Open Access

ARTICLE

Mechanical Behavior of Light Trusses Made of Poplar Laminated Veneer Lumber and Connected with Bolts and Tooth Plates

by Yan Liu, Yanfei Guo, Xufeng Sun, Meng Gong

1 College of Civil Engineering, Yangzhou University, Yangzhou, China
2 Wood Science and Technology Center, University of New Brunswick, Fredericton, Canada

* Corresponding Author: Xufeng Sun. Email:

(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Bio-composite Materials and Structures)

Journal of Renewable Materials 2020, 8(9), 1111-1127. https://doi.org/10.32604/jrm.2020.09575

Received 20 December 2019; Accepted 18 May 2020; Issue published 03 August 2020

Abstract

Poplar Laminated Veneer Lumber (Poplar LVL) is a new type of engineering materials with high strength, good reliability and small variability. Poplar LVL is manufactured from the fast-growing poplar, which is widely used in packaging, furniture and others, however, is rarely adopted in construction. In order to explore the feasibility of poplar LVL trusses in construction of roof, four 4.5-m-span Fink-and-Howe trusses were designed and assembled, which were made of poplar LVL with bolted- and tooth-plated connections. Vertical static loading on the upper chord joints of a truss was imposed by self-balancing test device. The mechanical properties of trusses were examined. The ultimate load, deformation character and failure mode of each truss were measured, observed and analyzed. Furthermore, four types of analytical models with different joint connection assumptions were used to estimate the ultimate load and deflection. The results showed that the poplar LVL trusses were basically in elastic stage before the design load was reached, showing good working performance under the action of design load. The bearing capacity of the trusses of bolted connections was greater than that of the tooth-plated connections. As for the same joint connection type, the bearing capacity of Fink trusses exceeded that of Howe trusses. The poplar LVL light trusses of both types of connections showed good structural performance, which could be reasonably used for building roof systems.

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