Lateral-Torsional Buckling Strength of Two-Span Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer Beams

Abstract

This paper presents the outcome of a study of two-span glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) I-section beams susceptible to lateral-torsional buckling when subjected to gradually increasing concentrated vertical load(s) in the presence of two different types of lateral bracing schemes. It is found that loading one span results in a smaller buckling load as compared with the cases with loading in both spans regardless of the type of bracing scheme used. Also, the study shows that the addition of midspan braces for the GFRP beams results in up to 5.5 times increase in the buckling load capacity.