STRUCTURAL PARTICULARS OF GLUED LAMINATED BEAMS OF VARIABLE HEIGHT

The first part of the paper presents the main structural characteristics of laminated timber and describes some Eurocode 5 code requirements which can be more elaborate than for solid timber. The second part of the paper presents a parametric comparison of two most typical forms of double beams of variable height with levelled or saddled lower edge. The stress conditions were compared for a number of differently-shaped double-tapered and pitched cambered beams. The results obtained for a refined mesh of finite elements in the SAP2000 computer program were compared with the results obtained by simplified formulae given in Eurocode 5. It was demonstrated that, in general, a correctly modelled finite element model could account for all structural particulars of beams of variable height; while the main advantage of the finite element approach seems to be the freedom of forms, shapes, and material characteristics used in the mathematical model.