Compression tests on anti-symmetric two-ply GFRP cylinders

This article deals with the experimental buckling behaviour of glass fibre-reinforced plastic (GFRP) cylinders under concentric and eccentric compression. The laminates are of type 'Rovimat 1200' consisting of woven glass-fibre roving within a polyester resin matrix. Two-ply cylinders, for which the nominal radius-to-thickness ratio is about 108, with anti-symmetric lay-up of different orientation and overlapping procedure, are examined. In particular, the comparative response of cross-ply and angle-ply configurations is investigated and discussed. The results of experiments on eight models are presented including thickness and imperfection mapping, load and strain measurements as well as salient observations regarding the behaviour of each model. Systematic and automated data acquisition techniques using a laser scanning system and computer-controlled loading procedures were used in order to provide the experimental measurements in a form that can be readily used for further analytical and design studies. The results demonstrate the significant influence of laminate orientation and loading eccentricity on the buckling strength of anti-symmetric cross-ply and angle-ply GFRP cylinders. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.