Influence of web/flange reinforcement on the GFRP bonded beams mechanical response: A comparison with experimental results and a numerical prediction

This paper presents a wide numerical investigation about the influence of an external reinforcement of the web/flange connection on the performance of beams obtained by bonding simple panels to each other by means of epoxy resin.Within this framework, two different models were developed: a 2D-model and a 3D-model. The 2D-model was used to understand the role played by the bonding joints in the experimental tests previously performed and to understand the influence of different types of reinforcements on the stress distribution in the adhesive layer. The 3D-model was implemented in order to study the influence of different web/flange reinforcements on the mechanical response of bonded beams and to predict their failure load and flexural stiffness.The numerical results have shown how it is possible to obtain, for these new bonded beams, levels of performance higher than those of the current pultruded beams, allowing us to consider the bonding system proposed as highly competitive in the field of construction of pultruded profiles.