Shear Strength of Tapered Wood Beams

The analysis of a size-strength relationship for the shear strength of rectangular wood beams based on Weibull's theory of brittle failure has been extended to cover tapered wood beams. The important design parameters have been identified in the analysis. The numerical data for Douglas fir beams are presented in graph form, making it straightforward to extend the results to other wood species. The analysis of the present work is two-dimensional, and is general enough to consider all practical loading conditions in the plane. However, only a few important loading conditions are considered in generating the design curves for Douglas fir. Design procedures are illustrated by numerical examples.