STRUCTURAL STUDY OF FRP COMPOSITE PILE UNDER AXIAL COMPRESSION LOAD USING FINITE ELEMENT METHOD

Abstract

FRP-concrete- steel is a new hybrid composite structural member combines the privileges confined compressive strength of concrete and the ductility of steel to produce a lighter in weight member with considerable carrying capacity. In this research the FRP hybrid member was utilized as a pile which is a special case of FRP concrete filled pile with a hollow steel tube inside. F.E modeling were carried out for this new hybrid pile using the computer program ABAQUS, in which confined concrete model was included through the Concrete Damage Plasticity model. Verification of the model was implemented through the simulation of experimentally tested specimens, good agreement were achieved between experimental and F.E results. The F.E model was considered in studying the effects of FRP tube thickness, steel tube thickness, Hollowness ratio and stiffness of concrete. The results were presented in terms of axial load-axial strain curves. It has been found that the axial strength ratio increased as the stiffness of concrete, steel, and FRP increased while it decreased with the increase of hollowness ratio.