Web-crippling of GFRP pultruded profiles. Part 2: Numerical analysis and design

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 results aiming at a better understanding of the web-crippling phenomenon and providing enough data to complement the observations made in the experimental campaign. The scope of these studies was to predict and replicate the behaviour exhibited by the four different GFRP profiles tested (I100, I120, I200 and I400) when subjected to different transverse loading configurations (ETF and ITF) and bearing lengths (varying from 15 to 100 mm). Shell finite element (SFE) models with the Tsai Hill failure criterion were developed in ABAQUS, aiming at simulating the experimental tests performed in part 1. This procedure enabled the comparison of the numerical results with the experimental data, as well as the observation of the stress fields and damage evolution. In general, these models presented good agreement with the test results. An analytical formula was also developed to predict the web-crippling load of GFRP profiles and presented very good agreement with the test results.