Fatigue behaviour of bolted connections in pultruded FRP profiles

AbstractA number of static and fatigue tests of normal bolted connections and resin injected bolted connections using 'injection bolts' have been carried out on pultruded FRP structures. In constructions using pultruded FRP profiles, bolted connections are commonly applied. For this type of connection special precautions must be taken. The thread of the bolt must not be in the area of the connecting sections, which requires different bolts for different thicknesses of the connection. In addition, to limit the displacements, the tolerance between bolt shaft and bolt hole must be limited compared with bolted connections in steel, in which pre-stressed connections can be used. These precautions are unnecessary when 'injection bolts' are applied, in which the clearance between the bolt and the bolt hole is injected with resin. An additional advantage is that no separate sealing needs to be applied after drilling the bolt hole.Fatigue tests for R=0 1, R=-1, and one test for R=10 were carried out on connections...