The effect of changing environmental conditions on behaviour of glulam beams

The paper deals with the mechanical analysis of glulam beams in changing climatic conditions. The computational part of the paper includes two separate numerical procedures. First, the diffusion equation is solved in order to determine the temporal and spatial distribution of water content in the cross-section of the beam subjected to the changing environmental humidity. The results of the first computational stage are used as the input data for the second part of the numerical analysis, in which the mechanical response of the beam is assessed. Finite element method with highly accurate non-linear beam element is employed. The displacements and strains as well as stress distribution in the mid-span cross-section are presented. In the article some measured values of vertical displacements in the middle of span are shown, too.