Security determination in timber structures. Ultimate Load in Critical Sections

Abstract

To calculate structural security it is necessary to determine its failure mechanism. In elasto-plastic materials like timber, structural ultimate load arrives when in an n-degree hyperstatic structure the (n+1) plastic hinge is produced. Consequently, to calculate structural ultimate loads, the modelling of the basic failure mechanism of timber elements is necessary. In this paper, we propose basic ultimate load models of willow timber elements experimentally determined. They are models of compression, tension and flexural failure mechanisms in elements with a rectangular cross section. Numerical results will be included.