Composite Structures 65 (2004) 55–64

www.elsevier.com/locate/compstruct

Fatigue behavior of adhesively connected pultruded GFRP profiles

Thomas Keller *, Tommaso Tirelli
Composite Construction Laboratory (CCLab), Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, BP Ecublens, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland
Available online 14 November 2003

Abstract
Fatigue experiments on adhesively connected pultruded profiles were performed in a laboratory environment. The first objective
was to determine if fatigue limits exist and if so, how their magnitude is compared to real shear stress amplitudes in GFRP bridge
structures subjected to fatigue loads. A further objective was to evaluate measurement methods with respect to a possible detection
of damage initiation and progression. For the investigation, a symmetric full-scale double-lap connection geometry was chosen in
order to eliminate scale effects and to minimize peeling stresses.
The experiments showed a fatigue limit at about 25% of the static failure load at 10 million cycles. This corresponds to an average
shear stress amplitude in the connections of 2.0 MPa. This value can remain far above average shear stress amplitudes due to fatigue
loading in adhesive connections of GFRP bridges. During the experiments, damage initiation and progression were not detected
with the chosen set-up. Failures always occurred in a very brittle manner without warning in the adherents.

2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Fatigue; Adhesive; Connection; Joint; Pultrusion; Profile; GFRP

1. Introduction subjected to additional drilling operations that cut and

Due to their advantageous material properties such as
high specific strength, large tolerance for frost and de-
icing salts and, furthermore, short installation times with
minimum traffic interference, fiber reinforced polymers
(FRP) are becoming valuable alternative building
materials mainly for bridge structures [1]. Today, pri-
marily pedestrian bridges and bridge decks for traffic
bridges built with cost-effective glass fibers (GFRP) are
promising applications. Thereby, mostly pultruded
structural shapes (henceforth called ‘‘profiles’’) are used.
Since GFRP bridges are very light in weight com-
pared to their live loads, the repetitive loading brings
into question the fatigue behavior of such structures
and, in particular, their connections [2]. With regard to
the connections, adhesively bonded connections are
used more and more due to their favorable behavior
with respect to anisotropic composite fiber materials [3].
Compared to bolted connections, adhesive connections
allow for a much smoother and uniform load transfer
and offer better durability because the adherents are not
*
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: thomas.keller@epfl.ch (T. Keller).
0263-8223/$ - see front matter
2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compstruct.2003.10.008
expose the fibers to environmental impact.
Research in the fatigue behavior of adhesive con-
nections has been done mainly in areas outside of civil
engineering load-carrying structures (aircraft and vehi-
cle construction). In these areas, mainly traditional
laminated FRP materials are used and the adhesive
thicknesses are very thin: far below of 1 mm. The
internal structure and the behavior of pultruded com-
ponents is, however, very different (cf. Section 2) and
much larger tolerances in the connections of civil engi-
neering structures require adhesive thicknesses of up to
20 mm [3]. Therefore, it is difficult to compare and
transfer research results between these very different
areas and modes of application.
In the field of adhesive connections of pultruded
profiles, very little research has been done up to present.
Erki et al. [4] presented results of monotonic and fatigue
tests on bolted, bonded and combined connections of
double-lap connections, with the central profile being a
tube section used to space back-to-back channel sec-
tions. The experiments showed that connections in
GFRP profiles, regardless of type, are highly sensitive to
fatigue loading and that this must be accounted for
in estimating the service life of FRP structures. Naga-
raj and Gangarao Hota [5] investigated the fatigue
56 T. Keller, T. Tirelli / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 55–64
performance of pultruded GFRP box and wide flange
beams with and without spliced flexural connections
(combined bonded/bolted). Wide flange splice connec-
tions showed a fatigue life at 1 million load cycles of 60–
80% that of sections without connection. For box sec-
tions, the fraction was 46–60%. The results illustrated
the effectiveness of bonded/bolted connections in com-
parison to bolted only connections.
At the Composite Construction Laboratory
(CCLab), two research projects were already confronted
with the question of the fatigue behavior of adhesive
connections of GFRP profiles. The first project was the
construction of the Pontresina Pedestrian Bridge in 1997
[6]. The bridge was conceived as a double-span truss
bridge of 2 · 12.50 m (cf. Fig. 1). The connections in one
of the bridge spans were bolted conventionally. Con-
nections in the second span, however, were bonded with
a two-component epoxy adhesive. All connections were
designed to be symmetrical with minimum excentricities
in order to prevent high peeling stresses. Furthermore,
prestressed bolts were added for various reasons
(redundancy, friction increase, suppression of peeling
stresses, facilitation of assembly). Compared to the
bolted span, the stiffness of the bonded span was in-
creased by 25%. The maximum average shear stresses in
the bonded connections due to full live load (5 kN/m2 )
were 0.51 MPa and thus very low (cf. Table 1). The low
stress level resulted from the stiffness-driven design of
GFRP load-carrying structures and is characteristic for
such structures.
The second research project included the develop-
ment of adhesive connections between GFRP bridge
Fig. 1. Pontresina Bridge 1997, first GFRP bridge with primary
adhesive joints (in one span).
Table 1
Average fatigue shear stress amplitudes in adhesive connections resulting from CCLab projects
CCLab projects Adherent thickness [mm]
Pontresina Pedestrian Bridge 8/10/10/8
Composite bridge girders 18/10 (steel)
Double lap connections 5/10/5
decks and steel main girders. Thereby, the adhesive
connections allowed for full composite action in that
the GFRP deck participated as the top chord of a
composite girder. Static and fatigue experiments were
performed on two full-scale composite girders with 7.50
m span (cf. Fig. 2). The second girder, loaded first with
10 million fatigue cycles according to Eurocode 1,
showed no fatigue damage in the subsequent static
experiments when compared to the first girder without
fatigue loading [3]. The shear stresses in the adhesive
connection varied between 0.05 and 0.20 MPa due to
fatigue loads and thus were also very low (cf. Table 1).
In this case, the low stress level resulted from the large
adhesive surface.
After these experiences at the CCLab it was decided
to investigate in more detail the fatigue behavior of
adhesive connections between pultruded GFRP profiles.
The first objective was to determine if fatigue limits exist
and if so, how their magnitude is compared to real shear
stress amplitudes in bridge structures subjected to fati-
gue loads. Thereby, the investigations were limited to
average shear stresses while the real shear and peeling
stress distributions were not yet considered in this pro-
ject stage. A further objective was to evaluate mea-
surement methods with respect to a possible detection of
damage (crack) initiation and progression.
For the investigation, a symmetric full-scale double-
lap connection geometry was chosen in order to elimi-
nate scale effects and to minimize peeling stresses. The
dimensions corresponded to those of the Pontresina
Bridge (cf. Table 1); the same type of pultruded profiles
from the same manufacturer were used.
Fig. 2. Adhesively bonded GFRP bridge deck on steel girder during
fatigue experiment.
Adhesive surface [mm · mm] Shear stress amplitude Dsa [MPa]
2 · 120 · 140 0.26 (50% live load)
194 · 7900 0.15 (EC 1 fatigue loads)
2 · 100 · 100 2.0 (fatigue limit)
 T. Keller, T. Tirelli / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 55–64 57

2. Material properties

Pultruded GFRP profiles with flat rectangular sec-

tions were used, as before to minimize the excentricities.
The material consisted of E-glass fibers embedded in an
isophthalic polyester resin. Contrary to traditional
laminated materials, the fiber architecture comprises
mainly unidirectional rovings towards the center and
one or two combined mats towards the outside (cf. Figs.
3 and 4). The combined mats consisted of chopped
strand mats (CSM) as well as woven mats 0/90 of
different weights, both stitched together. Furthermore, a
polyester surface veil (40 g/m2 ) was added. The fiber
fractions are listed in Table 2. They were determined by
weighing specimen before and after a resin burn-off in a
furnace at 450 C. The volume fractions were calculated
using an E-glass density of 2.56 g/cm3 .
Since the fatigue behavior is highly influenced by
internal material defects and voids, some cross-sections
were investigated by means of a microscope. The anal-
ysis showed a very good embedment of the fibers with-
out any voids (cf. Fig. 4). Fig. 4. Microscopic section through a 10 mm GFRP profile. Rovings
A multitude of single profiles were investigated stat- in the center, mats on the outside.
ically in tension. The resulting global material properties
are summarized in Table 3. Listed are average values
and standard deviations of failure stresses, failure strains
as well as E-modules. The behavior of the profiles was
linear-elastic up to failure. The failure load of the 5 mm
profiles was approximately 30% higher than the failure
load of the 10 mm profiles, mainly due to the higher
UD-fiber fraction (cf. Table 2). The results differ con-
siderably from the supplier’s design manual values,
which are conservative. The latter are also indicated in
Table 3 in brackets.
The two-component epoxy adhesive used was inves-
tigated in an earlier project in tension according to ISO
527 and in compression according to ASTM 695 [7].
Average values and standard deviations from five
experiments are each reported in Table 4. The behavior
in tension was linear-elastic up to brittle failure. The
behavior in compression was elasto-plastic. Clear failure
Fig. 3. Fiber architecture of a 10 mm GFRP profile after matrix burn- initiations could not be detected because the specimen
off (without surface veil). were slowly crushed.

Table 2
Fiber architecture and fractions by volume and weight of the pultruded profiles used
Reinforcement Profiles 100 · 5 mm Profiles 100 · 10 mm
Architecture % by vol. % by weight Architecture % by vol. % by weight
Rovings (UD) 4:1 straight and 37 53 4:1 straight and 32 47
blown blown
Combined mats: 2·1 2·2
– CSM [g/m2 ] 300 5 7 450 6 9
– Woven 0/90 150/150 5 7 300/300 8 11
Total 47 67 46 67
58 T. Keller, T. Tirelli / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 55–64

Table 3
Tension experiment results for pultruded GFRP profiles (available supplier properties)
Profiles Failure stress [MPa] Failure strain [%] E-modulus [MPa]
100 · 5 mm (8 specimen) 434 ± 18 (240) 1.38 ± 0.19 34,348 ± 620 (23,000)
100 · 10 mm (8 specimen) 332 ± 14 (240) 1.03 ± 0.07 32,525 ± 1330 (23,000)

Table 4
Tension and compression experiment results for the epoxy adhesive
Loading Stress [MPa] Strain [%] E-modulus [MPa]
Tension (ISO 527) (5 specimen) 38.1 ± 2.1 (failure) 0.97 ± 0.13 (failure) 4552 ± 138
Compression ASTM 695 )80.7 ± 2.6 (maximum) )3.68 ± 0.08 (maximum) 3050 ± 33
(5 specimen)

3. Experimental set-up

3.1. Specimen and set-up

The experimental set-up and the specimen dimensions

are shown in Figs. 5 and 6. The double-lap specimens
consisted of two profiles 500 · 100 · 5 mm lying outside
and one profile 500 · 100 · 10 mm lying inside. In this
way, the cross-sections were constant 100 · 10 mm and
the excentricities were minimized. An exception was
specimen F9 (cf. Table 5) where profiles of 6 and 12 mm
thickness were used. The adhesively bonded overlaps
had the dimensions 100 · 100 mm. The adhesive thick-

Fig. 6. Experiment set-up: specimen clamped between the hydraulicly

controlled jaws.

nesses were always 2 mm, ensured by means of the

Fig. 5. Experiment specimen with strain and temperature gages.
addition of some glass fiber beads of this diameter in the
adhesive layers. Total specimen lengths of 900 mm re-
sulted.
The specimens were clamped into a Schenk Hydro-
puls-Zylinder Typ PL testing machine with a capacity of
1000 kN in static and 800 kN in cyclic loading (tension
as well as compression) and possible deformations of up
to 250 mm. The diameter of the horizontal hydraulic-
controlled circular jaws was 150 mm. The specimen
length between the grips was 600 mm. At the specimen
ends with the two 5 mm profiles, spacer plates were
placed between the profiles in order to ensure a clamping
 T. Keller, T. Tirelli / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 55–64 59

Table 5
Overview of experimental program and results
Experiment/speci- Load range DF Amplitude ratio R Shear stress % of ultimate load Frequency [Hz] No. of cycles up to
men [kN] amplitude Ds failure Nf
[MPa]
S1–S3 0–148 ± 9 – 7.4 ± 0.5 100 – 1
F1 13–135 0.10 6.1 91 1 132
F2 11–110 0.10 5.0 74 1 130
F3 11–101 0.11 4.5 68 5 5452
F4 9–90 0.10 4.1 61 5 29,038
F5 9–90 0.10 4.1 61 5 85,358
F6 12–88 0.14 3.8 59 5 54,611
F7 10–56 0.18 2.3 38 10 3,926,255
F8 5–45 0.11 2.0 30 10 13,238,467 not
failed, cracked
F9 4–30 0.13 1.3 20 5 3,268,994
148 statically 7.2 statically Not failed
F10 4–29 0.14 1.3 20 10 10,676,849
150 statically 7.4 statically Not failed

free of additional constraints. The experiments were
performed in a laboratory environment at room tem-
perature without impact of temperature changes or
moisture.
3.2. Instrumentation and measurements
The specimens were instrumented on the outside of
the profiles by four strain gages each. Gages were placed
above and below the bonded overlap in order to mea-
sure the axial strain progression in longitudinal direction
during the fatigue experiments (cf. Fig. 5). Strain gages
of the type 6/120 LY13, produced by Hottinger Baldwin
Messtechnik GmbH were used. The carrier dimensions
of these gages were 6 · 13 mm, the grid sizes were 2.8 · 6
mm with an electric resistance of 120 X.
Furthermore, the room temperature and the tem-
perature of the overlap during the fatigue experiments
was measured with two thermocouples (cf. Fig. 5). All
the data was registered with a HBM Spider 8. Recapit-
ulating, the recorded measurements were the progres-
sions of load and global elongation (measured by the
Schenk), as well as axial strains and room and specimen
temperature.
In addition, the failure of one specimen (F3, cf. Table
tension at an amplitude ratio of R ¼ 0:1 and at different
upper boundary values from 20% up to 90% of the
average static failure load of the reference specimens.
The fatigue experiments were performed load-controlled
at frequencies up to 10 Hz. No increase in temperature
were measured even at these comparably high frequen-
cies (cf. Fig. 7). The fatigue experiments were conducted
up to failure or to a maximum of 10 million load cycles.
In bridge construction, 10 million load cycles corre-
spond to about 600 truck loads per day per lane during
250 days per year and during 70 years of service life.
Experiments F8 and F9 had to be stopped after
13.2 · 106 , resp. 3.2 · 106 cycles due to time constraints.
Specimen not failed during fatigue loading were subse-
quently statically loaded up to failure in the same
fashion as the reference specimen. The parameter com-
binations used are represented in Table 5.
3
F8 (13.21⋅06 cycles)
6
2.5 ⋅ cycles)
F10 (10.6 10
2
1.5
1
∆T [°C]

5) could be studied with the aid of a high-frequency

0.5
camera recording at up to 2000 frames per second.
0

3.3. Experimental program —0.5

—1
First, three reference specimens were investigated by
means of static failure experiments (S1–S3) without —1.5
precedent fatigue loading. The specimens were loaded in —2
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
uni-axial tension up to failure, displacement-controlled
N/N f
at a rate of 0.6 mm/min.
Subsequently, 10 fatigue experiments (F1–F10) were Fig. 7. Difference between room and specimen temperature at a fre-
conducted. The specimens were sinusoidally loaded in quency of 10 Hz.
60 T. Keller, T. Tirelli / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 55–64

4. Experimental results

4.1. Results of the static failure experiments

The measured load–global elongation behaviors of

the reference specimens S1–S3 as well as of the non-
failed specimens F9 and F10 after fatigue loading are
shown in Fig. 8. The behaviors were almost linear-elastic
up to brittle failures. The specimen F9 (after 3.2 · 106
cycles) and F10 (after 1 · 107 cycles) showed no signifi-
cant change in the behavior in neither failure load and
elongation nor in global stiffness; they were even slightly
stiffer than the reference specimen. The average shear
stresses in the connections, calculated by dividing the
failure loads by the adhesive surfaces, are reported in Fig. 9. Failure mode of specimen F5 (failure after 85,358 cycles).
Table 5.
In all static experiments (S1–S3, F9 and F10) inter-
laminar adherent failure occurred outside of the outer
mat or between the two mats on the outside of the 10
mm profile. Failure never occurred in the adhesive (no
cohesion failures) or in the interface between adhesives
and profiles (no adhesion failures).

4.2. Results of the fatigue experiments

4.2.1. Failure behavior

In experiments F1–F7, the specimens failed during
the cyclic loading. The failure modes were identical to
the failure modes of the static experiments (cf. Section
4.1). Interlaminar adherent failures occurred in the 10
mm profiles between the surface veils and the inner of
the two mats (cf. Fig. 9). The failures were very brit-
Fig. 10. Crack propagation in the last cycle of specimen F3, observed
tle without announcement by visible cracks on the
with a high-frequency camera.
specimen surfaces or deformations. This behavior was
confirmed by the observation of specimen F3 with a

high-frequency camera. As Fig. 10 shows, the crack

180 formation and propagation happened within the last
cycle (frequency 5 Hz). The crack started in the adhesive
160
fillet, at the location of maximum peeling stresses and
140 then entered directly into the 10 mm profile at a 45
angle. It continued in the profile in parallel to the
120
adhesive interface.
Load [kN]

100 Only one exception to the aforementioned behavior

could be noted: in the comparatively lightly loaded
80
specimen F8, a visible crack of 18 mm length formed at
60 exactly the same location as is shown in Fig. 10 at
approximately 4.1 million cycles. In contrary to all other
40 S1
S2 specimen, the crack remained stable without visible
S3
20 6
F9 (after 10.6 ⋅10 fatigue cycles) growth up to 13.2 million cycles, where the experiment
6
F10 (after 3.2 ⋅ 10 fatigue cycles) was stopped.
0
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Elongation [mm]
4.2.2. Fatigue life curves
Fig. 8. Measured load–global elongation behavior of specimens S1–S3 Figs. 11 and 12 show the resulting fatigue life curves:
(first cycle) and specimens F9/F10 after fatigue loading. Fig. 11 in the typical logarithmic representation, Fig. 12
 T. Keller, T. Tirelli / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 55–64 61

in a linear representation. The average shear stress
amplitudes in the connection, Ds, and the fraction values
are indicated, the latter normalized with respect to the
average ultimate shear stress, su , from the static failure
experiments (7.4 MPa, cf. Table 5). In Fig. 11, a straight
line was fitted to the measured values. Thereby, only the
failed specimens were considered. The correlation coef-
ficient of the linear least-squares fit is 0.95 and therefore
very high. The equation of the fitted straight line is
Ds ¼ 7:32  0:32  log N
where 0.32 is the slope of the straight line.
The linear representation in Fig. 12 shows a high
drop in the fatigue resistance down to approximately
30% of the ultimate static value within the first million
cycles. Subsequently, the values stabilize and a fatigue
limit of approximately 25% of the ultimate static value
or approximately 2.0 MPa average shear stress ampli-
tude (at R ¼ 0:1) can be seen at 10 million cycles.
4.2.3. Strain and stiffness degradation
The progressions of the average strain amplitudes,
Dea2 , of strain gages 3 and 4 on the 5 mm profiles,
outside of the connection, are shown in Fig. 13 for some
selected experiments. The abscissa is normalized with
respect to the number of cycles at failure (Nf ). The
ð1Þ strains remained almost constant and, therefore, showed
no sign of damage initiation or progression in the pro-
files themselves. The strain measurements on the 10 mm
profiles showed the same results.
Fig. 14 illustrates the progressions of the stiffnesses,
EAc , in the connections themselves which were calcu-
lated as follows:
EAc ¼ ðDF  lc Þ=Dlc ð2Þ

with
8 1.0
0.9
Dlc ¼ Dltot  Dea1  lp  Dea2  lp ð3Þ
7
0.8
6 where DF represents the load range, lc the length of the
0.7
connection, Dlc the elongation of the connection, lp
∆τ [MPa]

5 0.6
[-]

the length outside the connection (cf. Fig. 5), Dea1 the
τ/τ u mean

4 0.5 measured average strain amplitude from gages 1 and 2

3 0.4 on the 10 mm profile, Dea2 the measured average strain
0.3 amplitude from gages 3 and 4 on the 5 mm profiles and
2 →

→
0.2 Dltot the measured total specimen elongation by the
→
1 0.1 Schenk. Again, the progression curves remained con-
0 0 stant. The focus on the connections themselves showed
10
0 1
10 10
2
10
3
10
4
10 10
5 6
10
7
10
8 neither any signs of damage initiation nor progression
Number of cycles N before the brittle failures occurred.

Fig. 11. Fatigue life curve in logarithmic representation.

F1 91% u.l. (132 cycles)

F2 74% u.l. (130 cycles)
0.5 F3 68% u.l. (5452 cycles)
F8 30% u.l. (13´238´467 cycles)
8 1.0 F10 20% u.l. (10´676´849 cycles)

7 0.9 0.4
0.8
[%]

6
0.7 0.3
a2
[-]

5
∆ε
∆τ [MPa]

0.6
τ/τ u mean

4 0.5 0.2
3 0.4
0.3 0.1
2 →
0.2
→ fatigue limit →
1 0.1 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
0 0
0 5 10 15 N/Nf
6
Number of cycles N x 10
Fig. 13. Measured average axial strain amplitudes on the 5 mm pro-
Fig. 12. Fatigue life curve in linear representation, fatigue limit. files in function of the number of cycles (normalized).
62 T. Keller, T. Tirelli / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 55–64

4
x 10 10
2 F1 91% u.l. (132 cycles)
F2 74% u.l. (130 cycles)
9 F8 30% u.l. (13´238´467 cycles)
F10 20% u.l. (10´676´849 cycles)

Absorbed hysteresis energy

1.8 8

7
1.6
6
[kN]

5
c

1.4
EA

4
1.2 3

2
1 F1 91% u.l. (132 cycles)
F2 74% u.l. (130 cycles) 1
F3 68% u.l. (5452 cycles)
F8 30% u.l. (13´238´467 cycles)
0.8 0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1
N/N f
N/N
f
Fig. 16. Absorbed hysteresis energies in function of the number of
Fig. 14. Calculated connection stiffness in function of the number of cycles (normalized).
cycles (normalized).

4.2.4. Hysteresis behavior
The first-cycle load–elongation loops are shown in
Fig. 15 for some selected experiments. Represented are
the load, DF , and the elongation of the connection, Dlc .
The specimen showed neither an increase in the loop
width nor a slope decrease or a lateral shift (extension of
the envelopes on the abscissa) up to the failures or stops
of the non-failed specimen. A change in the progression
of these parameters would have pointed to a damage
initiation. Furthermore, Fig. 16 illustrates the absorbed
hysteresis energy, calculated as the integral of the loop
areas. Again, no signs of damage initiation or progres-
sion could be detected: the absorbed energy remained
almost constant up to failure.
5. Discussion
5.1. Comparison to comparable works and other materials
A comparison of the CCLab results with the previ-
ously mentioned results from Erki and Nagaraj, the
latter converted in average shear stress amplitudes, is
shown in Fig. 17. The fitted straight lines match quite
well and the slopes are similar.
Furthermore, a comparison to the behavior of welded
steel joints is represented in Fig. 18. The slope of the
fatigue life curve of the latter is constant and amounts to
1:3 for up to 5 million cycles. From 5 million to 100
million cycles the comparable slope is 1:5 [8]. The slope

7
CCLab
140 Erki et al.
6 Nagaraj et al. (wide flange beams)
Nagaraj et al. (box beams)
120
5
100
∆τ [MPa]

4
Load [kN]

80
3
60
2 →
40
→ →
1
F1 91% u.l. (132 cycles)
20 F2 74% u.l. (130 cycles)
F8 30% u.l. (13´238´467 cycles)
F10 20% u.l. (10´676´849 cycles)
0
3 4 5 6 7
0 10 10 10 10 10
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1 Number of cycles N
Connection elongation [mm]
Fig. 17. Comparison of the fatigue live curves with results from Erki
Fig. 15. First-cycle load–elongation loops of the connections. et al. [4] and Nagaraj et al. [5].
 T. Keller, T. Tirelli / Composite Structures 65 (2004) 55–64
Fig. 18. Comparison of the fatigue live curves of adhesive GFRP
profile connections and welded steel connections.
of the adhesive GFRP connections, however, is much
flatter with 1:10. Therefore, adhesive connections of
GFRP profiles are much more sensitive to small changes
in the load amplitude than steel connections (cf. also
Erki et al. [4]).
5.2. Fatigue limit
The experiments showed a fatigue limit at about 25%
of the static failure load or at 2.0 MPa average shear
stress amplitude at R ¼ 0:1 and 10 million cycles. Al-
though this fatigue limit is very low, it can still remain
far above the fatigue stress amplitudes in adhesive
connections of typical GFRP bridge structures, as can
be seen in Table 1. These fatigue stress amplitudes are,
in general, very low due to the previously mentioned
reasons, under the condition that peeling stresses are
limited by minimizing excentricities. It should be noted,
however, that experiments were performed in a labora-
tory environment without the impact of temperature
changes or moisture. The influence of the latter must still
be investigated.
5.3. Damage progression and failure behavior
Damage initiation and progression before failure
could not be detected with the chosen measurement set-
up (measurement of loads, total elongations and axial
strains). However, it cannot be concluded that no
damage in the form of micro-cracks inside the materials
occurred during the experiments. Also, the very brittle
failures occurred without warning in that no signs of
imminent failure such as macro-cracks on the specimen
surfaces were visible or audible. There was one excep-
tional specimen, subjected to a comparatively low stress
63
amplitude, that began to visibly crack at the location of
maximum peeling stresses in the connection. The crack
remained stable, such that neither the crack length nor
the width grew during 9.1 million load cycles.
The fatigue failure mode matched the static failure
mode and always occurred in the adherents between the
surface veils and the inner mats.
6. Conclusions
Fatigue experiments on adhesively connected pul-
truded profiles were performed in a laboratory envi-
ronment. Frequencies of up to 10 Hz were used with no
increase in specimen temperature. The experiments
showed a fatigue limit at approximately 25% of the
static failure load at 10 million cycles. This corresponds
to an average shear stress amplitude in the connections
of 2.0 MPa. This value can remain far above average
shear stress amplitudes due to fatigue loading in adhe-
sive connections of GFRP bridges, as was illustrated by
two previous CCLab projects. During the experiments,
damage initiation and progression were not detected
with the chosen set-up. Failures always occurred in a
very brittle manner without warning in the adherents.
In a further project stage, the determinant parameters
with respect to the fatigue behavior of adhesively con-
nected pultruded GFRP profiles will be investigated in
more detail. These parameters comprise adhesive prop-
erties, adherent configuration, connection geometry,
loading parameters, and, in particular, different envi-
ronmental conditions. It will be attempted to detect
possible damage initiation and progression in the form
of micro-cracks by ultrasonic and thermographic mea-
surement methods. Possible fatigue limits will be com-
pared systematically to stress amplitudes resulting from
real fatigue loadings of bridges.
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to acknowledge the support of the
Swiss Innovation Promotion Agency CTI, Sika AG
Switzerland (supplier of the adhesives) and Fiberline
Composites A/S Denmark (supplier of the pultruded
profiles).
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