Experimental study on structural responses of fibre glass plates under lateral moving

ABSTRACT

Experiments and numerical simulations of moving (sliding) loads on steel grillage structures have demonstrated a significant difference in plastic capacity when subject to moving loads versus stationary loads. If a moving load induces plastic deformation, a grillage structure’s plastic capacity can be dramatically less; even if the load is otherwise tolerable as a stationary load. For fibre reinforced plastic materials, which are commonly used in lifeboat hulls, any effects due to moving (sliding) loads are widely unknown. This paper presents selected results from laboratory moving (sliding) load tests on fibre glass plates using a moving load apparatus. The results identify an increase of damaged plies due to the effects of moving loads at high deformations, compared to similar stationary loads. It was further observed that moving loads can lead to a fracture of the hull at lower forces or deflections in comparison with stationary loads.

KEYWORDS:

• Moving load
• sliding load
• fibreglass
• FRP
• fracture

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

M. Wulff http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3175-5046

B. W. T. Quinton http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3786-5019

Notes

1 A burn test is a standard test used in FRP experimental programs to determine the fibre–resin ratio for the FRP layup. Fibre–resin ratio has a great effect on the mechanical properties of FRP, and is necessary to characterize the aggregate material.

2 Note: Due to technical issues with the cold room during the testing period, it was not possible to conduct any tests at temperatures other than room temperature.

3 The start position is 0.5 mm lower than the moving load measuring point.

4 The height difference was measured before each test and is listed as $\mathrm{\Delta }z=z_{-550}-z_{550}$.