Measurement of rolling shear modulus of Cross Laminated Timber: Exploratory study using downscaled specimens under variable span bending tests

The purpose of this study was to measure the rolling shear modulus of Cross Laminated Timber (CLT), which was achieved by conducting 3-point bending tests with variable span using downscaled sandwich specimens. Two types of sandwich specimens were employed: steel-wood-steel (SWS) and wood-wood-wood (WWW). Experimental results from SWS specimens were verified with those predicted from WWW ones through the shear analogy method. Effects of span-to-depth ratio (l/h) and growth ring orientation on rolling shear modulus (G
_RT
) were also examined. It was found that the average deflection of WWW specimens tested at l/h of 6.5 could be well predicted using the shear analogy method based on true elasticity of modulus (E
_m
) and G
_RT
of the cross layer measured using SWS specimens under variable span tests. The results also showed that the cross layer of `in-between' growth ring orientation could gain the higher rolling shear modulus than that of flat sawn or quarter sawn one.