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The behavior of horizontally glued laminated beams using rubber wood

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DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.01.032

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Construction and Building Materials 55 (2014) 398–405

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

The behavior of horizontally glued laminated beams using rubber wood

Yashida Nadir ⇑, Praveen Nagarajan
Department of Civil Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Calicut, Kerala 673601, India

h i g h l i g h t s

 Evaluated the flexural properties of solid rubber wood and laminated rubber wood.
 If laminated wood could be suggested as a replacement to the solid wood.
 Evaluated laminated wood flexural properties with different lamina thickness and jointed lamina.
 Evaluated joint efficiency, wood adhesive bond strength, durability of the adhesive bond.
 Rubber wood is found suitable for laminated and structural wood products.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The process of manufacturing engineered wood products (EWP) is an effective technique for reducing or
Received 27 July 2013 eliminating the negative properties of solid wood materials and for obtaining high performance materi-
Received in revised form 3 January 2014 als. However, there is a dearth of information regarding the studies in glued laminated timber, one among
Accepted 6 January 2014
the EWP, in India. Thus, this paper describes an experimental program which examines the flexural
Available online 13 February 2014
properties of horizontally glued laminated timber utilizing rubber wood, a sustainable, plantation grown
timber in the country. The experimental test program involved the fabrication and testing in flexure of
Keywords:
horizontally glued laminated rubber wood using polyvinyl acetate adhesive, with different lamina thick-
Engineered wood products
Glued laminated wood
ness and jointed laminas. The study also evaluated the joint efficiency, wood adhesive bond strength and
Flexural properties the durability of the adhesive bond. The test results obtained show that the comparison of flexural prop-
Finger joint erties between solid wood and horizontally glued laminated wood have no significant difference. Lamina
Joint efficiency thickness does not make any statistically significant difference in the flexural properties. Laminated beam
Wood adhesive bond and jointed laminated beam with the same lamina thickness have no significant difference in the flexural
Wood failure percentage properties. The wood adhesive bond strength and the wood failure percentage obtained are appreciable.
Delamination The experimental results obtained and a comparison with code provisions verifies the suitability of the
wood species for composite products.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Engineered wood is a composite material alternative to solid
wood, consisting of wood and adhesives, and it is available in
several varieties; the most commonly used types of structural
EWP are: laminated veneer lumber (LVL), glued-laminated timber
(glulam), composite I beam, cross-laminated timber (CLT) and par-
allel strand lumber (PSL). Western, European and South East Asian
countries are extensively using timber, particularly the engineered
wood products (EWP) both for structural and non-structural pur-
poses [1]. Glulam is made from sawn lumber lamina arranged in
horizontal layers using glue, with the grains parallel to the length
of the member. Taking the benefit of end jointing of smaller timber
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 9446787298; fax: +91 0495 2287250.
E-mail addresses: yashidanadir@gmail.com (Y. Nadir), praveen@nitc.ac.in (P.
Nagarajan).
pieces, glulam can be made to any indefinitely long beam offering
larger size capability than solid wood [2].
Structural glulam members have been widely used in developed
countries particularly in America, Europe and Japan. These mem-
bers are used in straight or curved form in numerous construction
applications including sport complexes, commercial buildings,
churches and residential houses [3]. In horizontally glued laminated
timber load is applied perpendicular to the glue surface.
The properties of laminated wood materials are affected by the
type of wood, the defects it contain, thickness of layers, number of
layers, type of glue used and the compression force used during
pressing [4]. The characteristics of glued laminated beams using
plantation timbers, African wood and Mangium have been studied
by Evalina et al. [5] and found satisfactory performance as per JAS
234:2003. The performance of Acacia Mangium glulam beam was
evaluated by Indah et al. [6] with different lamina thickness and
found the flexural properties of glulam beam with 20 mm thick

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.01.032
0950-0618/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 Author's Personal Copy
Y. Nadir, P. Nagarajan / Construction and Building Materials 55 (2014) 398–405
laminas having the lower values compared to 15 mm and 10 mm
thick laminas. Bending strength properties of glued laminated
timber from selected Malaysian hardwood timber were studied
by Wan et al. [7] and compared the values obtained with JAS
234:2003 and found to be satisfactory.
Timber, the traditional construction material was used widely
in India for structural works in the earlier days. The less use now
is may be of the non-availability of large diameter logs. To supple-
ment the imported timber from countries having intensively man-
aged forestry plantations, low grade/less girth underutilized trees
available domestically was gaining significance [8]. Rubber wood,
a by-product of a crop grown for latex production is being used
and marketed in many applications, substituting higher value
and less available traditional hardwoods such as teak in Asian
countries. India is the fourth largest producer of natural rubber
in the world, 89% of which is produced in Kerala.
As is the case of all building materials, it is necessary to define
the technical performance of the materials produced with lami-
nates clearly, in order to be able to use them in buildings. Other-
wise the material cannot hold up the conditions to which it is
subjected [9].
In India the EWP such as the plywood products, particle board,
and fiber board are used widely for non- structural works. Glulam
is not a commercially established or available product in India. The
product is developed for the present study on research interest.
This study informs the utilization of rubber wood as glulam
material.
The objectives of this study included the fabrication and testing
in flexure of horizontally glued laminated rubber wood and com-
paring the properties with solid beam. The effect of lamina thick-
ness and jointed lamina in the flexural properties were
investigated. The efficiency of the finger joint strength in tension
and bending was evaluated. Also the wood adhesive bond strength
and the durability of the adhesive bond were obtained. The test
results were checked with code provisions so as to verify the suit-
ability of rubber wood for composite products.
As rubber wood is a sustainable timber leading to sustainable
construction the authors proposed a thought of value addition of
the material with this study. The results of this research can be
very useful in realizing the potential usage of rubber wood in lam-
inated products. Furthermore, it would be beneficial to carry out
new research studies related to the same topic, but with different
l/d ratios, different wood species, mixed wood, different glue types,
contributing to the literature on this subject, opening a new area of
research focus in the country.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Manufacture and testing of glulam for its flexural properties
Rubber wood (Hevea brasiliensis) used was having an average density of 605 kg/
m3 and an average moisture content of 10%, achieved in the conditions of 27 ± 2 °C
temperature and relative humidity 65 ± 5%. As the timber was obtained after the
latex unproductivity, the age is above 20 years. The commercial adhesive poly vinyl
acetate (PVAc) was used in the fabrication of the laminated beams.
Laminas having major defects were avoided and those having minor defects
were placed in the neutral zone of the laminated beam. In the case of solid beam,
specimens with defects such as knots and spiral grain were included for the study
so as to demonstrate the real case. The PVAc adhesive used was with hardener
DORUS R 7357 added in the ratio of 15% instructed by the manufacturer, applying
on the specimens with the adhesive coverage of 250–300 g/m2. Adhesive was
spread on both the surfaces of the laminas using the roller spreader. A nail gun
was used to hammer small nails into the ends of the laminated materials so that
the glued layers would not slip during pressing. Specimens were pressed with a
pressure of 3 MPa applied for a period of 3 h at room temperature, the minimum
specified pressure for laminated specimens is 1 MPa [10]. The specimens were then
kept undisturbed for one week, conditioned in a room at a temperature of 27 ± 2 °C
and relative humidity 65 ± 5% before testing. The dimension of the beam specimen
was 900 ⁄ 60 ⁄ 40 mm (Fig. 1). The dimension of the beam was prepared so that the
ratio of shear span (av) and the depth of the beam was in the range 4–6 as specified
399
in ASTM D198-09 [11] for the evaluation of flexural properties (bending strength
and modulus of elasticity). The span to depth (l/d) ratio of the adopted specimen
size corresponds to 14. The static bending test was conducted in accordance with
the third-point loading method.
Laminated specimens were prepared with different lamina thickness and also
with finger jointed laminas to have a comparison with solid beam. The jointing
technique favors laminated beam of any size and is particularly useful for rubber
wood, where lengthy plies on seasoning gets warped. Accordingly a comparison
is made between the flexural properties of the jointed laminated beam with un-
jointed laminated and solid beam. The placing of joints in the laminas should be
staggered, not coinciding with those above or below and the distance between
the joints depends on the lengths of the input material [12]. The finger joint used
in this study has a length of 12 mm, pitch of 3.6 mm and tip width of 0.7 mm.
The joints were placed in a staggered manner in the beams. The joints were placed
outside the maximum moment zone in the outer tension lamina and also placed at
maximum spacing. In three specimens only, the joints were placed inside the max-
imum moment zone to verify the strength. The preparation plan of the test speci-
mens for the study is shown in the Fig. 2. The laminated timber beam specimens
comprise four groups, as explained in Fig. 2, three groups of varying lamina thick-
ness and the fourth group with jointed laminas. Ten specimens were tested from
each group.
A third-point loading static bending test was carried out, where the distance be-
tween the two loading points and the distance between the right and the left ful-
crums was the same. The loading rate was 3 mm/min. Modulus of elasticity
(MOE) and the modulus of rupture (MOR) were calculated by the following
formula:
23PL3
MOE ¼ 3
108bh D
Pmax L
MOR ¼ 2
bh
where P is the load within the proportional limit (N), L is the span of beam between
the supports (mm), D is the mid span deflection (mm), Pmax is the maximum or the
ultimate load (N), b is the width of the beam (mm) and h is the depth of the beam
(mm).
2.2. Joint efficiency
In much of the literature on finger joints, strength is expressed as a percentage
of the strength of a piece of clear, unjointed wood of the same species and is re-
ferred to as the joint efficiency [13]. In this study the efficiency of the finger joint
used for laminating was found in bending and tension as a basic data. For the joint
efficiency testing, the finger joint was placed at the center of the specimen shown in
Fig. 3(a and b). Small clear specimens were taken; dimension and testing were done
as per ASTM D143-09 [14].
2.3. Wood adhesive bond strength
The evaluation of the adhesive bond was done by finding the shear strength of
the adhesive bond by conducting the block shear test using the ASTM D905-08e1
tool shown in the Fig. 4. The specimen dimension is shown in Fig. 5(a). The form
and dimension of the specimen used for this test is adopted as per ASTM D905-
08e1 [15]. Since an adhesive transfers stress from one substrate to another through
shear, shear test is commonly used to evaluate the bond performance of adhesive
joints. Block shear test such as ASTM D905 is commonly used to evaluate mechan-
ical properties of adhesive joints [16]. From the shear test, in addition to shear
strength, percent wood failure on the fracture surface is also measured. During
the test, the machine loading speed was adjusted to 5 mm/min; the maximum load
(Pmax) at the moment of breaking was measured. The longitudinal direction of the
wood was parallel to the loading direction during the test. Shear resistance was cal-
culated by the following equation Pmax/A, where Pmax is the maximum load at the
moment of breaking (N) and A is the surface area glued (mm2).
60 mm
av av
40 mm
830 mm
Fig. 1. Dimension of beam test specimen.
 Author's Personal Copy

400 Y. Nadir, P. Nagarajan / Construction and Building Materials 55 (2014) 398–405

TEST SPECIMENS FOR FLEXURAL STUDY

SOLID TIMBER LAMINATED TIMBER

• 3 LAYERED • 4 LAYERED • 6 LAYERED

• 20 mm THICK • 15 mm THICK • 10 mm THICK
LAMINA LAMINA LAMINA

• 4 LAYERED
• 15 mm THICK
JOINTED LAMINA

Fig. 2. Preparation plan for the test specimens with each group having 10 replications: 3 layered with a thickness of 20 mm are glued; 4 layered with a thickness of 15 mm
are glued; 6 layered with a thickness of 10 mm are glued; 4 layered 15 mm thick finger jointed laminas are glued.

(a) (b)
(a) (b)
Fig. 5. (a) Dimension of test specimen (b) wood failure.
Fig. 3. (a) Tension test of finger joint (b) bending test of finger joint.

the adhesive bond was evaluated by measuring the delamination of the glue bond
by conducting alternate wet and dry test. The form and dimension of the specimens
taken for this study was the same as that used for block shear test. The specimen
shall be submerged in boiling water for 4 h, cooled in water at room temperature
and then dried for 20 h at 63 ± 3 °C in an oven. This completes the first cycle. The
cycle shall be repeated making a total test period of 5 days and the data is recorded
[17]. A feeler gauge of 0.125 mm thick was used for measuring the delamination.

3. Results and discussions

3.1. Evaluation of flexural properties of the specimens

The values obtained for the flexural properties of solid wood,

Fig. 4. ASTM D905 tool.
2.4. Delamination test of the adhesive bond
For the effective bonding and load transfer, the adhesives should be strong en-
ough to withstand the swelling and shrinkage stresses caused by the movement of
wood by wetting and drying, in the presence of moisture and heat. The durability of
laminated wood having different lamina thickness, jointed lami-
nated wood are given in Table 1.
Comparisons of the MOR of various groups showed that the
highest mean of 70.35 MPa was exhibited by 20 mm thick lami-
nated beam followed by solid wood with 69.14 MPa. 10 mm thick
laminated beam has mean MOR of 67.08 MPa, whereas 15 mm
thick laminated and 15 mm thick jointed laminated exhibited
mean MORs of 62.94 MPa and 55.10 MPa respectively. A one-way
analysis of variance (ANOVA) test was carried out at a 5 percent
significance level, to assess whether statistically significant differ-
ence existed between the means of the flexural properties of vari-
ous groups.
The ANOVA performed showed, MOR between groups had
significant difference at the 0.05 level, but bending MOE had no
significant difference between groups. The multiple comparisons
of mean MORs between groups showed that lamina thickness
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Y. Nadir, P. Nagarajan / Construction and Building Materials 55 (2014) 398–405 401

Table 1
Results of flexural properties of the specimens.

Source of variation Samples Mean Min Max Std.Dev

a
MOR Group S 69.14 a 55.60 80.06 8.44 Group
Group A 70.35 a 49.44 81.11 10.52 S-solid wood
Group B 62.94 ab 55.56 72.22 7.09
Group C 67.08 ab 54.44 83.33 11.20
Group J 55.10 b 33.92 68.94 12.89 A-20 mm thick lamina
MOE Group S 10447.81 8938.77 11677.31 977.44 B-15 mm thick lamina
Group A 9996.87 8455.42 12620.03 1710.26
Group B 9949.99 8834.02 10588.20 573.34 C-10 mm thick lamina
Group C 9512.35 8329.22 12115.23 1630.08 J-15 mm thick jointed lamina
Group J 9583.65 7319.62 10727.02 1064.15
a
Mean value of 10 samples in each group are recorded in MPa and the same small letters within a column are not statistically different at the 0.05 level by the Tukey test of
ANOVA.

had no statistically significant effect. Also comparison of mean Table 3

Shear resistance of wood-adhesive bond and control specimen.
MOR between laminated and jointed laminated beams of the same
lamina thickness had no statistically significant difference. The Adhesive Shear strength Wood failure percentage (WFP) (%)
mean MORs of solid wood and laminated wood (unjointed) having PVAc 8.59a 99.7
different lamina thickness showed no statistically significant dif- (1.09) (0.95)
ference. But the multiple comparisons of mean MORs between Solid wood 13.45
groups showed that statistically significant difference existed be- (Control specimen) (1.45)
tween the mean MOR of 15 mm jointed laminated beam and a
Average value of shear strength in MPa and WFP in % of 10 samples and stan-
20 mm thick laminated beam and also with solid wood. ANOVA dard deviation in parenthesis.
performed indicates laminating and also jointed laminating has
found to have no statistically significant effect on MOE in bending.
This research study on the flexural properties and the infer-
ences was made on small scale specimens. It should be noted that 16
A-20 mm laminated beam
14
further experimental study is needed to investigate the size effect
12 B-15 mm laminated beam
of the specimens on the strength predictions.
Load in KN

10 C
C-10 mm laminated beam
8 S
3.2. Evaluation of finger joint efficiency
6 J J- Jointed laminated beam
4 A
The joint efficiency was found in bending and tension, given in S- Solid wood beam
2 B
Table 2. The joint efficiency in the tension test obtained was lower - Ultimate/Failure load point
0
than that in bending test. The percentage of tensile strength of 0 10 20 30 (Pu)
clear wood obtained with the finger jointed connection was Deflection in mm
39.31% and for bending strength it was 68.27%. Among the two test
modes, bending and tension, the tension test was generally consid- Fig. 6. Load deflection curves in bending of one beam specimen from each group.
ered more critical and exhibit smaller values than the bending test.
This might be due to the fact that the glue line in tension was more the finger joint of the outer tension lamina. Tensile tests are there-
uniformly stressed than in bending and the tension is the weakest fore the most critical and appropriate type of test to evaluate this
direction for glue bonds [18]. factor [20], even though the bending test is considered as the most
The efficiency of a joint can vary depending on the quality of convenient and practical test for an extensive preliminary study of
the wood, whether the stress applied is in tension, bending or finger joints [13].
compression; the finger geometrical parameters and also the adhe-
sive used [19]. The most popularly available finger geometry in the 3.3. Evaluation of adhesive bond strength
region was used for this study.
Glulam which is used in a variety of structural applications is The results of the adhesive bond strength (dry stage) in com-
commonly employed in beams whose main rupture mode is pression and the wood failure percentage are shown in Table 3.
caused by the stress in the lower member usually beginning in The average value of the shear strength of the adhesive bond was
approximately 64% of the average value of the shear strength of so-
lid wood, with appreciable wood failure percentage. Wood failure
Table 2 percentage is usually taken as an indication of the strength of the
Joint efficiency of the finger joint profile used in the laminas. glue bond, with a higher percent wood failure indicating that the
Mean Min Max Std.Dev glue bonds are stronger than the wood itself.
Static bending strength (MOR) in MPa
As per the standards for structural glued laminated timber by
Control specimen (CS) 85.63a 72.18 104.44 11.59 JAS 234:2003, the minimum value of adhesive bond strength is
PVAc FJ 58.46 49.30 70.11 6.84 5.4 MPa and the wood failure percentage 60%. The obtained tests
Joint efficiency (%) (JE) 68.27 results of this study shown in Table 3 met this requirement.
Tension strength parallel to grain (TS) in MPa
Control specimen (CS) 82.72 55.41 116.21 20.42 3.4. Evaluation of durability of adhesive bond
PVAc FJ 32.52 23.90 44.53 6.47
Joint efficiency (%) (JE) 39.31
The length of the delamination on both the end grain surfaces
a FJ
Average value of 8 specimens was recorded. JE ¼ CS  100. divided by the total length of bond line was the measure of
 Author's Personal Copy

402 Y. Nadir, P. Nagarajan / Construction and Building Materials 55 (2014) 398–405

3.5. Load-deflection curves

Pu
The load deflection curves in bending of some specimens are
shown in Fig. 6. The deflections in these curves are based on
Load in KN

LP mid-span deflection. Each curve comprises linear and nonlinear

parts. The load at proportional limit (LP), was tabulated as shown
LP=70 % Pu in Fig. 7 to find the contribution of the nonlinear part on the load
deflection curve. On an average, in solid and laminated beam spec-
imens, LP is 70% of the ultimate load (Pu) in static bending test. In
the jointed laminated beams this average value is rising to 78%. But
the ductility or the nonlinear part could be increased by increasing
the spacing of the finger joints in the outer tension lamina.
Deflection in mm

Fig. 7. The load at proportional limit in the load–deflection curve in bending.

3.6. Comparison of experimental and theoretical results

delamination. The percentage delamination of the lapped specimen
at the first cycle of boil–dry was noted as 22.08%. ASTM D1101-97a The experimental results of this study show no effect for lamina
[21] and JAS234:2003 specifies the percentage delamination not thickness and no significant difference in the flexural properties
more than 5% for structural glued laminated timber. But the used between solid wood and laminated wood as per Table 1. So for
adhesive PVAc for this study is generally not recommended for the theoretical failure load calculation in this study, a laminated
joints under high humidity and high temperature [22,23]. beam could be considered same as a solid beam with the assump-
tions of perfect bonding, constant modulus of elasticity for the
individual laminas and the adhesive property same as laminas
Table 4 [24]. The theoretical analysis was done using the bending theory;
Comparison of experimental and theoretical ultimate load values. to compare the ultimate load values of the laminated specimens
with the experimental results obtained. Ultimate load (Failure
Comparison of experimental and theoretical ultimate load
load) in the simply supported condition of the beam was calculated
values
shown in Table 4, using the bending equation M ¼ fz, f is the static
Failure load (KN) bending strength of the wood (MOR) in MPa (Table 2), Z is the sec-
Experimental tion modulus in mm2. The experimental average value of the ulti-
Theoretical mate load for laminated beams was showing a lower value than
(average)
Laminated ft the theoretically obtained, may be because the experimental aver-
beam Laminated beam 14.88 12.02
age value has included different types of failure modes.
Jointed The ultimate load calculation of finger jointed laminated beam
7.82 9.91 in this study was theoretically predicted using the method pro-
laminated beam
posed by walter [25], which assumes that the failure always occurs
at a finger joint in the extreme tension lamina.
The theoretical model by walter predicted the strength of any
beam size based on the strength of finger joints. The model also

Table 5
Types of failure during loading on the failure limit.

Types of failure Number of occurrences Description of failures [26]

Solid Glulam
Unjointed Jointed
Tension failure—Crack initiating from the bottom and spreading to the top laminas with high wood 2 20
failure

Sliding mode of failure—The fractured line passed partly through the wood and majority through the 6
glue line surface. Also the fracture happened through the entire width of the beam

Failure of finger joint—Failure initiated at the finger joint and spread to the top laminas with high wood 8
failure

Compression failure due to buckling just beneath the bearing plate of loading

3 2 2

Splintering tension 2 1
 Author's Personal Copy

Y. Nadir, P. Nagarajan / Construction and Building Materials 55 (2014) 398–405 403

assumed that the modulus of elasticity between the various lami-

nas was not significantly different.
This experimental study tested 10 finger jointed laminated
beams, only 3 beams are with finger joints inside the maximum
moment zone in the outer tension lamina. But all the beams with
finger joints inside and also outside the maximum moment zone
failed due to the finger joint failure, occurred at the outer tension
lamina. Except two beams with finger joints outside the maximum
moment zone in the lower tension lamina, failed by slope of grain
failure. The number of finger joints in the outer tension lamina of
all the tested beams were two. As finger joints appeared to be
the critical factor, prediction of the strength of the jointed lami-
nated beam by walter model may be reasonable. Knowing the Fig. 11. Slope of grain failure.
strength of finger joints in bending, the coefficient of variation on
that strength, the ratio between bending strength and tensile
strength of finger joints, the number of finger joints and the num-
ber of laminates, the modulus of rupture of the jointed laminated
beam could be predicted using walter model. Using these available
datas of this study, the mean MOR of the finger jointed laminated
beam obtained was 43.43 MPa. The experimentally obtained value
was 55.10 MPa. The finger joints were symmetrically placed in the
beam, accordingly a balanced laminate was assumed, the ultimate
load was calculated shown in Table 4, using the bending equation
with the obtained values of MORs.

3.7. Failure description

The failure descriptions of the solid and laminated beams are Fig. 12. Splintering tension failure.
given in Table 5. The predominant mode of failure is the tension

Fig. 8. Typical illustration of the tension failure and destruction of the wood of two specimens.

Fig. 9. Typical illustration of the sliding mode failure and destruction of the wood of two specimens.

Fig. 10. Typical illustration of the finger joint failure and destruction of the wood of two specimens.
 Author's Personal Copy
404 Y. Nadir, P. Nagarajan / Construction and Building Materials 55 (2014) 398–405
Table 6
Min permissible stress limits in MPa in three groups of structural timbers as per IS 883 and the permissible stress limits of rubber wood in MPa.
Strength character Location
Bending and tension along the grain Inside
Shear along grain All locations
Compression parallel to grain Inside
Modulus of elasticity (1000) All locations
failure in laminated beams with the crack starting from bottom
lamina and spreading to the top. The crack lines are with sufficient
wood failure (Fig. 8). In perfectly bonded beams, free from other
defects the tension failure is the probable mode. The sliding failure
also happened in some beams, the crack line passed through wood
and mostly through the adhesive surface, showing the glue failure
on that surface (Fig. 9). In the jointed laminated beam the crack ini-
tiated from the finger joint and propagated to the top (Fig. 10). No
sliding failure happened in the jointed laminated specimens. The
sliding mode of failure (delamination failure) in a laminated beam
may occur when there is a defectively glued area in the specimen
so that the crack starts from the defected zone propagates through
the adhesive surface, but when a very strong bonded area comes,
it gets passed through the wood.
The defectively glued area happens in the beams because of
several reasons; the warped samples when laminated may not
get properly interlocked, another is the non-uniform spread or ab-
sence of the glue on any point in the surface of the laminas. When
the pressure application is delayed, also if the amount of pressure
is more or less than required, add up the chances of slip failure.
The tested beam is with smaller l/d ratio, so that the contribu-
tion from shear deformation is not less contributing to the chance
of shear failure [27]. As finger jointing is done by taking small
pieces of wood, there will be no warped samples, resulting in bet-
ter bonding and no case of slip failure. The specimens having the
outer tension laminas with the finger joints spaced at farthest posi-
tions have shown the better load carrying capacity than the spec-
imens with finger joints near or inside the maximum moment
region. In the specimens having the finger joints at the extreme
spacing, the critical parameter of the failure was the defect in the
wood, in the tested samples it was the slope of grain. Solid wood
specimens tested, exhibited most of the different types of charac-
teristic failure patterns of wood beams. Figs. 11 and 12 shows slope
of grain failure and splintering tension in solid wood.
3.8. Comparison of the permissible stress limits of rubber wood with IS
Standards
The permissible stress limits of small clear wood specimens of
rubber wood was found and compared with the minimum permis-
sible stress limits of three groups of structural timbers specified in
IS 883 [28] given in Table 6. The strength values are tented to
group A, but regarding the lower stiffness values it can be deter-
mined in group C.
4. Conclusions
Statistical analysis shows the flexural properties of solid wood
and laminated wood as having no significant difference. Lamina
thickness does not make any statistically significant difference in
the flexural properties. Laminated beam and jointed laminated
beam with the same lamina thickness have no significant differ-
ence in the flexural properties. The wood adhesive bond strength
and the wood failure percentage are appreciable. The experimental
results obtained and a comparison with code provisions verifies
the suitability of the wood species for composite products.
Group A Group B Group C Rubber wood
18 12 8.5 17.13
1.5 0.91 0.7 1.92
11.7 7.8 4.9 10.34
12.6 9.8 5.6 7.9
As rubber wood is a by-product and is a sustainable resource,
this study could be well-thought-out as a value addition to the
material. It may also be possible to use this material as the core
layers of laminated elements and to combine with high density
materials in the outer layers, for its strength enhancement and as
a safeguard to its durability. This adds up a further scope of this
study.
With the new generation chemicals and the advanced strength
enhancement techniques, research studies and also initiatives from
the industry would be supportive for the effective utilization of this
plenteous resource.
Acknowledgements
The authors thank the managerial staffs Uma Sankar, Aniprabha
Nair, Jayamon and all the workers of India Wood, RRII, Kottayam
for the great help and support extended for the fabrication of the
specimens needed for the study.
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