Experimental determination of the compressive strength of pultruded structural shapes

An existing coupon compression fixture was modified for testing cylindrical coupon samples of a pultruded material in compression. Then a new fixture was developed for testing full-sized structural shapes, which presents all the advantages of the coupon fixture, particularly, splitting of the end of the sample is prevented while reducing the stress concentration factor at the ends, yielding compression failures at the center of the specimen. All the fiber reinforcements of structural shapes (CSM, +/-45, and roving) were tested individually and combined to support the development of a simple model for compressive strength of structural shapes. A simple formula is developed for the prediction of the compressive strength of pultruded structural shapes. Comparisons between experimental data and predicted values are presented. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.