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Beam Bears in Girder with Notch

Wood beam bears in a notch in the wood girder and a positive connection is made with partially-threaded screws that draw the connections tight.

Purpose: Transfer of vertical load from wood beam to wood girder.

Design Notes

  • It is preferable for the notch depth to match the beam depth so that beam does not need to be notched as well.
  • Bearing width is controlled by perpendicular-to-grain bearing. Reasonable minimum bearing width of 1″.
  • See the 2018 NDS and AITC Technical Note 19 Guidelines for Evaluation of Holes and Notches in Structural Glued Laminated Timber Beams for notch sizing. A deep notch methodology is provided in MTC Solutions’ ASSY Screws as Tensile Reinforcement in Notched Beams.
  • Fully-threaded screws may be used to resist possible shear failure (splitting along the grain) that would propagate from a stress concentration at the notch. This is outside the scope of the NDS and should only be done with careful consideration. See MTC Solutions’ Full Thread SWG ASSY Screws in Reinforcement for guidance.
  • Deck not shown for clarity. Beam may require bracing for lateral-torsional buckling.

Other Applications:

  • Table 9: Mass Timber Beam Support at Mass Timber Column
  • Table 10: Mass Timber Beam Support at Mass Timber Wall Panel
Class
Class 1
Load
Load Low
Cost
Cost $
Const.
Constructability Easy
Fire
Fire Rating III

Beam Bears in Girder with Notch

Wood beam bears in a notch in the wood girder and a positive connection is made with partially-threaded screws that draw the connections tight.
03.A - Beam Bears in Girder with Notch