed by simulation experiments. After the bone joints are set, improved buckling bearing capacity of the components is obtained, and there are obvious economic benefits. The buckling bearing capacity and displacement of the specimens increase with increase in the height and number of bone joints. With increase in the slenderness ratio of the specimen, the buckling bearing capacity of the bone joints increases slightly. Finite element simulations are carried out to establish the formula for calculating the bearing capacity of the GFRP hollow cross arms with bone joints. The calculated results are in good agreement with the experimental results, thus providing insights for engineering design.