Fiber reinforced plastics lack design codes and appropriate specificat
ions far the structural engineer to use these materials as a construct
ion material. The need for the development of definitive guidance and
criteria for the design and performance of fiber reinforced plastics a
nd composite materials is essential for widespread applications of the
se materials. This investigation, like many others, is expected to con
tribute to the better understanding of the behavior of fiber reinforce
d plastics. The findings of an experimental study are presented here.
The study focuses on the effect of velocity on the impact behavior of
pultruded composite box-beams. The investigation concentrates on deter
mining the critical design parameters for using pultruded box-beams as
roadside barriers. A standard drop weight MTS machine is used for the
impact tests. All tests specimens are simply supported and are impact
ed at mid-span. Static tests and impact tests at different impact velo
cities are performed to determine the loading rate sensitivity of the
pultruded box-beams. In addition, the effect of the impact velocity on
the failure mode is investigated. Two different resin systems are con
sidered. These resins are polyester and vinylester. (C) 1997 Elsevier
Science Ltd.