Strength and stiffness characteristics of grossly built-up timber sections

Abstract

In order t o compare the strength c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of a 89 x 184 beam t o several b u i l t - u p designs, test specimens were tested i n the lab. A t o t a l of 15 beam specimens were tested. These were 3 designs using 5 samples of each design. One design was the 38 x 89 beam, an other design was an I-beam design constructed from 38 x 89's, and the f i n a l design used four 38 x 89's. T h e o r e t i c a l l y these b u i l t - u p sections should have c a r r i e d approximately the same load, but i t was found that the loads were s u b s t a n t i a l l y lower.