Geometry and restraint effects on the bending behaviour of the glass fibre reinforced polymer sandwich slabs under point load

The behaviour of structural glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite sandwich slab was investigated under static point load. In this paper, the effects of dimensions aspect ratio, skin fibre orientations, overall thickness, boundary restraints, and boundary conditions on the static behaviour of the GFRP slab were presented. It was found that the ultimate load of the fibre composite sandwich slab is reducing with increasing panel dimension aspect ratio. The experimental results also showed that the fibre orientation of the skin has an effect on the failure mode and stiffness of the slab. As expected, the flexural stiffness of 18 mm thick slab is higher than the 15 mm thick slab. Finally, the restraint conditions did not affect much on the failure load and stiffness of the one-way and two-way slab systems.

► Investigated the static behaviour of one-way and two-way GFRP sandwich slabs.
► Fibre orientation was a key factor affecting stiffness and failure mode of slabs.
► Slab aspect had an impact on the flexural behaviour and ultimate capacity.
► The restraints at supports have minor impact on the slab behaviour.