Toughness of Timber Beams Strengthened with Jute Fibers

This research involves investigating the toughness behavior of timber beams strengthened by jute fibers with various forms of strengthening. Ten timber specimens with dimensions (70×100×1000) mm are divided into four groups and loaded under a third point loading. The experimental program was carried out to investigate shear and flexural strengthening effects on toughness, toughness indices, ultimate loads, and the mid-span deflection of the tested beams. One beam as a control beam (un-strengthened beam), four specimens are wrapped in U technique in single and double layers along the whole length of the beam in full and strips wrapping technique, three specimens are wrapped in full technique along the whole length of the beam in full and strips wrapping technique, three timber specimens wrapped in flexural strengthening technique with two, four, and six layers of jute fibers. The results show that jute fibers strengthening increases the toughness ratios of timber beams by about (175%-320%), (190%-401%), and (106%-240%) for U, full, and flexural strengthening techniques, respectively, at the ultimate loads compared with the control beam. Furthermore, it is found that the highest toughness ratio is when the beam is wrapped in full strengthening technique.