Pitch-Cambered Glued Laminated Beam Deflections

The design of many structural systems, particularly for longer spans, may be governed by deflection limitations. Design calculations based on working stresses alone may result in the selection of elements violating these deflection limitations. The methods currently in use in the United States and Canada to estimate deflections in pitch-cambered beams either seriously underestimate or overestimate these deflections due to oversimplification of the geometry. This leads to either serviceability problems or over-design of the member, depending on the deflection estimation method used. In this research effort, a simplified and rational procedure for estimating the shear and bending deflections in pitch-cambered glued laminated beams is developed considering the five parameter nature of the beam problem. The recommended deflection formulas are based on the results of an extensive parametric study conducted to investigate the influence of the key geometric parameters on the beam deflections. The shear and bending deflections predicted by the recommended formulas are compared with those predicted by the existing methods, and a classical energy method of analysis.

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