Experimental Comparisons of Connections for GFRP Pultruded Frames

The results of an experimental investigation demonstrate that innovative connection details designed to connect glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) box section beams and columns can produce substantial increases in joint stiffness and strength when compared to standard connection details based on steel design concepts using GFRP I-beams. Increases in stiffness and strength of 90% and 330%, respectively, are observed. A novel monolithic connection element, the cuff, is introduced to avoid many of the pitfalls associated with current practice. A series of connection geometries was built and tested to demonstrate the advantages of such a system.