Effect of self-tapping screws on moisture induced stresses in glulam

Glulam structures in service may exhibit considerable moisture induced stresses perpendicular to grain that may affect the load-bearing capacity. An option to enhance the low tensile strength of glulam perpendicular to grain is the use of self-tapping screws, which has shown promising results in constant climates. In varying climates, however, the performance of such screw reinforcements is currently not well understood. The present paper reports results of both experiments and numerical simulations investigating the effect of self-tapping screws on moisture induced stresses arising in glulam exposed to single wetting and drying climate changes. It is shown that during wetting, the screw reinforcement significantly reduces the maximum tensile stresses arising in the cross section centre. With screw distances from 70 to 210 mm, stress reductions by 70–30% are achieved (compared to unreinforced glulam beams). The tensile stresses arising between the reinforcing screws depend not only on the screw distance, but also strongly on the cross section width and the annual ring pattern of the laminates. During drying, the additional restraint caused by the reinforcing screws resulted in a slight increase of the tensile stresses at the cross section border. These were, however, rather low compared to the tensile stresses arising during wetting.

► We model glulam beams reinforced with self-tapping screws during wetting exposures.
► Screw reinforcement significantly reduces tensile stresses perpendicular to grain.
► Stress reduction depends on screw distance, cross section width, annual rings.
► Mechanosorption is of a similar magnitude in reinforced and unreinforced glulam.