Experimental study regarding the behavior of glue laminated beams double reinforced with rectangular metal pipes (RMP)

Abstract

Improvement of the load-carrying capacity of glulam beams by the addition of reinforcement is now common practice. The possibility of using RMP as reinforcement for glulam timber elements in place of FRPs is of interest, due to the improved durability of the system, low-cost manufacturing, and to the easier and faster application guaranteed by the traditional square steel bars. The aim of this paper is to determine the supporting capacity on bending and flexural properties of reinforced (RMP) compared with unreinforced glued laminated beams. The size of each beam is 115x320x6400mm. The results indicate that the behavior of reinforced beams is totally different from that of unreinforced ones.