Wood is a hygro-mechanical, non-isotropic and inhomogeneous material concerning both modulus of elasticity (MOE) and shrinkage properties. In stress calculations associated with ordinary timber design, these matters are often not dealt with properly. The main reason for this is that stress distributions in inhomogeneous glued laminated members (glulams) and in composite beams exposed to combined mechanical action and variable climate conditions are extremely difficult to predict by hand. Several experimental studies of Norway spruce have shown that the longitudinal modulus of elasticity and the longitudinal shrinkage coefficient vary considerably from pith to bark.
The question is how much these variations affect the stress distribution in wooden structures exposed to variable moisture climate. The paper presents a finite element implementation of a beam element with the aim of studying how wooden composites behave during both mechanical and environmental load action. The beam element is exposed to both axial and lateral deformation. The material model employed concerns the elastic, shrinkage, mechano-sorption and visco-elastic behaviour of the wood material. It is used here to simulate the behaviour of several simplysupported and continuous composite beams subjected to both mechanical and environmental loading to illustrate the advantages this can provide. The results indicate clearly both the inhomogeneity of the material and the variable moisture action occurring to have had a significant effect on the stress distribution within the cross-section of the products that were studied.
A long term laboratory investigation on two six-meter-span timber composite beams was started from March 2012 at the University of Technology Sydney. These timber composites were made of laminated veneer lumber (LVL). The web and the flanges of the composite timber section were connected using screw-gluing technique. The specimens have been under sustained loads of (2.1kPa) and the environmental conditions was cyclically alternated between normal and very humid conditions whilst the temperature remained quasi constant (22 °C) –typical cycle duration was six to eight weeks. With regard to EC 5, the environmental conditions can be classified as service class 3 where the relative humidity of the air exceeds 85% and the moisture content of the timber samples reaches 20%. During the test, the mid-span deflection, moisture content of the timber beams and relative humidity of the air were continuously monitored. The paper presents the results and observations of the long-term test to-date and the test is continuing.
The objectives and scope of this study are to conduct long-term experimental test on timber-concrete composite beams, analyse the results to determine the creep coefficient of the composite system and compare the experimental results with the analytical solutions in accordance with Eurocode 5, in which the effective modulus method is used to account the effect of creep. To achieve the aforementioned objectives, a long-term laboratory investigation was started in August 2010 on four 5.8m span TCC beams with four different connector types. The specimens have been under sustained loads of 1.7kPa and subjected to a cyclic humidity conditions whilst the temperature remains quasi constant (22 °C). During the test, the mid-span deflection, moisture content of the timber beams and relative humidity of the air are continuously monitored. The long-term test is still continuing, two TCC beams were unloaded and tested to failure after 550 days, while the other two TCC beams are still being monitored and this report included experimental results up to the first 1400 days only. The long-term investigation on the two timber only composite floor beams commenced on March 2013 and the results are reported for the first 800 days from their commencement.
Long-term serviceability is an important aspect in the implication of wood as a construction material. In this study, a comprehensive experimental program aims to address all the required parameters in long-term constitutive models of wood available in the literature which was taken from inconsistent sources earlier. The experimental program considers the effect of viscoelastic and mechano-sorptive creep, shrinkage and swelling, thermal and moisture inelastic deformation, and deformation due to Young’s modulus changes. The tests include tensile loading of wood specimens invariable outdoor climatic conditions in different applied stress levels. Sustained tensile loads were applied in parallel to the grain direction to specimens of Splash Pine (Pinus elliottii), Pacific Teak (Tectona grandis), and Laminated Lumber Veneer (LVL) of Radiata Pine (Pinus radiata). Tests were conducted at three different stress levels simultaneously and environmental parameters viz. temperature and relative humidity were monitored continuously throughout the loading period. Complementary data for diffusion coefficient, shrinkage, and swelling were measured in three orthogonal directions. In addition, sorption-desorption isotherm of the sample in the range of 0-100% relative humidity is presented.
This thesis presents a state of the art on moisture induced stresses in glulam,
complemented with own findings. These are covered in detail in the appended
papers. The first objective was to find a suitable model to describe moisture
induced stresses, in particular with respect to mechanosorption. A review of
existing models led to the conclusion that the selection of correct material
parameters is more critical to obtain reliable results than the formulation of the
mechanosorption model. A series of laboratory tests was thus performed in order
to determine the parameters required for the model and to experimentally
measure moisture induced stresses in glulam subjected to one dimensional
wetting/drying. Special attention was paid to using glulam from the same batch
for all the experimental measurements in order to calibrate the numerical model
reliably. The results of the experiments confirmed that moisture induced stresses are
larger during wetting than during drying, and that the tensile stresses could
clearly exceed the characteristic tensile strength perpendicular to grain.
