Design of CLT Beams with Rectangular Holes or Notches

In nearly all of the tested CLT beams with holesand notches failure was caused by shear stressesin the crossing areas which shows that an accuratecalculation of these stresses as well as a basicunderstanding of the interaction of different stresscomponents and the knowledge of strength propertiesof crossing areas are indispensable for a reliable andeconomic design.The strength properties that were obtained from thedescribed test series with single crossing areas arerelatively low compared to the values determined inearlier studies but the ratio of the two shear strengthslies within the usual range of 2.25 to 2.5.