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The effect of climate variations on glulam—an experimental study

Der Einfluss von Klimavariationen auf Brettschichtholz – eine experimentelle Studie

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Abstract

Climate variations affect timber structures by causing moisture induced stresses which may lead to cracks in timber members. The paper presents experimentally determined moisture induced stresses that arise perpendicular to the grain of glulam specimens during exposure to 1-dimensional drying and wetting. Although to a certain extent reduced by creep effects, the determined tensile stresses can significantly exceed the characteristic tensile strength of glulam. Additional measurements of moduli of elasticity (E) and hygroexpansion coefficients (α) revealed that these parameters are strongly affected by the geometrical configuration (pith locations) of the specimens. By means of all the parameters determined here, it can be avoided that parameters have to be selected from different literature sources, which introduces large uncertainties into the numerical simulations.

Zusammenfassung

Klimavariationen beeinträchtigen Holzkonstruktionen indem sie feuchtigkeitsinduzierte Spannungen verursachen, welche zu Rissen in Holzbauteilen führen können. Die Arbeit präsentiert experimentell ermittelte feuchtigkeitsinduzierte Spannungen, welche in Brettschichtholz-Prüfkörpern bei 1-dimensionaler Befeuchtung bzw. Trocknung quer zur Faserrichtung auftreten. Es wurde festgestellt, dass die auftretenden Zugspannungen – obwohl zu einem gewissen Grad durch Kriechen abgebaut – die charakteristische Zugfestigkeit von Brettschichtholz deutlich überschreiten. Zusätzlich zeigten Messungen von Elastizitätsmodulen (E) und differentiellen Quell- und Schwindmassen (α), dass diese Parameter stark von der geometrischen Beschaffenheit (Lage der Markröhre) der Probekörper beeinflusst werden. Mit all den hier ermittelten Parametern kann verhindert werden, dass Parameter aus verschiedenen Literaturquellen ausgewählt werden müssen, was eine beträchtliche Unsicherheit in die numerischen Berechnungen bringt.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Structural Engineering, NTNU Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Richard Birkelandsvei 1a, 7491, Trondheim, Norway

    Vanessa Angst & Kjell Arne Malo

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  1. Vanessa Angst
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  2. Kjell Arne Malo
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Correspondence to Vanessa Angst.

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Angst, V., Malo, K.A. The effect of climate variations on glulam—an experimental study. Eur. J. Wood Prod. 70, 603–613 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00107-012-0594-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00107-012-0594-y

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