Avaliação estrutural de vigas de madeira laminada colada

Abstract

With the scarcity of wood in appropriate dimensions for structural designs, a technique of joining small pieces to establish robust pillars and beams was developed and has been extensively studied worldwide. The generated product is called Glulam - Glued Laminated Timber - which owns a number of requirements for their manufacture and certain care for their application. Aiming the spread of the knowledge about this material 24 glulam beams, acquired in the Brazilian market, were evaluated, among which 12 were made of Lyptus® and the other of Pinus Eliotti, exotic species woods arising from handling forest. The adhesive used for bonding the veneers was based on Emulsion Polymer Isocyanate - EPI - with the fixed weight of 180g.m-2. Appropriate visual inspections were performed on the beams, as well as mechanical tests on specimens to verify the resistance to compression, traction and shear, both in wood and in the adhesive. The beams were structurally evaluated by non-destructive testing methods, obtaining values for the dynamic modules of elasticity which were compared with the results obtained by the traditional method of static bending. After obtaining the elastic characteristics, the beams are subject to breakage, having been evaluated failures along with their modulus of rupture. Overall, even with discontinuities in the stages of production, the analyzed glulam beams obtained good results and demonstrated that the material is a product of potential replacement for solid wood in structures of high standard.