Abstract
An investigation was undertaken into the structural behaviour of skeletal systems, manufactured from pultruded fibre reinforced polyester (f. r. p. ), also into the structural characteristics of pultruded f. r. p. and into the reliability of the material and structural systems. The study applied theoretical and experimental methods to single member elements and to the main classes of skeletal space structures. The testing of single members was undertaken to determine the properties of the material and to assess its degree of variability. A computer program was developed for the non-linear analysis of skeletal structures manufactured from pultruded f. r. p. members. The program was used for the analysis of full scale models, and in addition, was used to undertake a theoretical parameter investigation to study the methods of improving the performance of these skeletal systems. The experimental testing of the various models was carried out to study the structural performance up to failure, in both the pre and post-buckling states, to assess the validity of the non-linear analysis program developed for this research, and also to compare the linear and non-linear methods of analysis of the various systems. The need for the non-linear method of analysis for the f. r. p. skeletal structures, especially for the flexible type is shown when the experimental behaviour of a skeletal dome is compared with the theoretical computer linear and non-linear analyses. The cases in which the linear method of analysis can be utilized and its limitation for the skeletal f. r. p. structures are clearly pointed out. Various aspects of the behaviour of the f. r. p. members and structural assemblies such as the deformability, recovery and mode of failure are obtained. The importance of the combination of more than one type of f. r. p. members on the structural efficiency is shown.