Bending Stiffness of Hybrid Wood-Metal Composite Beams: An Experimentally Validated Numerical Model

Abstract

This paper presents an experimentally validated model for the computational analysis of metal-reinforced wooden composites. The model can be used in both research and in industry to effectively estimate how much a certain composite design improves the bending stiffness and strength of a hybrid metal-reinforced wooden component. A model based on computer simulations allows the prediction and analysis of the mechanical behaviour of a hybrid composite material consisting of several interconnected components made of different base materials. The model for different boundary conditions and parameters provides the correct data on stiffness, especially bending, and the associated maximum displacements. It allows for a variation of the mechanical and geometrical properties, and makes it possible to observe the initiation of irreversible change in the window-frame member. The model enables parametrical simulations to find the optimum layout of reinforcements in the window-frame member, as well as to make estimations of the maximum performance of certain designs.