Experimental and numerical investigations of laminated veneer lumber panels

Abstract

This paper presents a study of laminated veneer lumber panels subjected to bending. Laminated veneer lumber (LVL) is a sustainable building material manufactured by laminating 3-4-mm-thick wood veneers, using adhesives. The authors of this article studied the behaviour of type R laminated veneer lumber (LVL R), in which all veneers are glued together longitudinally – along the grain. Tensile, compressive and bending tests of LVL R were conducted. The short-term behaviour, load carrying-capacity, mode of failure and load-deflection of the LVL R panels were investigated. The authors observed failure modes at the collapse load, associated with the delamination and cracking of veneer layers in the tensile zone. What is more, two non-linear finite element models of the tested LVL R panel were developed and verified against the experimental results. In the 3D finite element model, LVL R was described as an elastic-perfectly plastic material. In the 2D finite element model, on the other hand, it was described as an orthotropic material and its failure was captured using the Hashin damage model. The comparison of the numerical and experimental analyses demonstrated that the adopted numerical models yielded the results similar to the experimental results.

Keywords

• laminated veneer lumber
• finite element analysis
• engineered wood products
• timber structures
• composite structures
• hashin damage model