In wood-frame buildings of three or more stories, cumulative shrinkage can be significant and have an impact on the function and performance of finishes, openings, mechanical/electrical/plumbing (MEP) systems, and structural connections. However, as more designers look to wood-frame construction to improve the cost and sustainability of their mid-rise projects, many have learned that accommodating wood shrinkage is actually very straightforward. This publication will describe procedures for estimating wood shrinkage and provide detailing options that minimize its effects on building performance.
The advantages of the two different building construction materials, timber and concrete, can be used effectively in adhesive-bonded timber-concrete composite constructions. The long-term behavior was investigated experimentally on small-scale shear and bond specimens under artificial, alternating climatic conditions and on fullscale specimens under natural climatic conditions for an application in construction practice. The development of the shear strength and the deformation behavior under permanent loads were studied, focusing on the different material behavior of wood and concrete regarding changes in temperature and moisture. The general applicability of adhesivebonded timber-concrete composites in construction practice was proved in the investigations.
Wood preservation is an important issue for agricultural buildings with timber structure. This is among others due to their halfway opened construction, high level of moisture release from livestock breeding or storing goods. However, regarding the possibly high moisture content in the building structure and the potential threat caused by wood-destroying organisms, there is still a substantial need for research. The latest results of the research work carried out by Technical University of Munich, in cooperation with the Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture, show that, for the most agricultural buildings built from spruce, no preventative chemical wood preservation is necessary to ensure a durable construction.
The growing timber manufacturing industry faces challenges due to increasing geometric complexity of architectural designs. Complex and structurally efficient curved geometries are nowadays easily designed but still involve intensive manufacturing and excessive machining. We propose an efficient form-giving mechanism for large-scale curved mass timber by using bilayered wood structures capable of self-shaping by moisture content changes. The challenge lies in the requirement of profound material knowledge for analysis and prediction of the deformation in function of setup and boundary conditions. Using time- and moisture-dependent mechanical simulations, we demonstrate the contributions of different wood-specific deformation mechanisms on the self-shaping of large-scale elements. Our results outline how to address problems such as shape prediction, sharp moisture gradients, and natural variability in material parameters in light of an efficient industrial manufacturing.
Recent research in the field of assessment of hygrothermal response has focused on either laboratory experimentation or modelling, but less work has been reported in which both aspects are combined. Such type of studies can potentially offer useful information regarding the benchmarking of models and related methods to assess hygrothermal performance of wall assemblies.
This report documents the experimental results of a benchmark experiment that was designed to allow benchmarking of stud drying predicted by NRC’s an advanced hygrothermal computer model called hygIRC, when subjected to nominally steady-state environmental conditions. hygIRC uses hygrothermal properties of materials derived from tests on small-scale specimens undertaken in the laboratory. The drying rates of wall assembly featuring wet studs that result from moisture accumulated during the framing stage of a 5 or 6 storey building. The drying rate of those studs was assessed in an experiment undertaken in a controlled laboratory setting. The results were subsequently used to help benchmark hygIRC reported under separate cover.
Structural changes like deformations and crack growth in polymers, filled with electrically conductive particles can be measured by resistography. Accordingly, the polymeric adhesive layers in glued-laminated timber should be usable for characterization of the wooden structures and the integrity of the bondline. The described research of the last years – partly described on different conferences in 2012 to 2016, refined and extended - addresses the question, if electrically conductive adhesives can be used to characterize structural changes of wooden structures. Electrical conductive adhesives have been modified with carbon based fillers to use the bondline as a sensor in layered wood structures. Laboratory scaled samples were prepared and tested in different load and climate conditions to proof the usability of the conductive adhesive for measurement purposes. The results are showing a correlation between displacement and DC resistivity. Further, the signals also allow a separation among the different kinds of stress states. By varying the contact points of the resistivity measurement it was also possible to monitor the wood moisture.
A study was conducted with the primary objective of gathering information for the development of a protocol for evaluating the surface quality of cross-laminated timber (CLT) products. The secondary objectives were to examine the effect of moisture content (MC) reduction on the development of surface checks and gaps, and find ways of minimizing the checking problems in CLT panels. The wood materials used for the CLT samples were rough-sawn Select grade Hem-Fir boards 25 x 152 mm (1 x 6 inches). Polyurethane was the adhesive used. The development of checks and gaps were evaluated after drying at two temperature levels at ambient relative humidity (RH).
The checks and gaps, as a result of drying to 6% to 10% MC from an initial MC of 13%, occurred randomly depending upon the characteristics of the wood and the manner in which the outer laminas were laid up in the panel. Suggestions are made for minimizing checking and gap problems in CLT panels. The checks and gaps close when the panels are exposed to higher humidity.
Guidelines were proposed for the development of a protocol for classifying CLT panels into appearance grades in terms of the severity of checks and gaps. The grades can be based on the estimated dimensions of the checks and gaps, their frequency, and the number of laminas in which they appear.
The objective of the task is to select, from the 679 locations in Table C-2 of the 2010 National Building Code of Canada (NBC 2010) [1], several representative locations for which long-term historical weather data exists. This information from these locations can subsequently be used to determine the exterior boundary conditions for input files for hygrothermal simulation programs and hygrothermal testing in the laboratory.
This report discusses the selection of locations for the hygrothermal simulation task of the project on Mid-rise Wood Buildings and the determination of spray-rates and pressure differentials for the water penetration testing portion of the project.
Wood is a hygroscopic material that primarily adapts its moisture content to the surrounding relative humidity. The climate in a structure or building depends on the building type and the region the structure is located in. In this study, the effect of region on the moisture content of wood was investigated. Measurements taken in 12 ventilated timber structures were compared to the theoretical equilibrium moisture content calculated from the relative humidity and temperature in 107 meteorological stations across Switzerland. The monitored load-bearing elements were made of softwood and protected from the direct impact of weather. The climatic conditions around the Alps, a mountain range that runs from France to Austria and crosses Switzerland, can be divided into the following three different regions: (1) south of the Alps, where the climate is affected mainly by the Mediterranean sea; (2) north of the Alps, where the climate is affected by the Atlantic Ocean; and (3) the inner Alps, where the climate is considered to be relatively dry. The climatic conditions of the three separate regions were reflected in the measurements made in the monitored timber structures. Differences between the regions were quantified. The moisture content and relative humidity, similarly to temperature, depended on altitude (above sea level).
