ALBERT

Description: The purpose of this study was to investigate the strength of continuous beams after the elastic limit has been passed. As a result, a method of calculation, which is applicable to maximum load conditions, has been developed. The method is simpler than the methods now in use and it applies properly to conditions where the present methods fail to apply.

Description: The general purpose in this study was to determine the stresses in a wooden member subjected to combined beam and column action. What may be considered the specific purpose, as it relates more directly to the problem of design, was to determine the particular stress that obtains at maximum load which, for combined loading, does not occur simultaneously with maximum stress.

Description: The purpose of this investigation was to determine to what extent ordinary deflection formulas, which neglect shear deformations, are in error when applied to beams of various sections, and to develop reasonably accurate yet comparatively simple formulas which take into account such deformations. A great many tests were made to determine the amount of shear deformation for beams of various sections tested over many different spans. As the span over which the beam is tested is increased the error introduced by neglecting shear deformations becomes less, and the values obtained by substituting measured deflections in the ordinary formulas approach more nearly the modulus of elasticity in tension and compression. For short spans the error is considerable and increases rapidly as the span is reduced. Two formulas were developed for estimating the magnitude of shear deformations, both of which have been verified by tests. The first assumes the parabolic distribution of shear on a cross section of a beam and, starting with a differential volume, the distortion due to shear is determined by the ordinary methods of summarizing the work. The second assumes that the deflections due to shear in any two beams of the same length, height, and moment of inertia, which are similarly loaded, are proportional to the summations of the shear stresses on their respective vertical sections. Both formulas check experimental results very closely when the calculations are made with great refinement.

Description: The general aim of the investigation described in this report is the achievement of efficient design in wing beams. The purpose of the tests was to determine factors to apply to the usual beam formula in order that the properties of wood based on tests of rectangular sections might be used as a basis of design for beams of any sections and if practical to develop formulas for determining such factors and to verify them by experiment. Such factors for various sections have been determined from test by comparing properties of the beam in question to similar properties of matched beams 2 by 2 inches in section. Furthermore, formulas were worked out, more or less empirical in character, which check all of these test values remarkably well.

Description: The purpose of this investigation was to obtain information for use in the design of truss and plywood forms, particularly with reference to wing ribs. Tests were made on many designs of wing ribs, comparing different types in various sizes. Many tests were also made on parallel-chord specimens of truss and plywood forms in place of the actual ribs and on parts of wing ribs, such as truss diagonals and sections of cap strips. It was found that for ribs of any size or proportions, when they were designed to obtain a well-balanced construction and were carefully manufactured, distinct types are of various efficiencies; the efficiency is based on the strength per unit of weight. In all types of ribs the heavier are the stronger per unit of weight. Reductions in the weight of wing ribs are accompanied even in efficient designs by a much greater proportional reduction in strength.