ABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of an experimental and numerical study to determine the compression strength of Glass Reinforced Plastic (GRP) C-shaped channels at different elevated temperatures. A pair of grooved steel end plates was used to restrain the test specimen under compression. The elastic stress strain relationships for a transversely isotropic material were constructed with appropriate material properties. A numerical modelling study utilising the commercial finite element package ABAQUS has been performed to simulate elevated temperature tests on short GRP columns. Good agreement is achieved confirming the accuracy of the ABAQUS model and the appropriateness of using the proposed material properties.
