José A. Gonilha

University of Lisbon | UL · Civil Engineering Research and Innovation for Sustainability (CEris / ICIST)

Significant efforts have been made in the last decades to develop design rules and guidelines for composite structures, meeting the increasing interest in pultruded glass fibre reinforced profiles (GFRP) by the construction industry. One aspect that has been difficult to address is the crushing resistance of these profiles, with previous research i...

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the crushing behaviour of full-section pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymer (pGFRP) profiles with 11 different cross-section geometries, encompassing 6 different shapes (C, I, W, SHS, RHS, L sections). Quasi-static axial compressive tests were conducted on stub column specimens, mitigating se...

The popularity of pultruded glass-fibre reinforced polymer (pGFRP) profiles in construction stems from their lightness, strength, and durability. However, gaps remain in understanding their mechanics, notably the "true" material crushing failure. Current methodologies to estimate the compressive resistance of pGFRP profiles rely on small-scale test...

The lack of agreed design codes has been hindering the use of pultruded glass-fibre reinforced polymer (pGFRP) profiles. A gap in the literature is the unclear definition of “true” material crushing failure. Material properties used to estimate crushing resistance are based on coupon tests, but pGFRP profile behaviour differs at the full-section le...

Pultruded glass-fibre reinforced polymer (pGFRP) profiles are being increasingly used as a competitive structural material, owing to their low self-weight, high strength, high durability, and reduced maintenance requirements. However, an even wider use of pGFRP profiles is being hampered by the lack of consensual design codes. The present research...

This paper presents a numerical investigation on the behaviour of GFRP beam-to-column cleated connections, using stainless steel cleats. Finite element (FE) models were developed, using ABAQUS, simulating four different connection series, which had previously been object of experimental tests. The stainless steel materials were modelled with a buil...

Pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) profiles are increasingly finding their way in civil engineering structural applications. The design of GFRP connections between profiles is of great relevance, as they influence the members’ deflections and often govern design at ultimate limit states, being prone to brittle failure modes. The first...

The ability to numerically predict the ultimate strength of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) structures is fundamental in order to enable design methodologies not resorting exclusively to experimental tests. In the last few decades, several authors have proposed failure initiation criteria for FRP materials. However, most of the proposed models are e...

This paper presents an experimental study about the monotonic and cyclic behaviour of beam-to-column connections between pultruded GFRP profiles with I-section, joined by means of stainless steel cuff connection parts. This study pursues a previous investigation by the authors in which custom stainless steel cuff parts were proposed for beam-to-col...

The use of glass-fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) cuff parts to join GFRP beams and columns has been object of several experimental and numerical studies in the past, which showed their improved mechanical performance when compared to connection systems that mimic steel structures, such as connections with GFRP web and/or flange cleats. The main obj...

The present work focuses on the prediction of initial stiffness and strength of bolted beam-to-column connections between pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) profiles using stainless steel cleats — the first part (Martins et al., 2021) of this two-part paper presented an experimental study on the monotonic and cyclic behaviour of beam-t...

Beam-to-column connections are very relevant in the design of glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) structures, since they can (i) govern the load capacity and robustness, presenting brittle failure modes, and (ii) reduce the deflections of GFRP flexural members. This paper presents a study about the mechanical behaviour of exterior beam-to-column...

Part I [1] of this two-part paper presented the formulation of a novel progressive failure model for pultruded fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites, allowing for the 3D simulation of quasi-orthotropic FRP plates as a homogenized material, as well as the model calibration based on a set of standardized material characterization tests. Part II p...

This paper presents a novel progressive failure model for the 3D simulations of pultruded FRP structures which allows the modelling of the laminates as a homogeneous material. The failure initiation model proposed requires only the strength in each direction as input, combining them to retrieve in-plane and out-of-plane failure indexes. The damage...

Part 1 Martins et al. [1] of this two-part paper presented an experimental study of the cyclic behaviour of a novel beam-to-column sleeve connection system for pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) tubular profiles, and the numerical simulation of such behaviour. This Part 2 presents an experimental and numerical study on the sway behavio...

Pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) profiles have low weight, high strength and corrosion resistance, but their brittle failure raises concerns about their use in seismic regions. Moreover, although their static monotonic response is reasonably well understood, the cyclic and hysteretic behaviour of GFRP frame structures and their beam-...

This paper presents an experimental and numerical study about the durability of adhesively bonded joints between pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) adherends for civil engineering applications. Single lap joint (SLJ) specimens were manufactured using either epoxy (EP) or polyurethane (PUR) adhesives and exposed to the following hygroth...

In order to overcome the main mechanical drawbacks of GFRP profiles, namely their high deformability and proneness to instability phenomena, several GFRP-concrete hybrid solutions comprising bonded connections with epoxy adhesive have been proposed. Although being able to provide almost full interaction at the GFRP-concrete interface(s) (at least i...

This paper presents an experimental study on the structural behaviour of pultruded GFRP frames subjected to horizontal loads. Monotonic and cyclic tests were performed in full-scale plane frames (~3×3 m2) comprising GFRP profiles with square tubular cross-section (120×10 mm2). The beam-to-column joints comprised a connection system developed earlie...

This paper presents experimental and numerical investigations about the effects of thermal cycles on adhesively bonded joints between pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymer - unsaturated polyester (GFRP) adherends used in civil engineering structural applications. Single lap bonded joints were produced with two commercial polymeric adhesives - ep...

Owing to their high strength, lightweight and corrosion resistance, pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) profiles have been pointed out as a promising alternative to traditional structural materials. Nevertheless, widespread use has been hindered by their brittle behaviour, low elastic moduli and lack of widely accepted design guidelines...

This paper presents some numerical investigations related to the use of a new approximation function to be applied in Carrera's Unified Formulation (CUF). The main objective is to study and assess the efficiency of the CUF, when Legendre approximation functions are used at the section level, on 1D element, using an equivalent single layer (ESL) for...

Despite the increasing use of pultruded glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) profiles in civil engineering structural applications, most common beam-to-column connection systems still mimic those used in steel frame structures, not accounting for the inherent differences of mechanical properties between the GFRP and steel. Therefore, due to the lo...

The Clickhouse project, developed in cooperation between Instituto Superior Técnico, Minho University and composites manufacturer ALTO-Perfis Pultrudidos, aims at developing an emergency housing system made of composite materials. The Clickhouse is made of glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) pultruded profiles and composite sandwich panels, compr...

p>Glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) materials, and GFRP pultruded profiles in particular, have been pointed out as a long-life alternative to traditional structural materials owing to their high strength, low weight, ease of erection, corrosion resistance and low maintenance costs. However, some of the disadvantages inherent to these materials,...

There is evidence that glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) pultruded profiles are particularly susceptible to transverse compressive loads, owing to the much lower mechanical properties in the direction transverse to the pultrusion axis. Although very relevant, the understanding about the web-crippling phenomenon in GFRP pultruded profiles is sti...

The part 1 [1] of this two-part paper presented an experimental study concerning the web-crippling phenomenon on GFRP pultruded I-shaped profiles and showed that they are very sensitive to transverse compressive loads (lower mechanical properties in the transverse direction) and web-crippling failure. This part 2 reports numerical and analytical re...

There is evidence that glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) pultruded profiles are particularly susceptible to transverse compressive loads, owing to the much lower mechanical properties in the direction transverse to the pultrusion axis. Although very relevant, the understanding about the web-crippling phenomenon in GFRP pultruded profiles is sti...

The present paper describes the construction process of a full-scale innovative GFRP-concrete hybrid footbridge, and summarizes the main tests performed. This footbridge is 11 m long, 2 m wide, simply supported, and composed of two pultruded I-shaped GFRP girders (0.2 m × 0.4 m) and a 0.04 thick deck in steel fiber reinforced self-compacting concre...

Glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) pultruded profiles have been increasingly used in civil engineering structural applications in the past few decades owing to their high strength, low weight and corrosion resistance. Nevertheless, the low material moduli, which makes design most often governed by deformability and instability phenomena, the bri...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present experimental investigations on the structural behaviour of composite sandwich panels for civil engineering applications. The performance of two different core materials – rigid plastic polyurethane (PU) foam and polypropylene (PP) honeycomb – combined with glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) skins...

The use of glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) pultruded profiles as civil engineering structural materials has increased in recent years due to their high strength, low weight and corrosion resistance when compared to traditional materials. Nevertheless, the application of these profiles involves some difficulties, such as their high deformabili...

Glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) pultruded profiles are being increasingly used in bridge and building construction as an alternative to traditional materials because of their several favourable properties that include high strength, low self-weight, short installation times, low maintenance requirements and improved durability. In spite of th...

This paper presents results of analytical, experimental and numerical investigations on the mechanical behaviour of sandwich panels with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) skins. The performance of two different core materials - rigid plastic polyurethane (PU) foam and polypropylene (PP) honeycomb - and the effect of using lateral GFRP ribs alon...