The Use of Torsion Test Method to Evaluate the Shear Properties of Timber Joists

Khokhar, Aamir; Zhang, Johnson

Abstract

This paper presents details of the experimental method and test results from a series of torsion tests undertaken to evaluate the shear modulus and shear strength of solid timber joist. The variation of shear modulus within and between test samples, failure modes and the correlation of shear strength and shear modulus were studied. Test results obtained indicate that there was considerable (approximately 33%) variation in shear modulus between pieces of timber tested. It was also found that the shear strength of tested joists was higher than the published values in EN 338. The test joists fractured mostly at the middle with cracks propagated towards either supports or edges. A good correlation was found between shear strength and the shear modulus. The recent revision of the testing standard EN408 includes the torsion testing approach to obtain the shear modulus of timber. It is proposed that a torsion test also be adopted as a method for evaluating the shear strength of timber

Citation

Khokhar, A., & Zhang, J. (2012, July). The Use of Torsion Test Method to Evaluate the Shear Properties of Timber Joists. Presented at World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE 2012)

• Conference Name: World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE 2012)
• Start Date: Jul 15, 2012
• End Date: Jul 19, 2012
• Acceptance Date: Apr 1, 2012
• Online Publication Date: Aug 30, 2012
• Publication Date: Aug 30, 2012
• Deposit Date: Jun 18, 2018
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 18, 2018
• Publisher: Curran Associates, Inc.
• Book Title: Proceedings of the World Conference on Timber Engineering (WCTE 2012)
• Chapter Number: 5
• ISBN: 9781622763054
• Keywords: Torsion test, shear strength, shear modulus, design values, failure mechanism,
• Public URL: http://researchrepository.napier.ac.uk/Output/1220639
• Contract Date: Jun 18, 2018