Shear tests of glulam at elevated temperatures

Abstract

SUMMARYExperimental investigations are conducted to characterize the evolution with temperature of the shear strength of glulam wood. To realize the tests, an original specimen with cylindrical shape has been developed and justified by a numerical study. The geometry allows obtaining thermal gradient within material to represent the real combustion of timber members, while keeping constant the temperature of sheared section. The experimental programs consider various parameters such as the presence or absence of moisture and the thermal gradient within the specimen. The experimental results are discussed and analyzed. They show the correlation between the density of the material and the reduction of its strength at high temperatures. The experimental failure loads are used to evaluate the reduction factors for wood strength depending on the temperature. These factors are compared with those given by EN1995‐1‐2 for the advanced calculations methods in fire situation. The comparisons show that the reduction factors given by EN1995‐1‐2 are conservative in comparison with the experimental results. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.