Flexural performance of reinforced aluminum-wood-plastic composite beam: An experimental and numerical investigation

Aluminum-wood-plastic composite (A-WPC) beams are a novel type of structural components formed by the co-extrusion of a wood-plastic composite (WPC) on the surface of a hot-rolled aluminum plate. In this study, composite beams of three different spans were designed to examine the flexural performance of A-WPC beams. For each group of specimens, the four-point flexural test was conducted to determine and analyze the failure mode, yield load, flexural bearing capacity, strength utilization, deformability, and strain distribution. The results show that when the span-height ratio is low, folding failure occurs on the compression side of the reinforced A-WPC composite beam, whereas when the span-height ratio is large, deformation and cracks occur on the tension side of the reinforced A-WPC beam first. Compared to the specimen with a span-height ratio of 18, the average ultimate load of the specimen with a span-height ratio of 12 was higher(66.75%), while the average deflection at failure was lower(38.03%). Compared to the specimen with a span-height ratio of 12, the average ultimate load of the specimen with a span-height ratio of 6 was higher(65.97%), while the average deflection at failure was lower(43.86%). The strength utilization of the reinforced A-WPC beam is 8.71%-9.26% higher than that of various engineered wood beams, and 3.46%-8.61% higher than that of various glulam beams. Based on these results, this paper proposed a method for calculating the flexural bearing capacity of the A-WPC beam. The calculation and test results indicate that the reinforced A-WPC beam exhibits excellent flexural performance and can be used as a model for composite beam design.

Automated summary

This study examines the flexural performance of A-WPC beams by designing composite beams of different spans. The results show that folding failure occurs on the compression side of the reinforced A-WPC composite beam when the span-height ratio is low, while deformation and cracks occur on the tension side when the span-height ratio is large. The strength utilization of the reinforced A-WPC beam is higher than that of various engineered wood beams and glulam beams. This study proposes a method for calculating the flexural bearing capacity of the A-WPC beam and suggests that it can be used as a model for composite beam design.