Model Testing of Glue-Laminated Timber Columns
Abstract
Glue-laminated timber (glulam) is an engineered product made by layering and gluing together timber in relatively thick sheets. It is widely used for structural members, particularly those in conditions corrosive to steel or concrete. Testing full-size glulam structures is expensive and difficult, so that model testing of scaled down glulam structures is highly attractive. However, due to the nature of the material it is not clear that conclusions drawn at model scale can apply to the prototype scale. In this study we investigate how testing at reduced scale influences global material properties and failure modes of compressive members. Experimental tests were carried out on 24 small-scale (width < 100 mm) glulam samples from which failure load effects were analysed using both Weibull statistical analysis and Ba{\v z}ant's size effect law. The study found that, typically, smaller samples exhibited higher strengths than expected, leading to the conclusion that there is a size effect, most pronounced in the lengthwise direction. In contrast, stiffness properties showed little or no size effects.
Reference
Rachel Ilsley; Charles Augarde. (2026). Model Testing of Glue-Laminated Timber Columns. Elsevier BV. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.6629267
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