Abstract: To enhance the utilization rate of local materials on tropical island and reduce island project construction costs and improve construction efficiency, this paper proposes a low-cost composite members form of GFRP-restrained areca palm stick and studies its basic mechanical properties. Through axial compression and four-point bending tests on 10 GFRP-areca palm stick composite member and 2 control specimens, the effects of different GFRP wrapping directions and layers on the failure mode, axial compression characteristics, and bending properties of the elements were studied. The test results show that the axial compressive bearing capacity of the GFRP-areca palm stick composite member is increased by 110.28% to 925.18% compared to the control specimen, while the bending bearing capacity is increased by 92.20% to 1 063.42%. The single direction wrapping method makes the composite specimen lack fiber constraint in the uncovered direction, causing some composite specimens to have a failure mode similar to the bare pole. Only wrapping the longitudinal and transverse directions along the entire length can provide sufficient constraint for the GFRP-areca palm stick composite member, thereby changing the failure mode of the specimen and improving its mechanical properties. The research results will provide theoretical basis for the promotion and application of GFRP-areca palm stick composite member.

Key words: glass fiber reinforced polymer(GFRP), areca palm stick, composite member, axial compression, four-point bending