Stability Behavior of Steel Plates and Sections Retrofitted with GFRP Plates using Finite Elements Modeling

Local buckling of steel plates, buckling of hollow columns and lateral-torsional buckling of I-shaped beams are some of the vulnerabilities of steel members against buckling. In this study, the effect of GFRP plates on improvement of stability behavior of steel plates and sections was evaluated using ABAQUS finite element software. The results indicate that using GFRP plates for strengthening steel plates leads to an enhancement in their buckling capacity, particularly for plates with higher slenderness ratio. Also, strengthening columns with GFRP plates leads to enhancement in their load carrying capacity and for retrofitting of I-shaped beams by increasing critical buckling load can be effective to delay lateral-torsional buckling, specially when the flange and web have a higher width-to-thickness ratio.