Glulam Beam Design

Span 48 ft CM 1
Dead 20 psf Ct 1
Self‐weight 100 lb/ft Cfu 1
Snow 35 psf Cc 1
Wind ‐10 psf
Live Roof 12 psf
AT 640 ft2
Lo  20 psf
R1 0.6
R2 1  (flat roof)

Calculate Maximum Moments (5 point loads at 1/6 points)

PD  2.56 kip (concentrated loads at 1/6 points)

VD 8.8 kip Shear at end of beam
MD 121 kip‐ft
PS  4.48 kip
VS 11 2 kip
11.2 ki
MS 161 kip‐ft
PW  ‐1.28 kip PLr  1.54 kip
VW ‐3.2 kip VLr 3.84 kip
MW ‐46 kip‐ft MLr 55 kip‐ft

Load Comb. Value (M) CD M/Cd

(kip‐ft) (kip‐ft)
(1) D 121 0.9 134
(3a) D + Lr 176 1.25 141
(3b) D + S 282 1.15 245 Controls
(7) 0.6D + W 26.5 1.6 16.6
By inspection, other load combinations will not control.

Assume CL = 1.0 and C V = 1.0, find beam size.
Use a 24F‐V4 DF/DF glulam beam with C D = 1.15
Ey min 8.30E+05 psi (Table 5A ‐ NDS‐S)
Ey min' 8.30E+05 psi Ey min is used for LTB 
Fbx
+ because buckling is 
2400 psi (Table 5A ‐ NDS‐S)
+
about the weak axis.  
Fbx ' 2.76 ksi (textbook, p. 6.22)
3
Sx > 1227.1304 in

Glulam_Design.xls
Try a 6‐3/4 by 34‐1/2 glulam beam (S x = 1339 in 3 ‐ Table 1C, NDS‐S)
b 6.75 in d 34.5 in
3
Sx 1339 in
4 4
Ix 23100 in Iy 884.2 in

Calculate CL
lu 8 ft
le 166 in (five equal loads at 1/6 points)
RB 11.2 (eq. 3.3‐5); Also: RB < 50 ‐ meets [NDS 3.3.3.7]
FbE 7.92 ksi
+
FbE / Fbx ' 2.87
CL 0.975 (eq. 3.3‐6)

Calculate CV
x 10 (Douglas Fir)
CV 0.806 (NDS‐S p. 59)
1/ x
⎛ 1291.5 ft ⋅ in 2 ⎞
CV = ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
⎝ Ldb ⎠

Final Checks

+ +
Load Comb. Value (M) CD fbx Fbx '
(kip‐ft) (ksi) (ksi)
(1) D 121 0.9 1.084 1.74 OK
(3a) D + Lr 176 1.25 1.580 2.42 OK
(3b) D + S 282 1.15 2.529 2.22 N.G.
(7) 0.6D + W 26.5 1.6 0.237 3.09 OK

Glulam_Design.xls
Pick Section that will work
b 6.75 in d 37.5 in
3
Sx 1582 in
4 4
Ix 29660 in Iy 961.1 in
Density 34 pcf (ASCE 7)
Self Weight 60 plf < 100 ‐ intial assumption was actually high.

Calculate CL
lu 8 ft
le 166 in (five equal loads at 1/6 points)
RB 11.7 (eq. 3.3‐5); Also: RB < 50 ‐ meets [NDS 3.3.3.7]
FbE 7.29 ksi
+
FbE / Fbx ' 2.64
CL 0.972 (eq. 3.3‐6)

Calculate CV
x 10 (Douglas Fir)
CV 0.799 (NDS‐S p. 59)
1/ x
⎛ 1291.5 ft ⋅ in 2 ⎞
CV = ⎜⎜ ⎟⎟
⎝ Ldb ⎠

Check Moment
+ +
Load Comb. Value (M) CD fbx Fbx ' Overdesign
(kip‐ft) (ksi) (ksi)
(1) D 121 0.9 0.92 1.74 OK 90%
(3a) D + Lr 176 1.25 1.34 2.42 OK 81%
(3b) D + S 282 1.15 2.14 2.22 OK 4%
(7) 0.6D + W 26.5 1.6 0.20 3.09 OK 1440%

Check Shear Fvx 265 psi

Load Comb. Value (V) CD fvx Fvx' Overdesign
(kip) (psi) (psi)
(1) D 9 0.9 52.1 239 OK 357%
(3a) D + Lr 13 1.25 74.9 331 OK 342%
(3b) D + S 20 1.15 119 305 OK 157%
(7) 0.6D + W 2.1 1.6 12.3 424 OK 3340%
Check Deflection
Ex 1.80E+06 psi
ΔLr 0.421 in
ΔS 1.23 in L/180 = 3.2 in
ΔD 0.700 in
Used RISA‐2D to check deflections.
Kcr 1.5  for glulam
ΔT = KcrΔLT + ΔST 2.28 in L/120 = 4.8 in
Using Dead as ΔLT and Snow as ΔST

Find Bearing Length
Use reaction from highest load combination:  D + S
R 20 kip (Reaction)
Fc┴ 650 psi
Fc┴' 650 psi
b 4.56 in