Splice Connection for Tubular Section Pultruded Fibre Reinforced Polymer Members in Building Construction

Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) members made from the pultrusion process is a promising candidate for constructing durable and lightweight building structures. In this thesis, a splice connection is developed to enable the use of tubular section pultruded FRP members in structural applications. A conceptual design of splice connection is proposed as consisting of a steel bolted flange joint between two steel-FRP bonded sleeve joints. Experimental, numerical and theoretical studies are carried out to investigate the connection performances under axial, flexural and cyclic loadings. The developed splice connection exhibits satisfactory performances in terms of stiffness, strength and ductility.