Investigation of wear performance of GFRP profiles under different environmental conditions

Continuous exposure to external factors leads to loss of physical and mechanical properties in building materials due to wear effects. There is little information available on the wear performance of glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite profiles, whose usage areas are increasing, under various conditions. In this study, the aim is to determine the wear performance of GFRP box profiles under different conditions. To evaluate the wear performance of GFRP profiles under various conditions, their performance was compared with the wear performance of concrete under different strengths and conditions. The effects of fiber direction, temperature, and cold conditions on the wear performance of GFRP box profiles were investigated. The effects of compressive strength, age of concrete, humidity status, temperature, and cold conditions on the wear performance of concrete were experimentally determined and compared. The wear results of GFRP profiles tested in the Böhme wear test machine and the wear results of concrete in three strength classes were evaluated and compared under different conditions. In addition, the test numbers were increased using the Monte Carlo Simulation method to evaluate the possible result range. The wear losses of GFRP profiles increase with increasing temperature while they perform well under cold conditions. It was observed that GFRP box profiles in the horizontal fiber direction exhibited greater mass and volume loss. Concrete showed a decrease in mass loss as compressive strength increased. Similarly, the wear loss in concrete decreased as the age of the concrete increased, with the greatest mass and volume loss occurring in 3-day-old concrete.