Deformation behaviour and failure time of glued laminated timber columns in fire

Abstract

This paper reports on results of load-bearing fire tests of large cross-section structural glued laminated timber columns made of Japanese larch and cedar. The purpose of the tests was to investigate the properties of charring, the temperature distribution in the cross-section, the deformation behaviour and the failure time of the glulam columns exposed to standard fire heating not only during the heating phase but also during the cooling decay phase. Furthermore, numerical analyses of the tests were carried out, and the results of both were compared. The analysis results using the thermal and high temperature mechanical properties model of soften wood in accordance with Eurocode5 approximately agreed with the tests result of the temperature, the deformation behaviour and the failure time.