Creep behavior of glass fiber reinforced glulam beams under uncontrolled variable climatic conditions

Abstract

The glass fiber reinforcement of the tensile part of a glulam beam is known to increase its short-term bending performance. Under variable climatic conditions, improvements in short-term bending performance are anticipated to improve long-term creep performance. In this study, the creep behavior of glulam beams reinforced with glass fibers and unreinforced glulam beams was investigated for 18240 hours under uncontrolled variable climatic conditions. Depending on the presence or absence of reinforcement and the type of reinforcement, several aspects of the creep behavior of glulam beams could be observed. Through the glass fiber reinforcement of the glulam beam, it was possible to lower the amount of the creep variation as well as the overall creep strain after 18240 hours. Specifically, the glass fiber reinforced plastic reinforcement sheet caused the glulam beam to exhibit a consistent creep behavior regardless of the stress level. This improved the predictability of long-term creep deformation under variable and uncontrolled climatic conditions.