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Procedia Engineering 111 (2015) 431 435

XXIV R-S-P seminar, Theoretical Foundation of Civil Engineering (24RSP) (TFoCE 2015)

Use of orthotropic plastic material for stress analysis of doubleshear-plane timber-steel structural connection
Jn Kortia*, Jozef Goclb, Marek Bednra, Vladimr Btoreka
b

a
Department of Structural Mechanics, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of ilina, Univerzitn 8215/1, 010 26 ilina, Slovakia
Department of Structures and Bridges, Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of ilina, Univerzitn 8215/1, 010 26 ilina, Slovakia

Abstract
Having plastic material for the stress analysis of structural connections seems to be a crucial point to obtain reliable results of the
solution as it helps to smooth the local concentration of stress. The paper presents application of orthotropic plastic material to
define material characteristics of timber structure of joint. To put that into perspective, the comparison with application of elastic
material was done.
2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license
Peer-review
under responsibility of organizing committee of the XXIV R-S-P seminar, Theoretical Foundation of Civil
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Engineering
(24RSP)
under
responsibility of organizing committee of the XXIV R-S-P seminar, Theoretical Foundation of Civil Engineering (24RSP)
Peer-review
Keywords: Computer simulations; Structural joint; Timber material; Stress analysiss.

1. Introduction
Timber structures are widely used for different types of structures especially in regions where the material is
available as the great part of the land is covered with trees. The joints of timber structures are often the weakest parts
of the whole structure so it is important to be able to design them as precisely as possible. [3] The standards used
across the European Union offer some approaches that are practically used to satisfy the requirements for
mechanical resistance, serviceability and durability. Many of them have only limited possibilities to be used as a
result of their derivation from models where many simplicities are applied. However, these approaches cover many
of common details that are used. Some problems arise when there is a necessity to design a non-standard joint. In

* Corresponding author. Tel.: ++421 41 513 5616

E-mail address: jan.kortis@fstav.uniza.sk

1877-7058 2015 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license

(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Peer-review under responsibility of organizing committee of the XXIV R-S-P seminar, Theoretical Foundation of Civil Engineering (24RSP)

doi:10.1016/j.proeng.2015.07.112

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Jn Korti et al. / Procedia Engineering 111 (2015) 431 435

that case, techniques of advanced computer simulations are good to be applied. In this article, the stress analysis of a
double-shear-plane timber-steel structural connection is presented. The main purpose is to show how the results
change if different material models are employed.
2. The theoretical approach
The solution method for solving of non-linear system must be employed because there is used a non-linear
material model and also the contact problem must be solved. Constraint function method was used to define the
contact algorithm. In the case of material, the orthotropic nonlinear material was used having the Hill yield condition
that is given by
2
F V bb  V cc   G V cc  V aa   H V aa  V bb   2LV ab
 2M V ac2  2 NV bc2  1 0 ,
2

(1)

Where (a, b, c) are the material axes, and F,G,H,L,M,N are material constants depend on the yield stress in the
material directions a, b, c and the yield stresses for pure shear in the corresponding planes.
The solution of non-linear system of equations requires application of iteration methods that are appropriate for
this purpose. One of the most common method is Newton-Rapson method that is also a part of many of commercial
software packages which are used for solution of these kind of problems. The ADINA is one of those based on the
finite element method. [1] The main idea of Newton-Rapson method is to find an approximate solution which satisfy
the requested accuracy. The solution is assumed in the iterative solution so a Taylor series expansion gives if we
neglect the high-order terms
f (U *)

wf
U (i 1) 
U *  t 'tU (i 1)  .

wU t 'tU ( i1)

t 't

(2)

The U* is a vector that can contain variables other than displacements such or rotations or pressure. The solution
must satisfy the requirements of the finite element equilibrium equation so we can calculate an increment in the
displacement vector U(i)
t 't

K (i 1)  'U (i )

t 't

R  t 't F (i ) .

(3)
t  't

(i )

In the case of structural problems the stability of the method depends on the load size
F that is given for
each iteration. It is not recommended to apply the full loading size in the first few steps of solution. That can lead to
a situation when the algorithm is not able to find the solution. It is important especially for solution where the
contact problems are defined. It is important to realize that there are not active contact conditions at the beginning of
the solution. For the better and faster convergence of the solution, it is good to apply only a small part of the final
load. This approach leads to the state when the non-linear boundary conditions in form of contact problems are
activated in the first few steps. Then for the next steps the slope of increasing of the load can be higher without
losing the stability of the solution. [2]
3. Description of the model
The numerical model is based on a simple timber-steel joint with one bolt. There are two steel plates and the
timber member is inserted between them. The bolt of diameter 0.016 m is the only part that transfers the load from
the timber beam to the steel plates. The steel plates are 0.005 m thick and they are tightly connected with the bolt
what makes the model more stable as the contact conditions between the bolt and the plates are neglected. The
thickness of timber member is 0.08 m.

Jn Korti et al. / Procedia Engineering 111 (2015) 431 435

Fig. 1. Visualization of the numerical model.

Each dimension follows the design that was made by applying the rules defined by Eurocodes so that the
structural parts of the joint are able to bear the loading force of 30 kN. The direction of the load as well as the wood
fibers are parallel to the timber member. Boundary conditions at the end of both steel plates are defined to ensure the
zero displacement. The 3D Solid 8 nodes elements are used to approximate the volume of each parts.
Table 1. Material characteristic of the timber and steel material.

There were chosen three different material models to satisfy the main aim of the research, which is to know how
the results change and if the changes are significant or not. The first one is the most simple and it is defined only by
the modulus of elasticity and the poisonous ratio. The second one is orthotropic where different material characters
are defined for perpendicular directions. The last one is the most complicated plastic orthotropic material where also
plastic zones are spreading. All material characteristic are based on the recommendations of common standards used
to design timber structures.

Fig. 2. The appearance of the magnified deformed mesh of the numerical model.

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4. Comparison of the results

The last step is to compare the results of calculations, in which different material models are used. For this
purpose, the outcomes of stress analysis were chosen, because they are mostly used for the process of design of the
connections. The load force is the same for application of each material model tab. 2.
Table 2. The maximal intensity of the stress in the structural parts of the joint.

The distribution of the stresses in the timber shows that the most loaded areas are close to the edges of the holes.
In that places the plastic strains can be expected. The plastic material causes that the most loaded part of the timber
is moved a bit near to the middle of the timber member thickness. It also means that the loading of the bolt is higher
than those that are determined for the cases with other material models. Its value increase about more than 10 %.
That is the result of large deformation in the area close to the edge of the hole.

Fig. 3. The effective stress in the bolt and steel plate.

The maximal stress values are concentrated near to the hole in the timber member. The stress along the grain
increased in the case, when the orthotropic material is applied. It means that the higher strength in the direction
perpendicular to the grain of the material in the case of isotropic material decrease the stress in the direction along
the grain. The plastic orthotropic material also increases the stress in the bolt.

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Fig. 4. The effective stress in the timber beam near to the hole.

5. Conclusions
The computer simulation shows that there are many possibilities of application of different types of material
models to obtain solution of timber-steel connections. However, the application of the most advanced plastic
orthotropic model requires the most complicated software packages that offered this options. The results are very
similar to those obtained by using more common materials models. This means that in the case of practical design it
is also possible to use the results obtained by the simple elastic isotropic material. The significant difference are in
the stress values in the bolt. Considering the plastic behavior of the timber means that the steel bolt needs to bear
higher load intensity. That leads to the conclusions that in the case of connections, where more than one bolt is
applied, it could be better to apply plastic orthotropic model to achieve better results of the load redistribution
between the bolts.
Acknowledgements
This paper was prepared with the support of the Scientific Grant Agency of the Slovak Republic within the
solution of project 1/0257/14 "Real behavior of joints of combined timber-steel bridges."

References
[1] Theory and Modilng Guide Volume I: ADINA, 2013
[2] Klaus-Jurgen Bathe, Finite Element Procedures, Prentice-Hall, 1996, ISBN 0-13-301458-4
[3] Tomas Gecys, Alfonsas Daniunas, Thomas K. Bader, Leopold Wagner, Josef Eberhardsteiner, 3D finite element analysis and experimental
investigations of a new type of timber beam-to-beam connection, Engineering Structures, Volume 86, 1 March 2015, Pages 134145.