Creep behaviour of timber structures in variable tropical climates: Application to Dacryodes buettneri and baillonella toxisperma species. (15th August 2022)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Manfoumbi Boussougou, Nicaise; Pambou Nziengui, Claude Feldman; Moutou Pitti, Rostand
• Is Part Of: Construction & building materials. Volume 344(2022)
• Publication Date: 2022-08-15
• Subjects: Tropical hardwoods -- Tropical climate -- Eurocode 5 -- Experimentation -- Creep behavior; Building materials -- Periodicals; 624.18
• DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.128284
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0950-0618

Abstract

Highlights: We propose a specific methodology of the following of tropical beams deflection in creep test. We decouple the effects of environmental changes and mechanical behaviour on the creep deflection recorded. The limit of European standard for tropical species is shown. The effects of the moisture diffusion in wood have been considered. Abstract: The present work deals with the beginning of the Eurocode 5 (EC5) generalization to tropical hardwoods loaded in tropical environment. For three (3) years, creep tests were performed on two types of tropical hardwoods beams, Dacryodes Buettneri (Ozigo) and Baillonella Toxisperma (Moabi) from Gabon. Three (3) environments were selected: (i) the sheltered exterior environment, (ii) the unsheltered exterior environment, (iii) and the sheltered interior environment. The environment parameters considered herein, were temperature and relative humidity, recorded versus time, during the tests in the three environments. The main mechanical response considered for analysis was the deflection of all tropical beam loaded. This parameter has been defined according to the EC5 requirement. The impact of environmental parameters on the deflection is compared for the three tested conditions. At the end, the obtained results show that the proposed values given by EC5, for the three types of environments, are much lower than those obtained for all the beams loaded in the tropical environment. Indeed, in the three (3) environments it has been observed on average, that after four (4) months of loading, the limit value proposed by EC5 is exceeded of 75%.