Experimental Study on Flexural Performance of Regulated Reinforced Glulam Beam after Long-Term Loading

Due to wood creep characteristics, the failure mode, bearing capacity, stiffness, and deformation of its components are doomed to be impacted by long-term loading. This paper conducted a comparative test on creep beams, regulated beams, and short-term beams based on the former long-term loading research. The results demonstrated that the glulam beam experienced tensile failure of the beam-bottom, while the horizontal joint failure and the local compressive failure of the beam-end happened in the reinforced glulam beam and the prestressed glulam beam. The bearing capacity of the creep beams decreased compared with that of the short-term beams; the decline in the bearing capacity of the ordinary glulam beams, the reinforced glulam beams, and the prestressed glulam beams ranged from 3.2% to 9.8%, from 1.6% to 13.2%, and from 2.9% to 9.2%, respectively. However, the bearing capacity of the regulated beam with the deformation restored to the initial value of the load increased by 4.6–14.1%. The prestressed regulation changed the distribution of the stress on the beam and thus enhanced its bearing capacity. The findings of this work could be used as a frame of reference for similar components in engineering applications.