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Glued Laminated Timber Beams Reinforced With Sisal Fibres

Nilson T. Mascia, Bruno F. Donadon, and Ramon Vilela
University of Campinas/FEC, Campinas, Brazil

Abstract—The current appeal for sustainable building materials has expanded the use of timber in construction. However, due to timber be a raw material, natural defects are present, what reduce its strength capacity and cause, in particular, brittle failures in the tensile region of timber beams. In order to increase the mechanical properties of these beams, fibre reinforcement can be applied. In this context, natural fibres, such as Sisal fibres, already used in various fields of construction, are an alternative for reinforcement of timber structural elements, by taking into account their adequate mechanical properties and, in special, for low-mechanical resistance wood species, such as Pinu sp, a species used widely in timber construction. This paper deals with an experimental analysis glued laminated timber beams (Glulam) of Pinus sp species, reinforced by Sisal fibres. Bending tests were performed on six beams with the following dimensions, 53 mm-width by 180 mm-height by 3000 mm-length, which were prepared with eight lamellas by 8 mm-thickness. These beams were reinforced with Sisal strips that were glued by Epoxy adhesive on the bottom part of these beams. In addition, comparisons of result with non-reinforced Glulam were carried out. From the analyses of the experimental results, a decrease of 20 to 30% for the normal stresses, 5 to 10% for the shear stresses and 8 to 12 % for the displacements in relation to non-reinforced beams were verified.

Index Terms—natural fibres, Sisal fibres, Glulam, reinforcement, bending test

Cite: Nilson T. Mascia, Bruno F. Donadon, and Ramon Vilela, "Glued Laminated Timber Beams Reinforced With Sisal Fibres," International Journal of Structural and Civil Engineering Research, Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 390-397, November 2019. doi: 10.18178/ijscer.8.4.390-397