Bending Capacity of Non-prismatic LVL Beams Paraserianthes Falcataria

Abstract

Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) made from Indonesian Paraserianthes falcataria wood species has come to market since couple years ago. Paraserianthes falcataria is a typical of fast growing species having an average oven-dry specific gravity of 0.26. As an effort to develop guidance for an optimum utilization of this LVL in structural building applications such as three-hinged gable frame structures, bending test of full-scale non-prismatic LVL beams was conducted to evaluate its bending capacity as well as to observe its failure mechanism. The beams had a length of 4000 mm and a cross-section of 200 mm by 200 mm at one end and 200 mm by 400 mm at the other end. A four-point bending test configuration was adopted and distance between two supports is 3750 mm. The maximum bending load Obtained from the test was 140 kN and the beams failed due to crack opening in the tension-side beneath the applied load. The FEA was performed by ADINA and validated by the full-scale test results to gain better FE models for future use. The finite element model of the used plane stress assumption and orthotropic material. Non-linear finite element analysis was performed where the stress-strain relations in tension was assumed to be linear, while the stress-strain relation in compression was represented by a bi-linear models. Tsai-Wu failure criterion was facilitated in the FE models. Numerical analysis was able to predict the bending capacity of non-prismatic LVL Paraserianthes falcataria beam.