Behavior of FRP chimneys under thermal and wind loads

Due to their high corrosion and chemical resistance, fiber reinforced plastic (FRP) materials are increasingly being used in the construction of industrial chimneys. However, no national code currently exists to guide the design of such type of composite structures. This thesis attempts to investigate the structural behavior of FRP chimneys under both thermal and wind loads. The study also includes a survey to identify the appropriate type of composite for chimneys applications and an experimental study for evaluating the damping of such composite.;The thermal study is conducted using an in-house developed finite element model which is used to predict values for thermal stresses that can be used in the design of FRP chimneys.;A computer code that incorporates the classical lamination theory together with a procedure previously developed by Davenport for estimating wind loads, is developed and used to study the wind behavior of FRP chimneys. An extensive parametric study for both the along and the vortex shedding responses of FRP chimneys is conducted using the developed code. Appropriate thicknesses for FRP chimneys that satisfy the strength and the fatigue limits of the material are presented in a graphical form.;Finally, dynamic testing of samples of the material, commonly used in the construction of FRP chimneys, is conducted and reveals a relatively low damping ratio for such materials.