Shear strength and stiffness of glued-laminated timber made from European ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.)
Abstract
Abstract The influence of size effects on the shear strength and stiffness of glued-laminated timber (GLT) made from European ash ( Fraxinus excelsior L.) was assessed based on a comprehensive experimental campaign. The experiments were performed on full-scale GLT beams with rectangular cross-sections width × height = b × h = 120 × 480-800 mm 2 , shear lengths L v = 720-1500 mm, and ratios between the shear length L v and the beam height h , i.e. α = L v / h = 1.2-2.5. The influence of the test configuration (3-point bending and asymmetric 4-point bending) was also assessed. The obtained shear strengths of European ash GLT had mean values f v, mean = 10.2 N·mm -2 (coefficient of variation CoV fv = 14%) and 12.2 N·mm -2 ( CoV fv = 15%), for the 3-point and asymmetric 4-point bending test configurations, respectively. The shear strength showed some size dependency, with an exponent 1/ m = 0.2 0.4 for a strength modification factor (600/ h ) 1/ m as a function of the beam height h . The shear modulus showed no size dependency and the obtained mean values were G mean = 1162 N∙mm -2 ( CoV G = 6%) and 1120 N∙mm -2 ( CoV G = 6%), for the 3-point and asymmetric 4-point bending tests, respectively.
Reference
Pedro Palma; René Steiger; Thomas Strahm; Ernst Gehri. (2025). Shear strength and stiffness of glued-laminated timber made from European ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.). European Journal of Wood and Wood Products. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00107-025-02296-y
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