FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSIS OF GLULAM BEAMS WITH TRANSVERSE AND LONGITUDINAL NOTCHES

Abstract

Laminated wood composites, such a glued-laminated timber (Glulam) and cross-laminated Timber (CLT). are increasingly being used in me design of mass timber buildings In solid timber (sawn lumber) and engineered wood products (EWPs). transverse notches are generally used at connections or at supports to reduce the height of beams Small longitudinal notches may also be cut along beams and columns for aesthetic purposes. It is known that abrupt cross-section changes create stress concentrations, which can cause the structural member to fail at lower loads compared to an unnotched member European (Encode 5). Canadian (CSA 086-19). and American (NDS 2018) codes provide guidance on designing solid timber and Glulam beams with transverse notches However, no recommendation has been provided for longitudinal notches along Ghilam beams. To address this gap. a 33 Finite Element (FE) model is developed in AXSYSc software to assess the stress field of Glulam beams with the transverse end notches The developed model is validated with experiments from the literature The predicted load-bearing capacities are compared with those of notched beams based on the design eolations provided in the codes and existing test data The validated model ts then used to comprehensively assess the effect of rounded notched comers and longitudinal notches on the stress fields of Glulam beams.