Plywood shear in glulams 2

[fastline12]

Working on a glulam configuration using Plywood, similar to an I beam configuration with flanges being dimensional DF, and plywood web. I seem to remember a standard that detailed a potential allowable increase in glulam but I cannot find it. Right now we are designing right out of the books for structural 1 plywood shear through the thickness that seems to be governing our design but I need to make sure we are referencing the right data.

The APA references other standards in glulams but most of these documents are rather vague.

 

[Brad805]

Unless your labor is free, you cannot build an I-joist cheaper than you can buy one. Your wood volume is higher when you use 4 chord elements and the adhesive cost is significantly greater.

FEA is not used in wood design except at the University level.

 

[HouseBoy]

OP - I'm wondering a few things:

1. Is the pole building you have asked about elsewhere, the building you have in mind for these site fabricated "beams"?

2. If so, what building component are you thinking of to use them for?

 

[MotorCity]

Not to stray from the original topic, but has an EOR been designated and assigned responsibility for this project? So far, it appears there is an aerospace guy and "3 SE/PEs working on a few things for a basic pole barn". Seems like there are a lot of cooks in the kitchen that are dabbling in wood design.

Like others have mentioned above, I can certainly appreciate the enthusiasm to tackle a project yourself and be a DIY'er, but this is a pretty sizeable project for those not familiar with pole barn design. To me, it is a red flag that "there is a big pile of excel calcs and FEA done". My advice would be to stick with "off the shelf" type of members whose structural performance is known and tested instead of trying to fabricate your own members. Next, I suggest hiring a professional experienced in wood design and maybe show him or her everything you have done up to this point and let them take it from there.