Source: Design of Wood Structures—ASD/LRFD, 8th Edition

ISBN: 9781260128673
Authors: Donald E. Breyer P.E., Kelly E. Cobeen S.E., Zeno Martin S.E.

5.4. Fabrication of Glulams

Specifications and guidelines covering the design and fabrication of glulam members are published by the American Institute of
Timber Construction (AITC) and APA—The Engineered Wood Association APA (Refs. 5.1, 5.4, and 5.6). AITC and APA are
technical trade associations representing the glulam industry. AITC also publishes the Timber Construction Manual (TCM, Ref.
5.1), which was introduced in Chap. 1 and is referenced throughout this book. The TCM is a wood engineering handbook that
can be considered as the basic reference on glulam (for convenience, it also includes information on other structural wood
products such as sawn lumber).

Most structural glulam members are produced using Douglas Fir or Southern Pine. Hem-Fir, Spruce-Pine-Fir, Alaska Cedar, and
various other species including hardwood species can also be used. Quality control standards ensure the production of a
reliable product. In fact, the structural properties of glulam members in most cases exceed the structural properties of sawn
lumber.

The reason that the structural properties for glulam are so high is that the material included in the member can be selected
from relatively high-quality laminating stock. The growth characteristics that limit the structural capacity of a large solid sawn
wood member can simply be excluded in the fabrication of a glulam member.

In addition, laminating optimizes material use by dispersing the strength-reducing defects in the laminating material throughout
the member. For example, consider the laminations that are produced from a sawn member with a knot that completely
penetrates the member at one section. See Figure 5.4. If this member is used to produce laminating stock which is later
reassembled in a glulam member, it is unlikely that the knot defect will be reassembled in all the laminations at exactly the
same location in the glulam member. Therefore, the reduction in cross-sectional properties at any section consists only of a
portion of the original knot. The remainder of the knot is distributed to other locations in the member.

Figure 5.4 Dispersion of growth defects in glulam. Growth characteristics found in sawn lumber
can be eliminated or (as shown in this sketch) dispersed throughout the member to reduce the
effect at a given cross section.

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Besides dispersing strength-reducing characteristics, the fabrication of glulam members makes efficient use of available
materials in another way. High-quality laminations are located in the portions of the cross section which are more highly
stressed. For example, in a typical glulam beam, wood of superior quality is located in the outer tension and compression
zones. This coincides with the location of maximum bending stresses under typical loading. See Example 5.1. Although the
maximum bending compressive and tensile stresses are equal, research has demonstrated that the outer laminations in the
tension zone are the most critical laminations in a beam. For this reason, additional grading requirements are used for the outer
tension laminations.

The different grades of laminations through the depth of the cross section really make a glulam a composite beam. Recall from
strength of materials that a composite member is made up of more than one material with different values of modulus of
elasticity E. Composite members are analyzed using the transformed section method. The most obvious example of a
composite member in building construction is a reinforced concrete beam, but a glulam is also a composite member because
the different grades of laminations have different Es.

Example

EXAMPLE 5.1 Distribution of Laminations is Glulam Beams. See Figure 5.5.

Figure 5.5 Distribution of high- and lower-quality laminations in glulam beams.

Bending stress calculation:

My
Arbitrary point fb =
I
Mc
Maximum stress fb =
I

In glulam beams, high-quality laminations are located in areas of high stress (i.e., near the top and bottom of the beam).
Lower-quality wood is placed near the neutral axis where the stresses are lower. The outer tension laminations are critical
and require the highest-grade stock.

For the designer, a glulam beam can be treated as a homogeneous material with a rectangular cross section. Design values
have been determined in accordance with ASTM D 3737 (Ref. 5.2) using transformed sections. All glulam design values have
been transformed to allow the use of apparent rectangular section properties. Thus, except for differences in design values and
section properties, a glulam design is carried out in much the same manner as the design of a solid sawn beam.

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Glulam beams are usually loaded in bending about the strong axis of the cross section. Large section properties and the
distribution of laminations over the depth of the cross section make this an efficient use of materials. This is the loading
condition assumed in Example 5.1, and bending about the strong axis should be assumed unless otherwise noted. In the tables
for glulam design values, bending about the strong axis is described as the transverse load being applied perpendicular to the
wide face of the laminations. See Example 5.2.

Example

EXAMPLE 5.2 Bending of Glulams

Bending can occur about either the x or y axis of a glulam, or both. In section 1, the load is perpendicular to the wide faces of
the laminations, and bending occurs about the strong or major axis of the member. This is the more common situation. In
section 2, the load is parallel to the wide faces of the laminations, and bending occurs about the weak or minor axis of the
member.

Figure 5.6 Major and minor axis bending of glulam beams.

Loading about the minor axis is also possible, but it is much less common. One common example of glulam beams loaded
about the minor axis is in timber bridge decks. Different tabulated stresses apply to members loaded about the x and y axes.

Laminations are selected and dried to a moisture content (MC) of 16 percent or less before gluing. Differences in moisture
content for the laminations in a member at the time of fabrication are not permitted to exceed 5 percent in order to minimize
internal stresses and checking. Because of the relatively low MC of glulam members at the time of fabrication, the change in
moisture content in service (i.e., the initial MC minus the EMC) is generally much smaller for glulams than it is for sawn lumber.
Thus, glulams are viewed as being more dimensionally stable. Even though the percent change in MC is normally less, the depth
of a glulam is usually much larger than that of a sawn lumber member. Thus, the possible effects of shrinkage need to be
considered in glulam design. See Sec. 4.7 for more discussion of shrinkage and Chap. 14 for recommendations about how to
avoid shrinkage-related problems in connections.

For the last several decades, phenol-resorcinol base or melamine adhesives have been used to bond material making up the
glulam. To adapt to changes in adhesive technology, a new consensus standard has been created, ANSI 405-2018, Standard for
Adhesives for Use in Structural Glued Laminated Timber. Any adhesive used for the manufacturer of glulam is required to meet
qualification requirements of ANSI A190.1, Standard for Wood Products—Structural Glued Laminated Timber.

Laminations making up the glulam run parallel to its length. The efficient use of materials and the long length of many glulam
members require that effective end splices be developed in a given lamination. While several different configurations of
lamination end-joint splices are possible, including finger and scarf joints (see Figure 5.7), virtually all glued laminated timber
produced in North America uses some form of finger joint.

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 Figure 5.7 End-joint splices in laminating stock. Most glulam fabricators use either the vertical or
horizontal finger joints for end-joint splices. In addition, proof loading of joints is common, and in
this case the location of end joints is not restricted.

Finger joints produce high-strength joints when the fingers have relatively flat slopes. The fingers have small blunt tips to
ensure adequate bearing pressure. Finger joints also make efficient use of laminating stock because the lengths of the fingers
are usually short in comparison with the lengths of scarf joints. With scarf joints, the flatter the slope of the joint, the greater the
strength of the connection. Scarf slopes of 1 in 5 or flatter for compression and 1 in 10 or flatter for tension are recommended
(Ref. 5.8).

If the width of the laminating stock is insufficient to produce the required net width of glulam, more than one piece of stock can
be used to achieve the width for a lamination. The edge joints, in such a case, can be glued. However, the vast majority of
glulam producers do not edge-glue laminates. Rather, the edge joints are staggered in adjacent laminations.

Although one should be aware of the basic fabrication procedures and concepts outlined in this section, the designer does not
have to be concerned about designing the individual laminations, splices, and so on. The manufacturing standards for glulam
are based on ANSI A190.1, Structural Glued Laminated Timber (Ref. 5.7), and implementation is ensured through a quality
control system. Quality assurance involves the inspection and testing of glulam production by a qualified agency. The majority
of glulam produced in the United States is inspected by two agencies: AITC and APA. Each glulam is grade-stamped for
identification purposes. See Figure 5.8. In addition, because of the importance of the tension laminations, the top of a glulam
bending member using an unbalanced layup is also marked with a stamp mark of "TOP." This identification allows construction
personnel in the field to orient the member properly in the structure (i.e., get it right side up). If a glulam were inadvertently
turned upside down, the compression laminations would be stressed in tension and the strength of the member could be greatly
reduced. For applications such as continuous or cantilevered beams, the designer should specify a balanced layup that has
high-quality tension laminations on both the top and bottom of the member, and therefore has equivalent positive and negative
moment capacities. Some of the items in the grade stamp include

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1. Quality control agency (e.g., American Institute of Timber Construction or Engineered Wood Systems)

2. Structural use (possible symbols: B, simple span bending member; C, compression member; T, tension member; and CB,
continuous or cantilever bending member)

3. Appearance grade (FRAMING, framing; IND, industrial; ARCH, architectural; PREM, premium)

4. Plant or mill number (e.g., 143 and 0000 shown)

5. Standard for structural glued laminated timber (i.e., ANSI/AITC A190.1)

6. Laminating specification and combination symbol (e.g., 117 24F-1.8E)

7. Species/species group of the glulam

8. Proof-loaded end joints, if used during the manufacturing process

Figure 5.8 Typical grade stamp for glulam. (Courtesy of APA.)

A complete list of all required markings is provided in ANSI A190.1 (Ref. 5.7).

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