Flexural performance of hybrid beams made of glass and pultruded GFRP

This study is aimed at the investigation of hybrid beams specially constructed by coupling glass and pultruded fibreglass profiles. The investigation consists of a study of the flexural behaviour of the hybrid system using four-point bending tests, preceded by adhesion tests to check the validity of the bond between the two components. The goal is to find the technological solution for a beam that reaches a first cracking load value high enough to ensure its use in a wide range of applications. This solution should also show a post-critical ductile behaviour suitable enough to prevent the typical fragile fracture of glass structural elements. The most important effect of the pultruded profile is the contribution given in the post-critical phase, since it allows the cracked beam to transfer the stresses. Analytical modelling based on the load-deformation characteristics using simple calculations was performed in order to interpret the experimental results in a fast and simple way and to obtain more in-depth knowledge on the behaviour of the structural elements tested. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.