A CONTRIBUTION TO THE DESIGN OF RIBBED PLATES

Manfred Augustin1, Severin E. Zimmer2, Thomas Bogensberger3, Tim Sleik4

ABSTRACT: The topic of this paper is the discussion of a proposal for the design of ribbed plates built-up with CLT
(plate)- and GLT (ribs)- members. The suggested elastic model is based on the work of Abdelouahed [13] and Smith
and Teng [14] for the strengthening of concrete members with FRP plates and will be applied for the mentioned load-
carrying timber elements. As a result so far it could be observed, that high peaks of shear and tensile stresses
perpendicular to the interface (glue-line) occur due to the elastic consideration of the material. The model was evaluated
by some pre-test which showed an acceptable correlation between the predictions of the model and a 2D-FEM analysis.
It is evident, that the notches at the end of the rips must be reinforced by e.g. self-tapping screws or glued in rod to
achieve effective solutions for this load carrying element. With the discussed model the shear and tensile stresses and
forces resp. perpendicular to the interface can be computed.

KEYWORDS: Cross Laminated Timber, CLT, Glulam, GLT, ceilings, floors, composites, hybrids, ribbed plates,
design, notches

1 INTRODUCTION 123
In the last two decades timber engineering was
characterised by the development of effective and
innovative products and jointing methods, as well as
highly prefabricated components and modules. In
particular the product Cross Laminated Timber and the
self-tapping screw development brought new technical
and economical possibilities. Meanwhile it is not a rarity,
that multi-storey buildings up to 10 storeys are erected
with timber products. This development causes changes
in the design of timer elements, which have to be
realised/handled by engineers.
In particular desires regarding increasing spans of
ceilings are a challenging task. The design of this load
carrying components is often determined by
serviceability requirements e.g. deflections and vibration
which require high stiffness. Only in special cases (e.g.
point-loaded plates) the ultimate limit state becomes
crucial. Although with e.g. (solid) CLT-plates spans up
to 6 m can be implemented it is an economical question
to find other construction possibilities. Apart from
timber-concrete-composite structures or suspended
structural systems the application of glued ribbed and
1
Manfred Augustin, holz.bau forschungs gmbh, Graz, Austria,
manfred.augustin@tugraz.at
2
Severin E. Zimmer, holz.bau forschungs gmbh, Graz, Austria,
zimmer@tugraz.at
3
Thomas Bogensperger, holz.bau forschungs gmbh, Graz,
Austria, bogensperger@tugraz.at
4
Tim Sleik, Binderholz Bausysteme GmbH, Hallein, Austria,
tim.sleik@binderholz.com
boxed plates are effective regarding the ratio of the input
of material and costs.
For the implementation of this elements insitu two
principle possibilities are common: First the appropriate
openings of the ribs are cut out in the walls below and
each rip is supported on the appropriate areas there.
Disadvantages of this case are highly efforts in the
production, problematic situations with building physics
issues (e.g. noise insulation) as well as missing space for
the arrangement of pipes and wires of the technical
building systems. In order to avoid these problems and in
particular due to economical and technical reasons
members with rips ending at a distance from the adjacent
load-carrying walls are often used in practise. Although
there is a difference compared to the corresponding
rectangular members with structural timber and glulam 
this structural detail will be denoted as "notch" (at ribbed
plates) in this paper.
From a mechanical point of view at the vicinity of the
notches a complex stress state occurs which is
characterised by high stress peaks in tension perp. to
grain, as well as shear stresses. In order to obtain the
desired high efficiency these members should always be
reinforced at the notches. In practise self-tapping screws
or glued in rods are used for this purpose, but also other
possibilities are technically feasible.
It is the aim of this contribution to suggest a design
method for the mentioned detail. In particular the shear
and tensile stresses perpendicular to grain in the interface
(glue-line) can be computed for practical design
purposes with the given equations although it has to be
mentioned that further investigations for the specific
verification process are necessary.
2 STATE OF THE ART behaviour of the orthotropic panel resp. Gustafson [9]
analysed the stresses in notches by the application of
2.1 Production of ribbed plates fracture mechanics and defined the basis for the relevant
Ribbed plates can be built up with different timber sections given in EN 1995-1-1. In his dissertation
products (e.g. structural timber, glulam and bar-like Jockwer [10] investigated the mechanics of notches for
engineered wood products (EWP) for the rib and CLT, different methods. In particular the interaction between
layered timber plates and other EWP plates. For the the occurring shear and tensile stresses at notches by a
jointing of the interface between rib and plate, due to the fracture mechanics approach was analysed in detail. In
required small joint slips and high slip modulus resp. the verification process the mixed stress state is usually
glued connections should be applied. In principle also reduced to a formal computation of shear stresses.
other jointing methods (e.g. mechanical fasteners) are
possible but they will not be very effective. 3 THEORY
Generally the gluing procedure can be done by hydraulic
or vacuum presses, but is commonly arranged with 3.1 SIMPLE BEAM VERIFICATION BASED ON
screw pressing seldom with nail pressing. Based on THE SIMPLE BEAM THEORY
experience, it has to be stated that, the gluing of the 3.1.1 General preliminaries
interface is no problem, when the usual boundary Since there is no difference compared to the common
conditions for the gluing are considered. In particular design in bending verification at the maximum stresses
even surfaces of the glued members (d ≤ 0,3 mm), the location, no further discussion is made concerning the
usage of straight and untwisted ribs, as well as the verification of bending stresses of ribbed plates. They
compliance with the requirements from the adhesive have to be done in the usual way. Regarding shear
producers shall be mentioned in this context. stresses the simplest design model for the design of
notched ribbed plates and other cross-sections is the
2.2 COMPOSITE MEMBERS integration of the shear stresses in the rib with the rules
From a mechanical point of view ribbed plates can be of the technical beam theory.
classified as composite members. Their design in Timber The shear stresses in a beam of arbitrary cross-section
Engineering has a long history, and so, in particular in can be computed with
Europe, a lot of experience has been made. Among the V ( x)  S ( x, z )
huge amount of contributions to this topic the  ( x)  (1)
I ( x )  b( z )
outstanding work of K. Möhler, TH Karlsruhe, who set
up the basis in his dissertation [1] for the so called "- where
design method", the research work of R. Pischl, TU Graz  (x) shear stress at x, in N/mm²
[2], W. Schelling, TH Karlsruhe [3] and B. Heimeshoff, V(x) vertical force at x, in N
TU Munich [4] have to be mentioned in this context. In S(x,z) static moment, in m³
summary the brought up research work focused on the I(x) moment of inertia, in m4
challenge to joint timber members restricted by their b(z) width of the cross section, in mm
natural dimensions to bigger and thus members with
higher load carrying capacity. With the then known and In cases where the cross-section is built-up by layers
commonly applied connection techniques they defined with materials and/or grades with different moduli of
methods for the calculation of flexible jointed bar-like elasticity (MOE) it is common, to refer the MOEi of the
(1D) timber members by means of mechanical fasteners. i-th layer to an arbitrary defined reference value
Depending on the slip modulus Kser of the fasteners the (MOEref) in order to define a n-value whereby
stiffness of the bending members could be significantly n=MOEi/MOEref.
increased and designed in a reliable way. The vertical force F90 in the interface between the plate
For the design of 2D plates and structures H. Kreuzinger, and the rib can then be evaluated by integration (Figure
TU Munich (shear analogy method) [5] and G. 1).
Schickhofer, TU Graz (basics of the design of layered zIF ziF
V ( x) S IF ( x, z )
timber structures, e.g. for CLT) [6] among others
proposed important contributions for the design of
F90 ( x)    ( x, z)  dz  I ( x)  
z 0 z 0
b( z )
(2)

timber elements. Although in the mentioned

contributions there is no direct context to the present
3.1.2 Design of notches in beams with rectangular
problem that the basics for the following considerations
cross-sections
have been formulated there and their knowledge is
For a notched beam with a rectangular cross-section the
recommended.
vertical force F90 is given by the well known equation:
h(1 ) h(1 )
2.3 DESIGN OF NOTCHES 12 h z
For the design of notches in beams several scientific
F90 ( x)  
z 0
 ( x, z )  b  dz  V ( x) 
b  h3
 
z 0
b z (  ) 
2 2
(3)
efforts were done in the past. Mistler [7] and Henrici [8]  V ( x)  1 3   2  2   3 
focused on finding solutions for the determination of the
tensile stresses in the vicinity of the notch and
considered the influence of the stresses volume and the
where
hef

h should also applicable in practise due to their robustness
h height of the beam, in mm
hef effective depth of the beam, in mm
Figure 1: Determination of the resulting vertical force F90
In several standards (e.g. [11]) for the design of notched
beams the load taken by the reinforcements has to be
multiplied by an empirical factor 1.3. The interested
reader may find further details regarding the background
of this factor e.g. in [7] and [8]. EN 1995-1-1 specifies a
design method based on a fracture mechanics approach.
The given rules are valid for beams with restricted
conditions (hef/h ≥ 0.5, x/h ≤ 0.4) since the occurring
stress peaks are growing excessively. A summary with
the latest findings concerning the design of notched
beams can be found in [10].
3.1.3 Design of notched ripped plates in practise
To the knowledge of the authors for the design of
notched in ripped plates no explicit design methods
exist. For a roughly and quick design of these members
in practise Equ. (3) can be principally used . In addition
to the described method in section 3.1.2 it has to be
considered, that the center of gravity is not anymore in
the middle of the cross section, but depends on the lay-
up and the used materials (e.g. glulam strength class and
lay-up of the plate). Due to shear deformations of the
plate in contrary to the constant width of the rectangular
cross section for ripped plates the effective width bef
varies along the length of the member due and has to be
considered adequately. A procedure for the
determination of the width bef is given in [12].
3.2 ANALOGY TO DESIGN METHODS FOR
REINFORCED CONCRETE BEAMS
3.2.1 General preliminaries
When applying the design model mentioned in section
3.1 one may criticise, that the mentioned conditions for
the design can mostly not be fulfilled for ribbed plates.
These members are only effective, when a thin plate (for
CLT hCLT ≈ 100 to 150 mm) is used with rips (glulam;
w/h ≈ 100 to 160 mm/200 to 500 mm). Thus the factor 
is in practise > 0,5 in addition due to reasons of the
technical building systems x/h > 0,4. Further no explicit
prediction on the acting tensile stresses perpendicular to
grain is stated although from the point of fracture
mechanics the mixed failure modes 1 and 2 are evident.
Depending on different parameters the failure model 1 or
2 dominates the failures mechanism.
To overcome the limitations alternative design models
for ribbed plates should be used. Since the models
and general known application beam models are
favoured. If a detailed design is necessary of course
different types of numerical investigations (e.g. linear or
non-linear FE-simulations) can be done anyway.
Compared to the present one a very similar situation
exists, when concrete beams with no sufficient load-
carrying capacity have to be reinforced by different
plates at the bottom of the RC-beam (e.g. CFK, steel,
etc.). For this topic extensive research work exists and
can be applied with some adaption to the current design
challenge.
In the following this paper refers to the work of
Abdelouahed [13], who presented an improved
interfacial stress analysis considering shear deformations
of the adherends based on the findings in the paper of
Smith and Teng [14] for reinforced concrete beams.
Their approach will be roughly characterised in the next
section. All further statement regard to a linear elastic
behaviour of both  the adherends and the glueline  and
are valid for simply supported beams. If the
consideration of a non-linear behaviour of the interface
is desired one may study the paper of e.g. de Laurenzis
[15] who proposed a cohesive zone model for the
interfacial stresses.
3.2.2 Abdelouahed's improved theoretical solution
for interfacial stresses
Abdelouahed [13] suggested a theoretical solution for
reinforced concrete beams considering the adherend
shear deformations assuming a linear shear stress
through the thickness of the adherends for simplification.
This is an important feature for the design of timber
members since the ratio between the MOE and the shear
modulus is high compared to other materials. The
resulting interfacial stress concentrations become
significantly smaller than those obtained by similar
models. A simply supported composite member and its
cross section "strengthened" with ribs is shown in Figure
2
Figure 2: Simply supported composite beam composed with a
plate and rips (adapted from [13])
An infinitesimal section dx of a composite beam (ribbed
plate) and the acting forces on it are shown in Figure 3.
 K1 factor considering shear flexibility of the
adherends and the adhesive defined as
t t t 
K1  1  a  1  2 
 a
G 3  G1 3  G2 

The following general solution of this differential

equation is limited to loadings which either concentrated
or uniformly distributed over parts or the whole span of
the beam or both. The mentioned situations are the most
common in practise. Therefore the limitation is
acceptable.
For load where ( d 2VT ( x) / dx 2  0 ; see above) the general
solution for the shear stress in longitudinal direction
 ( x)  B1  cosh(  x)  B2  sinh(  x)  m1 V ( x) (6)
with the coefficients
 ( y1  y2 )  ( y1  y2  ta ) 1 1 
 2  K1  b2     
 E1  I1  E 2  I 2 E1  A1 E2  A2 
Figure 3: Forces in an infinitesimal element
K1  y1  y2 
m1   
3.2.3 Shear stress distribution along the interface  2  E1  I1  E2  I 2 
For the infinitesimal element the equilibrium and
compatibility equations are formulated under the B1 and B2 are constant coefficients which have to be
assumption that the longitudinal displacements U1N (x,y) determined by the present boundary conditions
and U2N (x,y) in the adherends 1 and 2 can be assumed
with the parabolic variation With the denotation m2  ( K1  y1) / ( E1  I1) the shear
U1N ( x, y)  A1 ( x)  y 2  B1 ( x)  y  C1 ( x) and stresses in the interface can be computed for the different
(4) loading with
U ( x, y ')  A2 ( x)  y '  B2 ( x)  y ' C2 ( x)
N
2
2

Further the variation of the transverse displacements WiN - Solution for uniformly distributed load
due to the longitudinal forces are neglected.  m2  a  qe
 x
 ( x)     L  a   m1   
 2  
Details concerning the derivation the equations for the (7)
L 
shear stress distribution along the interface can be found m1  q    a  x  for 0  x  L p
in [13]. At this point only the final result of the 2 
governing differential equation for the shear stress is - Solution for single point loads
shown in Equ. (4)
for a  b ' :
d 2 ( x)  (y  y )(y  y t ) 1 1   for 0  x  (b ' a ) :
 K1 b2  1 2 1 2 a     ( x)  
dx 2  E1I1  E2 I 2 E1 A1 E2 A2 
 m2  F  a   1 b '   e    x  m1  F   1 b '  
 y1  y2  (5)    L  L
K1   VT ( x)  0 
 E1I1  E2 I 2   1
m  F  cosh(   x )  e   ( b '  a )

 ( x)  
 for (b ' a )  x  L p :
where m  F a  b'  F b ' (8)
 2   1   e    x  m1  
(x) shear stress in the interface (glue-line);    L  L
x distance from the end of the rip the beam; m  F  sinh(  (b ' a))  e    x
 1
Ei I i flexural rigidity of the adherends;
Ei A i longitudinal rigidity of the adherends;
for a  b ' and 0  x  L p :
b2 width of the rib;
Gi shear modulus of the adherends and the m2  F  b '  a     x b'
 ( x)    1   e  m1  F 
adhesive;   L L
Ea elastic modulus and thickness of the adhesive; where
ta thickness of the adhesive layer b' distance of the single point load from the
t1, y1 thickness and distance of the center of gravity support
of adherend 1 (from the bottom);
t2, y2 thickness and distance of the center of gravity
of adherend 2 (from the top);
q uniformly distributed load;
VT(x) vertical force at x;
- Solution for two point loads
for a  b '' :
t* 
 Cosh(*)  1  t
(15)
 for 0  x  (b '' a ) :  * Sinh(*)
m  F a
 2  e    x  m1  F  m1  F  cosh(  x)  e   (b '' a )
 
 Again the detailed of the necessary further steps can be
 ( x)   Lp
 for (b '' a )  x  : found in [13]. The resulting governing differential
 2 equation for the stress normal to the interface is given by
(9)
 m2  F  a    x
   e  m1  F  sinh(  (b '' a))  e    x
d 4 n ( x)  1 1 
 K n *  b2      n ( x) 
dx 4  11
E I E2 I2 
(12)
for a  b '' and 0  x  L p :  y y  d ( x) K *
K n *  b2   1  2   q n  0
m2  F  b ''  E1 I1 E2 I 2  dx E1 I1
 ( x)   e  x

The general solution for this ordinary 4th order
differential equation is
where
 n ( x)  e    x  C1  cos (   x)  C2  sin(   x)  
b'' distance of the point loads from the
support e   x  C3  cos (   x)  C4  sin(   x)  
(13)
d ( x)
n1   n2  q
3.2.4 Normal stress distribution in the interface dx
The approach for the determination of normal stresses in where
the interface can be written as
 n ( x)  Kn  w( x)  Kn   w2 ( x)  w1 ( x) (10) K n *  b2  1 1 ;
 4   
4 E 
 1 1 I E2  I2 
where
y1  E2  I 2  y2  E1  I1 ;
Kn normal stiffness of the adhesive per unit length n1 
E1  I1  E2  I 2
wi(x) vertical displacement of adherend i (i=1,2)
E2  I 2 ;
n2 
In the paper of Abdelouahed [13] the stiffness Kn is b2   E1  I1  E2  I 2 
deduced as
C1, C2, C3 and C4 are constant coefficients which have to
 n ( x) 1 E  n ( x)
Kn      a (11) be determined from the boundary conditions.
w( x) w( x) ta  ta  ta
As a simplification for large value of x it is assumed that
This can be interpreted as the mechanical description of
the normal stresses are zero. As a result the part of the
a linear spring and foundation modulus resp. Since the
strongly increasing e+x branch must vanish and the
stiffness of the adhesive is relatively high and the
constants C3 = C4 = 0.
thickness is approximately 0.3 to 1.0 mm the spring
modulus for timber members should be computed with
This results in the general solution for the normal
the following equation (not given in [13]):
stresses in the interface
1
Kn * 
t1 * ta t * (12)  n ( x)  e  x  C1  cos (   x)  C2  sin(   x) 
  2
E90;1 Ea E90;2 d ( x) (14)
n1   n2  q
dx
The "penetration" depth ti* can be calculated by the
Vlasov assumption as presented by Tanahashi [16]. The The interfacial normal stresses can be found by using
indentation of a "foundation" can be calculated was Equ. (14) using the constants C1 und C2 for all three
w( z )  w(0)   ( z)
load cases with the appropriate boundary conditions to
(13)
whereby the form function (z) is assumed to be Kn *
C1   V ( x  0)    M ( x  0) 
2   3  E1  I1
  z 
Sinh  *  1    n3 n  d 4 ( x  0) d 3 ( x  0) 
  t  (14)   ( x  0)  1 3    
 ( z)  2  3
2   dx 4
dx3 
(15)
Sinh( *)
Ea n d 3 (0)
C2    M (0)  1 2 
When integrating this function and relating it to the 2    ta  E1  I1
2
2  dx3
thickness of the member a "penetration" depth ti* with a
constant strain rate can be estimated. where
The parameter * describes the form of the function and  y y2  .
n3  K n *  b2   1  
can be estimated by e.g. calibration via FEM and/or E 
 1 1I E2  I2 

tests. In this paper it was considered as * = 2.5.

The given equations for the computation of the shear and
normal stresses can be implemented e.g. in a
mathematical algebra system or a spreadsheet program.
Since an elastic behaviour is assumed the shear stresses
can be determined by linear superposition. Since all
functions of the stress distribution are given analytically
desired values can be determined by usual mathematical
operations (e.g. integration of the resulting forces).
3.2.5 Computation of the resulting tensile force at
the notch
With Equ. (14) the stresses normal to the interface can
be computed. Since the stresses have a pronounced peak
at the notch a reinforcement (e.g. self-tapping screw or
glued in rod) must be arranged in the vicinity of the
notch. The closer the reinforcement is placed to the end
of the rib the more effective it is. It also has be
considered that the end distance must be big enough to
avoid a withdrawal or shear failure of the fastener in the
rip. If the end distance is too big it comes into the zone
with compression stresses and loses its effectiveness and
enlarges the effective distance of the notch.
For the determination of the force, that has to be carried
by the reinforcement F90, the tensile stresses from the
end of the rib in the direction of the span has to be
integrated by applying mathematical methods. For the
computation a simple engineering model based on a
beam on elastic foundation can be used. This model is
shown in Figure 4.
2
2
2
Figure 4: Engineering model for the determination of the
resulting tensile force in the reinforcement
The parameter for the determination can be used from
the previous sections while the stiffness Kscrew as well as
the withdrawal strength can be found in appropriate
technical approvals for screws or standards.
3.2.6 Intepratation of the governing differential
equations
It is an evident advantage of the development of
mechanical models by differential equations that the
influence of parameters can be studied through the
structure of the formulation. With the governing
differential equations (Equ. (5) and Equ. (12)) for the
present problem the mechanical behaviour of the system
can be studied.
- Shear stresses
From the structure of Equ (5) it can be seen, that it is an
ordinary differential equation of 2nd order. When
comparing Equ (5) with the equation for the description
for the mechanical description of elastic jointed
composites first published by Volkersen in 1953 [17]
d 2 ( x) Ga  1 1 
 b2     ( x)  0 (16)
dx2 ta  E1 A1 E2 A2 
This differential equations allows the determination of
the shear stresses in joints considering the longitudinal
stiffness of the adherends and the shear deformation in
the interface and is also the fundamental equation for the
design of bond joints. The further terms in Equ. (5) are
showing an inherent influence of the bending stiffness of
the adherends and have an equivalent structure as those
for the description for composite beams built-up with
different members (see e.g. [1], [2]).
- Normal interface stresses
Equ. (12) is an ordinary differential equation of 4 th order.
When comparing it with the equation of a beam on an
elastic foundation (Winkler beam, 1867 )
d 4 w( x) q
 4   4  w( x)  0 (17)
dx 4 EJ
an analogous structure of the equations is evident. The
mechanical loading of the rib can thus be interpreted as a
beam on an elastic foundation complement influenced by
the bending stiffness of the plate and the ribs.
This type of beam is characterised by a typical length
which indicates a strong decreasing nature of the
boundary disturbance and peak stresses at the end of the
beam resp. As a consequence the shear and normal
stresses at the interface will only deviate from that of the
composite beam in a very short distance. Within this
distance the curvature of the plate at the supports will be
transformed to the ordinary composite beam.
3.3 VERIFICATION OF THE MODEL
3.3.1 Tests
In order to get a look into the behaviour of ribbed timber
composites and for the purpose of verifying the
mentioned design model and determine some appropriate
parameters in total six pre-tests have been tested. All
tests were conducted as simple supported beam with
equidistant 4-point-loading according to EN 408. The
span was l= 2.850 mm with loads in a distance of
b=950 mm from the supports and between them resp.
The distance of the notch at the ends of the ribs and the
support was in any case a=125 mm. For the tests 3-
layered plates (spruce) with a total height of 40 mm (13-
14-13 mm) were available. On some of the specimen
structural timber ribs (b/h=45/125 mm; GL24h accord.
to EN 14080) were glued by means of a polyurethane
adhesive (Henkel Purbond HB 110). For the optimisation
of the members on some of the rips a 40 mm thick beech
LVL lamella (Pollmeier Baubuche) was bonded. Some
specimen were produced with two ribs (width w2= 800
mm; 200400200 mm) while some had only one rip
and a width of the plate w1=400 mm.
unreinforced specimen (B-1u-02) is depicted, which
failed at a level of approx. 30% compared to the
reinforced ones due to a tensile perpendicular to grain
failure at the notch.

Figure 6: Test configuration

Figure 5: Dimensions and used materials for the specimen

One pre-test (specimen B-1u-02) was conducted without

reinforce-ment. On all the other specimen a
reinforcement with a self-tapping screw (Würth Assy 3.0
Ø 8│160mm), which enabled the possibility to measure
the force in the screw, directly was applied at least at one
end (the other one was reinforced by the same screw
type but without measurement function). All
reinforcement screws were applied perpendicular to the
beam at a distance that varied. At the end it was found
that the reinforcement screw should be applied at a
minimum distance of 2.5d. During the tests the screws
were supported by steel plates (l/w/t = 100/100/15 mm) Figure 7: Failure of the specimen without reinforcement due to
at the top of the plate. Thus the load introduction into the tensile stresses perp. to grain at the notch
plate was done by contact stresses.Details concerning the
measurement screw can be found in [18]. An overview
Figure 8 illustrates the typical behaviour of a reinforced
of the test configuration is depicted in Figure 5, while a
specimen. After approx. 1/3 of the failure load a crack at
summary with the denotations and parameter of the
the notch was detected. The crack opening was stopped
specimen is given in Table 1.
by the reinforcement screw and was stable until the
failure load was reached. In general the bending strength
Table 1: Denotation and parameter of the specimen of the rib was decisive for the failure, so that on the
specimen no. 5 and 6 in Table 2 a LVL lamella was
No. Specimen No. of RipReinforcement glued on the bottom of the rips. For these specimens a
ribs screw failure in shear was observed.
1 B-1u-02 1 GL no
2 B-2v-01 2 GL yes
3 B-2v-02 2 GL yes
4 B-2v-03 2 GL yes crack
reinforcement
5 B-1v-01 1 GL/LVL yes
screw
6 B-2v-04 2 GL/LVL yes
Abbreviation: GL...glulam, LVL...laminated veneer lumber

All tests were carried out with the universal testing

machine lignum_Zwick_uni_275 at the lignum test
center at Graz University of Technology. During the
tests the total load and the displacement of the testing
machine, as well as the local deformation for the
determination of the MOE, and the forces in the
measurements screws were recorded. In Figure 7 the Figure 8: Development of a stable crack in a reinforcement
specimen
3.3.2 Test results Table 4: Test results-stresses at the notch and reinforcement
In Table 2 the maximum force per notch was computed forces
under the assumption that the maximum force recorded
during the tests can be divided by the number of notches # Speci- IF Model F90,MS F90,Model F90,FEM
men [N/mm²] [N/mm²] [kN] [kN] [kN]
of the tested beam. The bending strength was computed
in the middle of the beam while the shear stresses were 1 B-1u-02 0.69 1.20  3.58 3.88
calculated at the notch. Both stresses were analysed 2 B-2v-01 2.39 4.17 11.7 12.4 13.5
under the assumption of the validity of the simple beam 3 B-2v-02 2.02 3.53 10.5 10.5 11.4
theory (SBT based on an Euler-Bernoulli-beam) which is 4 B-2v-03 1.70 2.97 6.01 8.86 9.60
of course in the given context only informative. Further 5 B-1v-01 2.00 3.11 8.28 9.56 12.8
the relevant failure mode is mentioned in Table 2. 6 B-2v-04 2.28 3.53 11.1 10.9 14.5
Abbreviations:
Table 2: Test results of the composite beam IF ... (max.) shear stress in the interface (according to the simple
(simple beam theory) beam theory)
Model ... (max.) shear stress acc. to Equ. (9) at the notch
# Specimen max F max m max  Failure (with bef = 292 mm)
F90,MS ... tensile force perp. to grain in the measurement screw
per [N/mm²] [N/mm²] F90,Model ... tensile force perp. to grain acc. to Equ. (14) (integration)
notch F90,FEM ... tensile force perp. to grain with a linear elastic FEM (RFEM)
[kN]
Tension perp.
1 B-1u-02 3.57 13.7 0,70 to grain
3.3.3 Interpretation of the test results
2 B-2v-01 12.4 47.6 2.43 Shear - Shear stresses
3 B-2v-02 10.5 40.3 2.06 Bending
When having a look on the results in Table 4 it is
4 B-2v-03 8.83 33.9 1.73 Bending
evident, that the shear stresses computed by applying the
5 B-1v-011) 10.9 42.6 2.06 Shear (screw)
simple beam theory differ significantly compared with
6 B-2v-041) 12.4 48.5 2.34 Shear
those from the discussed mechanical model
Abbreviations: (Equ. 9). It was already mentioned that with the model it
max m, max  ... bending stress and shear stress according to the is not possible to describe the local effects in the vicinity
simple beam theory; of the notch. More confidence than on the SBT can be
1)
with LVL lamella on the bottom of the rib given to the results of Equ. 9 which are compared with
the results of an elastic FEM analysis. Although the
Table 4 lists the computed shear stresses at the interface model is not able to predict the pronounced peak at the
(glue-line) according to the simple beam theory and the notch from the FEM analysis it shows a realistic
model (Equ. (5)) at the notch, as well as the resulting behaviour there. Since peaks will be significantly
tensile force along the tensile stressed section at the end reduced, e.g. in an elastic-plastic FEM material model it
of the notch. F90,MS is the force recorded by the can be concluded that the model will lead to a realistic
measurement screw, F90,Model denotes the force according stress level. The analysis was prepared with the effective
to Equ. (14) and F90,FEM is the force computed with the width bef in the middle of the beam. The shear stress
software package DLUBAL RFEM 5.0 (2D-analysis) considering the effective width at the notch is shown as
which is based on an elastic material behaviour dashed line in Figure 9.
considering shear flexibility. The applied material Nevertheless the stress peaks at the notch indicate high
parameters are given in Table 3. The results from the shear stresses with a strong decreasing tendency. Due to
FEM analyses for shear stresses were ignored since the high shear stress level (in combination with high
pronounced stress peak due to the singularity at the tensile stresses perp. to the interface) a crack at the notch
notch occured which are not realistic. will occur (and was also observed during the pre-tests
(Figure 8) which has to be stopped by the reinforcement.
Table 3: applied material parameters for the FEM analysis

Member plate adhesive rip LVL

40
t [mm] 0.3 125/85 40
(13-141)-13)
w[mm] 292 45 45 45
Ex [N/mm²] 11400 3700 11400 16800
Ey [N/mm²] 300  300 470
G0 [N/mm²] 650 1320 650 850
Gr [N/mm²] 65   
Remark:
1)
the MOE's (Ex and Ey) were changes due the different orientation of
the layer.
2)
for the assembled plate in the model a shear modulus of
G1 = 90 N/mm² was taken into account

Figure 9: Comparison of the shear stresses in the composite

beam (notch at x=0) due to a force F = 10 kN
As mentioned earlier the stress disturbance at the notch
disappears at a small distance (of about 500 mm for the
test configuration) from its end, but depends of course on
the dimensions and material parameters. From the
analysis of beams on elastic foundations it is known that
the disturbances at the loaded ends vanish at a
characteristic length l0 ≈ 4/ with  acc. to Equ. (13). For
the configuration with the results in Figure 9 and Figure
10 the value for  = 8.0826 thus the characteristic length
is l0 ≈ 4/8.0826 = 0.495 m (dotted line in Figure 9) which
is in good accordance to the shown curves.
- Tensile force at the notch
In Figure 10 the normal stresses in the interface (glue-
line) is shown. Again in the FEM analysis a distinctive
peak can be recognised, while from the discussed model
the normal stresses at the notch is less pronounced.
Figure 10: Comparison of the tensile stresses at the notch
(x = 0) due to a force F = 10 kN
Conforming to the behaviour of a beam on an elastic
foundation the stresses decrease rapidly from tensile to
compression stresses within a distance of only 100 mm
to 150 mm and vanish more or less after one period
(about 500 mm; in Figure 10 as dotted line) for the test
configuration. It can be interpreted, that the rib at the
notch has the tendency to detach itself from the plate and
is supported by the plate in the later mentioned section.
Therefore it must be reinforced in any case to achieve an
effective structural member. The stress distribution at the
vicinity of the notch has an important influence on the
location of the reinforcement screws since it is obvious
that they have to be arranged in the tensile stress zone.
Within the tests the screws were located at different end
distances from the notch. During the tests it was found,
that an optimum for the end distance could be reached at
a minimum distance of 2.5d. If this distance is not
maintained the screw will fail in shear (see B-1v-01) or
is withdrawn from the rip. In this context it has to be
mentioned, that the withdrawal capacity of the notch in
ribbed plates is usually limited by the thickness of the
plate.
When applying Equ. (3) to the test configuration and
neglecting the factor 1.3 as well as the affiliated
restrictions a multiplication factor of 0.778 times the
vertical force has to be considered for the force that has
to be taken by the reinforcement. The same factor for the
discussed model can be computed as a mean value of
1.00 for the GLT ribs and 1.14 for the GLT/LVL ribs
while the factor for the results of the FEM analysis is
determined to 1.09 and 1.17 resp. This factor is of course
depending on the geometric measurements and the
material parameter. The tested configuration is a slender
one and the notches have a big distance (x = 0.76  h) to
the supports. It could be shown in non reported tests that
the tensile force can fall below the factor given by the
simple beam theory.
3.4 SUPPLEMENTARY REMARKS
Regarding an improved analysis of the discussed model
it has to be mentioned, that the computations in section
3.3 have been conducted with the effective width bef in
the middle of the composite beam according to [12]. It is
obvious that with the decreased width above local load
introduction, as well as supports, the ribbed plate will
become weaker and the deflections will increase and
thus the stresses decrease. On the other hand in particular
the shear stresses above the supports will increase due to
the smaller effective width there. While the normal
stresses can be computed well with bef in the middle of
the beam, the shear stresses should be computed with bef
above the supports to get realistic values (dashed line in
Figure 9).
The mentioned facts are neglected in the present
comparison. It can be shown by an elastic-plastic or
more sophisticated FEM-modeling analysis that the
pronounced stress peaks at the notch will decrease and it
can be expected, that at the end the difference between
the discussed model and the FEM analysis will fulfil a
sufficient precision level for the application in practise.
Further it has to be remarked, that the stresses were
computed applying mean stiffness values. For the
application different combinations of these values in
particular the high quantile values have to be
investigated since they lead to higher stress peaks for the
shear and normal (tensile) stresses in the interface.
As it could be concluded from the tests the occurring
tensile stresses at the notches can be mastered by the
reinforcement in average while shear stress peaks
dominate the design at the end. This fact is in accordance
with the findings in [10].
Since the influenced zone at the notch is limited to the
characteristic length l0 of the beam on elastic foundation
for simplification in practise the utilisation of a
cantilever model (Figure 4) can be proposed. If the
correct foundation modulus is defined and the
appropriate stresses and internal forces are applied on
this simple engineering model an excellent correlation
with the results from the 2D-FEM analysis can be found.
By means of a detailed 2D-FEM analysis it could be
shown that the zone with an unregular stress state can be
localised in a distance equal to the heigth of the rib
which is in accordance with St. Venants principle.
CONCLUSIONS
In this paper a contribution for the design of ribbed
plates is given. These structural members are an
effective and economic possibility to span ceilings with
spans longer than 6 m and can be produced by bonding
e.g. of CLT-plates with glulam ribs or other engineered
wood products by means of adhesives and
reinforcements at the notches. In practise usually the ribs
end before the supports which enables advantages in the
construction and design of this structural members. For
the design of ribbed plates the application of rips built-
up with a stronger and stiffer material at the bottom is
recommended (asymmetric glulam beam) to achieve
effective solutions. If the ribs end before the supporting
load-carrying walls a special focus should be given into
the design of the notches there. It is evident that they
have to be reinforced e.g. by self-tapping screws or
glued in rods. In this contribution a design model based
on an analogy from a reinforcement design method for
concrete beams is presented based on the research in
[13]. With this mechanical model based on elastic
material behaviour it is possible to compute the stresses
at the notch with a sufficient accuracy. Although a
further refinement of the model for verification purposes
has to be prepared in the future it could be shown in pre-
tests that the model allows a good estimation of the
stresses in design practise if one considers that the
present model is based on a beam approach. Obviously,
if a more precise design of the notch is desired a FEM
analysis considering higher material models and 3D-
analysis can be conducted.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
The present research work was carried out in the frame
of the COMET K-programme "focus_sts" which is
financed by the funds of the Federal Ministry of Science,
Research and Economy, the Austrian Ministry for
Transport, Innovation and Technology, the Styrian
Business Promotion Agency Association and the
province of Styria (A12), the Carinthian Economic
Promotion Fund (FWF), the province of Lower Austria
department economy, tourism and technology, the
Business Location Tyrol as well as the contribution of
the involved consortium partners in the programme
"focus_sts".
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