Abstract

This paper introduces a computational python-based model of a timber plate of Pinus Radiata D. Don specie grown in Chile. The effect of knotty areas is considered for the simulation of stiffness and resistance in a simply supported plate subjected to out-of-plane bending assessing the failure with the Von Mises normalized and Tsai-Wu criteria. The computational model is implemented based on the Reissner-Mindlin plate theory, considering a rectangular orthotropic model to simulate the behavior of wood. When the knotty area ratio (KAR) reaches its maximal value, 1, stiffness and resistance decrease by 19% and 56%, respectively. Through the Monte-Carlo method, 500 wooden plates are simulated by randomly distributing the lengths of internodes and whorls, which shows a difference of 14% in vertical displacement. It is concluded that the open-source numerical model was able to capture the effect of the knotty areas on the bending behavior of timber elements. The next step involves the calibration of the input parameters of the numerical model from the test results.