Recommendations for the optimum design of pultruded frameworks

Conclusions For the optimum choice of pultruded beam members in frameworks there is a need to have a greater understanding of framework behavior under load. Research on the lateral-torsional buckling of a symmetric I-section has shown how much the resistance may be affected by the loading position and the support boundary conditions. By changing the warping at the connections from free, as assumed in the USA design manual, to fixed, as may be achieved with practical connection designs it is shown that there is a potential doubling in the buckling resistance. In addition, practical connections have some initial stiffness and moment resistance, thus the connections behave in a semirigid manner. This connection behavior makes inappropriate the present procedure for choosing beam sections on the basis of limiting deflection for a simply supported member. It is proposed that research be conducted to establish the potential of semirigid design, as now being used with structural steelwork. Results from such research should provide the first stage in the process for the optimum design of frameworks.Published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 29, No. 5, pp. 675–682, September–October, 1993.