Exterior weak-axis beam-to-column bolted connections between GFRP I-shaped pultruded profiles using stainless steel cleats

This paper presents an experimental investigation on the mechanical behaviour of bolted GFRP pultruded profiles beam-to-column connections, using I-shaped profiles and stainless-steel cleats, rotating around the weak-axis of the column. Using metallic cleats increases resistance, by comparison with composite cleats, using straightforward connection systems, unlike cuff connections, that can be readily used in construction. The campaign included web-cleated and flange-cleated connections, using different cleat thicknesses (4 mm, 6 mm and 8 mm), investigating the influence of the edge end distance (w.r.t. the beam end). The specimens were tested under monotonic and cyclic loads. The results show that the thickness of the cleats influences the behaviour of the flange-cleated configuration, but not that of the web-cleated connections. Additionally, while the former configuration can be considered as semi-rigid, for design, web-cleated connections should be considered as pinned. Both configurations presented significant resistance and rotation capacity, unlike connections using GFRP cleats, reported in previous research. On the other hand, the cyclic tests indicate that these connections present limited energy dissipation capacity, therefore they are not expected to contribute to dissipate energy under seismic actions. Overall, the results show that these weak-axis connections can support load bearing beams, although global structural design must avoid their (brittle) column failure modes.