Pull-out strength of glued-in FRP plates bonded in glulam

• FRP laminates as connectors in glulam timber are promising for the durability of the system and the easier application.
• The paper presents an investigation aimed at characterizing the bond performance of FRP strips glued into glulam elements.
• Pull-out tests are adopted to assess the influence of: bond length, fibre materials, direction of fibres and timber grains.
• The behaviour of the joint is also studied numerically and analytically.

The use of FRP laminates as connectors in glulam timber members is considered to be particularly promising since the durability of the system is improved and the application is easier and faster due to the lightweight properties of FRPs. In this paper an investigation aimed at characterizing the bond performance of FRP strips glued into glulam elements is presented. Several pull-out tests were carried out to assess the influence of various parameters: the bond length, the type of fibers for the reinforcement, the direction of the fibers in the FRP with respect to the timber grain. The elastic behaviour of the joint was also studied analytically and numerically. The ultimate strength of the experiments was compared with predictive expressions available from the literature.