An experimental and analytical approach for characterization of pultruded Fiber Reinforced Plastic (FRP) wide-flange (WF) beams is presented. Assuming a symmetric laminated structure for the pultruded sections, micro/macromechanics models combined with an explicit stability solution and a failure criterion are integrated into a computer program (FRPBEAM) for the analysis and optimal design of pultruded FRP shapes. The response of full-size WF sections with two different material architectures are studied experimentally and correlated with predictions by FRPBEAM. The experimental/analytical evaluation described in this paper is used to propose a comprehensive design approach for FRP beams.
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