In-situ characteristic elastic properties of bond-lines in laminated engineered wood products using microscopic digital image correlation

Adhesively laminated engineered wood products (EWPs), such as glue-laminated timber (GLT) and cross-laminated timber (CLT), have gained global popularity due to the increasing development of tall wood buildings. The mechanical performance of a bond-lines is crucial for the structural behavior of EWPs. In this study, a novel method was developed for evaluating in-situ elastic properties of a bond-line in adhesively laminated solid wood products. This method deployed the microscopic digital image correlation (DIC) technique to capture the strain distribution along the bond-line under axial (0°) and off-axis (45°) tensile loading. Three types of adhesives, namely polyurethane (PUR), emulsion polymer isocyanate (EPI), and phenol–resorcinol–formaldehyde (PRF), were used to make specimens. The modulus of elasticity ( E ) and modulus of shear ( G ) of a bond-line were accordingly calculated based on the strain along a bond-line and load applied on a specimen. For verification purpose, finite element (FEA) models on CLT and GLT beams were, considering the elastic properties of bond-lines and disregarding the elastic properties, developed to evaluate the effects of the elastic properties of a bond-line on the stress distribution. It was found that the proposed method could be used to accurately determine the in-situ characteristic elastic properties of bond-lines in EWPs. The elastic properties of a bond-line exhibited a large variability, but did not appear to have a significant impact on the overall stress distribution in a specimen. The E and G of bond-lines might be neglected in the structural analysis of large-sized laminated wood products such as GLT and CLT.