In the near future, in Europe a raised availability of hardwoods is expected. One possible sales market is the building sector, where medium dense European hardwoods could be used as load bearing elements. For the hardwood species beech, oak, and sweet chestnut technical building approvals already allow the production of hardwood glulam. For the species maple and ash this is not possible yet. This paper aims to evaluate the economic feasibility of glulam production from low dimension ash and maple timber from thinnings. Therefore, round wood qualities and the resulting lumber qualities are assessed and final as well as intermediate yields are calculated. Materials and Methods: 81 maple logs and 79 ash logs cut from trees from thinning operations in mixed (beech) forest stands were visually graded, cant sawn, and turned into strength-graded glulam lamellas. The volume yield of each production step was calculated. Results: The highest volume yield losses occur during milling of round wood (around 50%) and “presorting and planning” the dried lumber (56%–60%). Strength grading is another key process in the production process. When grading according to DIN 4074-5 (2008), another 40%–50% volume loss is reported, while combined visual and machine grading only produces 7%–15% rejects. Conclusions: Yield raise potentials were identified especially in the production steps milling, presorting and planning and strength grading.
The report has segmented the European CLT market on the basis of application. Some of the key application areas of CLT include educational institutes, residential, commercial spaces, and government and public buildings. On a regional basis, the report has segmented the market into Austria, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Spain, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and Others. Amongst these, Austria represents the largest producer accounting for the majority of the total production. Apart from the application sector and region, the European CLT market has also been segment on the basis of product type, element type, raw material type, bonding method, panel layers, adhesive type, press type, storey class and application type. The report provides historical as well as forecast trends for each of the above market segmentations. The report has also analysed the competitive landscape of the market with some of the key players being Binderholz, Stora Enso, KLH Massivholz, Mayr Melnhof and Hasslacher.
This state-of-the-art report has been prepared within COST Action FP1402 Basis of structural timber design from research to standards, Working Group 3 Connections. The Action was established to create an expert network that is able to develop and establish the specific information needed for standardization committee decisions. Its main objective is to overcome the gap between broadly available scientific results and the specific information needed by standardization committees. This necessitates an expert network that links practice with research, i.e. technological developments with scientific background. COST presents the ideal basis to foster this type of joint effort. Chapter 8 Connections presents an integral part of Eurocode 5 and is in need of revision. This state-of-the-art report shall provide code writers with background information necessary for the development of the so-called Second Generation of the Eurocodes, now aimed to be produced in 2022.
In this study, Malaysian Dark Red Meranti (DRM) was used to manufacture glulam beams, following closely the requirements of BS EN 14080:2013 so as to emulate commercial production. Phenol resorcinol formaldehyde (PRF), commonly used in structural glulam production, was used in the fabrication of finger joints and laminations of the glulam beams. Factors influencing the mechanical properties of finger joints and bonding performance of laminations were investigated. Full size glulam beams were manufactured and tested in bending with partial and complete carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) reinforcement on the tension face and compared with the performance of unreinforced beams. A bench-scale fire test was proposed to describe the behaviour of DRM finger joints in tension under fire condition, in order to simulate the failure of finger joints on the tension side of a glulam beam in a standard fire test. Overall, DRM finger joints exhibited better bending strength than Spruce finger joints which represented softwood used in European glulam. Wood density and end pressure were shown to affect the strength properties of the finger joints. Higher cramping pressure was needed to produce DRM laminations with higher shear strength. The glulam beam with CFRP reinforcement had a higher bending strength than the unreinforced glulam beams but partial reinforcement had an adverse effect on beam strength. In the bench-scale fire test, DRM finger-jointed specimens exhibited lower charring rate than Spruce. Furthermore, PRF finger-jointed specimens showed better fire performance than finger-jointed specimens bonded with polyurethane (PUR) adhesive. In conclusion, it is hoped that results from this research will motivate engineers and architects in Malaysia to design and build structures from less-utilised local timber, specifically in the form of glulam, encouraging the timber industry in Malaysia to produce them commercially.
The objective of this work package is to provide an acoustic performance knowledge database of European timber building constructions. In a first step a methodology for structuring the planned data base will be developed. The database will be fed with existing examples from the different European timber building regions. These examples will be grouped into similar solutions and sound insulation performance. After reprocessing the data the different construction systems will be optimized in WP 2.
An interface to the borad public of the database will then be developed. This user friendly and appealing front-end of the European Timber Sound Insulation Atlas (EATSI-Atlas) will provide information on various evaluation criteria, including expected future European target values.
The report includes an overview of different floor assemblies used all over Europe. They have been selected and evaluated carefully and from that the floor assemblies are divided into different groups in order to fit to limit the number of possible setups. Hence the grouping is made in a manner that will facilitate modelling of floor assemblies using the different methods as developed within this project, Silent Timber Build. It can also be used in order to recommend different floor assemblies for different buildings and usage. The software that has been used and further developed within this project is a French software adapted to wooden building floor and wall components, “SEA Wood". In addition FEM software is used in order to improve and verify the results particularly in the low frequencies, which is of particular interest for structural solutions in wood.
This report comprises reslts from the work done within work package 1 in the WWN+ project "Silent Timber Build", WP 1: Prediction tools, low and high frequencies. The aim from this WP was to develop prediction tools applied for wooden constructions. Included in this is also to create necessary basis for enough accuracy for any European wood construction. It implies development of new methods but also to understand how input forces primarily from the tapping machine affects the resuts of impact sound levels. The WP also describes how models are developed, in order to provide expected accuracy and then how to further improve the models in order to optimize floor and wall assemblies. The Work Package has been closely linked to WP 2 but also WP3. Using the reults from WP 2, the prediction model results can be compared to expected values for any European construction. From that optimization of floor assemblies and refining of the model is possible.
This paper presents an experimental study on rolling shear (RS) strength properties of non-edge-glued cross-laminated timber (CLT) made out of New Zealand Radiata pine (Pinus radiata) structural timber. CLT specimens with 35 and 20 mm thick laminations were studied to evaluate the influence of lamination thickness on the RS strength of CLT. Short-span three-point bending tests were used to introduce high RS stresses in cross layers of CLT specimens and facilitate the RS failure mechanism. Modified planar shear tests from the conventional two-plate planar shear tests were also used to evaluate the RS strength properties. It was found that two test methods yielded comparable RS strength properties and the lamination thickness significantly affected RS strength of the CLT specimens. The test results also indicated that the recommended characteristic RS strength values of CLT products in Europe and Canada might be over conservative. Also, it might be more efficient to specify different RS strength values for CLT with different lamination thickness given the minimum width-to-depth ratio of laminations is satisfied.
In the 20 years since its invention in Europe, cross-laminated timber (CLT) has become a widely used construction material in parts of the old continent and has started to attract global attention. CLT possesses numerous advantages as a construction material, including its superior structural and environmental performance, as well as the speed and efficiency with which CLT buildings can be erected. In this study, European engineers were surveyed to learn about their current level of awareness of CLT, the major barriers to CLT adoption, and about the most pressing research needs to advance the use of CLT as a construction material. The study used a web-based survey with a convenience sample of 93 different kinds of timber and civil engineers and/or researchers, most of which belong to a European CLT research network. Results showed that participants think that, in general, the level of awareness about CLT among developers, construction managers, engineers, architects, and construction managers, is low. The majority of perceived barriers for CLT adoption involved its building code compatibility and the availability of technical information. The most pressing research needs for CLT development, according to respondents, are in the areas of structural performance and connections, moisture performance, and market research.
Cross laminated timber (CLT) is a new engineered wood product that has experienced rapid growth and market acceptance for residential and non-residential construction in western and central Europe. Potential exists for rapid market adoption in North America if manufacturing capacities are developed. Dissemination of information on CLT North America markets, manufacturing capabilities, and product standards are the next key steps for facilitating investment in CLT manufacturing capacities in North America. This paper compares standards for CLT between Europe and North America.
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