Flexural Performance of Strengthened Glued Laminated (GLULAM) Timber Beam Using Glass Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP)

Several reinforcement applications using glass fibre-reinforced polymer (GFRP) as strengthening material show greater structural strength without an increase of its dimensions. Though reinforcement is proven to be workable, there is minimal understanding of the optimum area should the GFRP be used in strengthening. This research aims to investigate this issue by testing the GFRP strengthening of glulam beams with a dimension of 80 mm x 140 mm x 3000 mm under four-point flexural loading. Three (3) specimens of each made for control, and three different areas covered by GFRP, are 30 (G30), 40 (G40), and 50 (G50), respectively. Results show that adding 50 of the GFRP area increases 4.73 of the load-carrying capacity of the control beam; however, it reduced 3.84 the Modulus of Elasticity (MoE) and increased 2.16 of Modulus of Rupture (MOR) of the beam. Since the average maximum bending capacity of the G50 is 4.74 greater than that of the G30 and G40 strengthened area; therefore, G50 is considered to be more effective. While analysis of the damage pattern of the glulam beam and GFRP strips indicated a severe effect of delamination due to the difference of material behaviour when placed under load. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.