Study of glue-laminated timber connections with high fire resistance using expanded steel tubes

Sammanfattning: A key factor regarding fire safety of timber buildings is the performance of connections between the structural elements, since this determines the load-carrying capacity of the structure. Traditional timber connections do generally perform poorly in a fire compared to surrounding parts since the joints often consist of exposed metal parts and cavities which locally decreases the fire resistance. This weakness does often lead to the appliance of gypsum which removes the aesthetic appearance of timber. Through an innovative timber connection design, the hope is that the failings at elevated temperature are changed from the connection itself to surrounding parts thus increasing the fire resistance to the limits of the connected components. Two types of glue-laminated timber connections have been built and tested at RISE facilities in Borås with the purpose to determine if these could withstand fire exposure for 90 minutes under load. The connections are assembled by expanding hollow steel tubes that clinches the members together and at the same time makes the steel tube yield against the inside of the pre-drilled hole. Pre-stresses are created in the connection during this process that avoids an initial slip if the connection is loaded, which is one of the reasons that this type of connections is suitable in earthquake-prone areas. The joint design results in a significantly increased rotational stiffness, moment capacity and embedded energy of the joint in comparison with conventional timber connections. One of the connections is designed to withstand moment forces. The specimen is built as a beam to beam connection that is subjected to a four-point bending test at both ambient and elevated temperature. The connection withstood 39.5 kNm in ambient temperature and failed after 87 minutes and 6 seconds of fire exposure under load. However, failure in elevated temperature did not occur within the connection, and visual inspection after the test indicated that the steel tubes still were in excellent condition. The connection is therefore expected to have been able to withstand 90 minutes of fire exposure. The other connection is designed to withstand shear-forces and is built as a column to beam connection that is tested at both room temperature and elevated temperature. The connection endured a maximum shear-force of 181.4 kN in ambient temperature, approximately 30 kN higher than previously performed test with identical setup, and failed after 113 minutes of fire exposure under load. The failure in elevated temperature did however not occur inside the connection. The testing is limited to unprotected connections consisting of glue-laminated timber which are tested in accordance with ISO 834.