First-order, buckling and post-buckling behaviour of GFRP pultruded beams. Part 2: Numerical simulation

This work deals with the numerical evaluation of the structural response of simply supported (transversally loaded at mid-span) and cantilever (subjected to tip point loads) beams built from a commercial pultruded I-section GFRP profile. In particular, the paper addresses the beam (i) geometrically linear behaviour in service conditions, (ii) local and lateral-torsional buckling behaviour, and (iii) lateral-torsional post-buckling behaviour, including the effect of the load point of application location. The numerical results are obtained by means of (i) novel Generalised Beam Theory (GBT) beam finite element formulations, able to capture the influence of the load point of application, and (ii) shell finite element analyses carried out in the code ABAQUS. These numerical results are compared with (i) the experimental values reported and discussed in the companion paper (Part 1) and (ii) values provided by analytical formulae available in the literature. (C) 2011 Civil-Comp Ltd and Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.