Preliminary development of polymer based filler materials for GFRP tubular connector

Abstract

New fillers confined with Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) circular tubes provide a suitable structural member for a variety of applications including piles, columns and provide very high strength in compression. The filament architecture plays an important role in the properties of the tube to pro-vide the confinement to the filler. Apart from providing confinement, GFRP tubes also serve as formwork and protect filler from deterioration. In this paper, a preliminary development of polymer based filler materials for GFRP tubular connector is discussed as a substitute of conventional concrete fillers. Sample trial mixes were considered based on several weight percentages of polymer resin, fly ash and sand. Material parameters such as compressive strength, stiffness, shrinkage and gel time were achieved from the experimental investigation. It has been found that most polymer based trial mixed fillers have high compressive strength and considerable plastic region with more than 10% strain. However, the behavior of fillers with GFRP confinement under dif-ferent loading conditions is yet to be fully understood.