Plastic mechanism analysis of steel SHS strengthened with CFRP under large axial deformation

Carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) strengthening of structures has been gaining increasing interest, traditionally in application with concrete structures, and more recently in application with steel structures. This paper presents experiments and plastic mechanism analysis of steel square hollow section (SHS) tubes strengthened using externally bonded CFRP, deforming in an axi-symmetric collapse mode under quasi-static large deformation axial compression. The fold formation process of the stub column was such that the flat sides formed the well-known roof mechanism. The collapse proceeded progressively by folding about concentrated hinge lines and yielding of the four corners. An expression for the plastic collapse axial load was obtained by equating the total energy absorbed in bending and yielding to the external work carried out during deformation of the composite tube. The predicted instantaneous post-buckling and mean collapse loads are shown to compare well with the experimental results.