Design of regular and shear-reinforced panel web beams for long-span construction

• The design of regular panel web beams for a residential building is introduced.
• The design of panel web beams reinforced with metal plates for shear resistance is introduced.
• Some details for the design and construction of panel web beams are discussed.

The design of a 84-m-long 6.7-m-wide one-story residence built on an island off the coast of British Columbia, Canada, presented special timber engineering challenges. To use materials that can be easily transported in pieces and built on-site, panel web beams (PWBs) were developed as main structural components. Two types of PWBs were used. One is the regular PWB built with glulam members as the flanges, plywood panels as the web, and dimension lumber members as the stiffeners. The other is the shear-reinforced PWBs used in regions where design shear forces were excessive. The shear reinforcement consisted of metal sheet plates and steel plate stripes concealed inside the regular PWB. The perimeter steel plate stripes were connected to wood members using timber rivets. The use of both types of PWBs showed the possibility of designing and building wood composite members for long-span construction with small-size materials that can be easily transported to the site.