EXPERIMENTAL AND ANALYTICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE EFFECT OF LAYER NUMBER AND THICKNESS ON THE BENDING PROPERTIES OF GLULAM BEAMS

Abstract

Wooden material is used in structural elements due to its many positive properties. Recent years have witnessed a surge in research directed toward enhancing the mechanical properties of wooden beams through the utilization of materials like steel plates and fiber reinforced polymers (FRP). Layered laminated timber, a composite material crafted from wood, serves as a testament to this endeavor. These laminated timbers constitute intricate engineering elements, fashioned from layers of wood characterized by distinct levels of strength and hardness, systematically arranged as per established guidelines. The present study is geared toward a comprehensive examination of the bending characteristics exhibited by glued beams, fashioned from spruce trees, encompassing six distinct sizes and varying layer counts. The manufacturing process yields beams with diverse cross-sectional profiles, including 3-layer and 7-layer variants. By performing 4-point bending tests of the beams, maximum load carrying capacity, bending strength, and elasticity modulus values were obtained experimentally. In addition to the experimental analyses, numerical models of the produced beams were created using the finite element analysis program, and static analyses were performed. In the experimental results, it was observed that the bending properties of the beams increased as the number and size of layers increased. It was determined that the maximum load carrying capacity, bending strength, and elasticity modulus values obtained as a result of experimental and numerical analysis were very close to each other. Numerical analysis results showed that beams produced with various number of layers and thicknesses can be simulated. It has been determined that the results obtained by creating numerical models instead of experimental analyses for this type of wooden beam may be sufficient.