Pendulum impact hammer tests on timber beams: Experimental setup

In this paper, a test setup for conducting impact testing of full-size timber beams is presented. The test setup comprises a pendulum impact hammer with an effective length of 4750 mm, mass of 3475 kg, and can be released from a near-horizontal position. On the impact hammer, 100g accelerometers and a shock-resistant high-speed camera with a capacity of up to 5700 pictures per second were installed. In addition, other cameras were installed, as well as an angular encoder to record the position of the pendulum impact hammer. The pendulum impact hammer was released using an electromechanical release system attached to a crane. The impact hammer was designed for impact tests on timber beam specimens with cross-sections ranging from 160x160 mm to 200x320 mm and lengths between 2700 and 4300 mm. The results include the energy release of the specimens upon failure, peak impact forces, time to failure, and high-speed imagery. With the test setup, similar knowledge can be gained for other engineered wood products.