Structural Analysis of a Stress-Laminated-Timber Bridge Deck Using Hardwood

Abstract

The abundance of wood in Brazil combined with the advantages of its use has lead to many studies focusing on optimizing the application of this raw material. In particular, stress-laminated-timber decks are an alternative to conventional building materials for short- to medium-span bridges, and its advantages include low weight and excellent flexibility that enable a high prefabrication rate and quick assembly on site. In order to make the best use of wood, this work studies the behavior of a stress-laminated-timber bridge deck using hardwoods. In brief, three different species were used as laminates, which with the prestress effect made it really difficult to have optimal precision in the numerical analysis, then resulting in higher displacements than those from the tests in almost all comparisons. However, the results of the experimental and numerical displacements followed the same pattern and linearity with reasonable values and low deflections, which demonstrates that the system worked as an orthotropic plate equivalent to the same deck system constructed out of conifers, as widely used in North America for such structures. Further research should be performed with one species only, so that even better results could be found.