Bending strength of cross laminated timber beams loaded in plane

Abstract

Beams made of cross laminated timber (CLT) offer a comparatively high tensile strength perpendicular to the beam axis. The bending strength of CLT beams, however, is reduced by the proportion of transversal layers within a cross section. To study the bending strength of CLT beams in dependence of the cross sectional arrangement of the lamellae, a computational model for the simulation of bending tests was developed. The results obtained from the model show that due to strong homogenisation effects occurring in CLT beams, the reduction of the cross sectional area contributing to the bending strength is partly compensated by higher bending strengths. Therefore, CLT can be considered being a suitable alternative to glulam.