Mixed mode fracture behavior of welded wood joints investigated with the Arcan test

Friction welding of wood is an assembly method that is still under investigation and development. A possible application for welded wood joints is the fabrication of multi-layered panels (i.e., cross-laminated panels). In an effort to model the behavior of such products, work is needed to characterize the mechanical strength and fracture properties of welded joints produced with parallel and cross-grain orientations. The present work addresses combined experimental and numerical investigations into the strength and fracture characterization of welded wood joints. The Arcan test setup is used for the experimental mechanical characterization. Numerical and experimental strength analyses are carried out to investigate the effect of the wood's fiber orientation and in-plane loading direction on the joint strength and fracture toughness. The results show that the orientation of the fibers does not affect the tensile and shear strength (2.3 and 7 MPa, respectively). In the case of fracture, the virtual crack closure technique is used in a finite element model to determine the critical values of energy release rate in pure and mixed modes. A mixed mode fracture criterion of the welded joint is determined.