Steel-Reinforced Columns Made of European Beech Glued-Laminated Timber

Abstract

One of the obstacles to the recent trend towards taller timber buildings is the limited loadcarrying capacity of softwood columns. With the aim of promoting the structural use of European beech wood (Fagus sylvatica L.) in high-performance applications, the buckling behaviour of beech glued-laminated timber (GLT) columns reinforced with glued-in steel bars was investigated experimentally and numerically. Axial compression experiments were carried out on full-scale stocky and slender columns and a finite element model was developed and validated against the 1 Sroka,