A major problem in light-weight timber floors is their insufficient performance coping with impact noise in low frequencies. There are no prefabricated solutions available in Australia and New Zealand. To rectify this and enable the implementation of light-weight timber floors, a structural floor was designed and built in laminated veneer lumber (LVL). The floor was evaluated in a laboratory setting based on its behaviour and then modified with suspended ceilings and different floor toppings. Twenty-nine different floor compositions were tested. The bare floor could not reach the minimum requirement set by the Building Code of Australia (BCA) but with additional layers, a sufficient result of R'w+Ctr 53 dB and L’nT,w + CI 50 dB was reached. Doubling of the concrete mass added a marginal improvement. With concrete toppings and suspended ceiling it is possible to reach the goal in airborne and impact sound insulation. The best result was achieved by combining of additional mass and different construction layers.
Second European Conference on Earthquake Engineering and Seismology
Research Status
Complete
Notes
August 25-29, 2014, Istanbul, Turkey
Summary
In the past, while wood as a natural building material was preferred for only housing construction, today, engineered wood products are used as structural elements even in many different projects such as, schools, airport terminals, stadiums or indoor sport centres and finally in multi-storey houses nowadays. On the other hand, the sustainability is becoming a key focus. Engineered wood products are increasingly used for earthquake resistance as well as natural insulation and sustainable design. Recent studies indicate that the earthquake resistant design through engineered wood products is achievable and affordable. The seismic design of structures typically depends on the ductility of members and connections. The innovative design techniques with wooden composites ensure that the building is functional after a major earthquake event. Within the scope of this study, the earthquake resistant design approaches and experimental results of New Zealand, Canada and Italy are addressed for multi-storey wooden/wooden-hybrid structural systems. Member and connection types, posttensioning effectiveness, floor systems, sustainability and constructability will be focused.
Information on ductile and brittle failure modes is critical for proper design of timber connections in Crosslaminated Timber (CLT). While considerable research has been conducted in Europe and Canada on the ductile performance of connections in CLT, little is known about the brittle behaviour. This paper presents new information from testing programs and analysis performed in Canada and in New Zealand on the brittle performance of dowel-type fasteners in CLT. The testing programs have been designed to trigger brittle failure modes based on minimum end distances and fasteners spacings specified in the Canadian timber design standard. Timber rivets and bolts/dowels are covered under this study. At the time of writing of this abstract, the testing program is advancing and results will be available at the time of paper submission.
Innovative Engineered Timber Building Systems for Non-Residential Applications, Utilising Timber Concrete Composite Flooring Capable of Spanning Up to 8 to 10m
This project has developed technologies for prefabricated structural systems constructed from engineered wood products for floors and building frames, suitable for buildings up to eight stories in height. The project included the design of a virtual multi-storey timber building, a review of commercial flooring systems, and the development of interim design procedures for timber concrete composite (TCC) floors. Compared with either solid concrete or timber floors, TCC floors provide an excellent balance between increased stiffness, reduced weight, better acoustic separation and good thermal mass.
Outcomes from the project have confirmed TCC floors as a viable alternative to conventional flooring systems. The life cycle analysis of the virtual timber building has highlighted the potential advantages of timber-based building systems for commercial applications. The project also resulted in the formation of the Structural Timber Innovation Company, a research company that will continue to develop timber building systems in non-residential buildings in Australia and New Zealand.
Timber construction has experienced considerable progress in recent years. In such progress, apart from the implementation of new engineered timber products, the advancement of timber joints has played a significant role. The design procedures for timber connections in most design codes are based mainly on the yielding capacity of the fasteners using the European Yield Model (EYM). While the EYM theory provides accurate predictions for connections that fail in a ductile fashion, it does not take into account the failure of the connections due to the brittle rupture of wood as the consequence of fasteners group effect. Such a significant gap in the design of connections also applies to the New Zealand (NZS 3603) and Australian (AS 1720.1) timber design standards. A new design approach is presented which allows the practitioners to predict the connection capacity associated with different brittle wood failure mechanisms. An extensive testing regime has been conducted on high load-transfer capacity joints using timber rivets under longitudinal and transverse loadings on New Zealand Radiata Pine laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and glulam. The results verify the proposal and prove its reliability. A design guide was also developed which could eventually become a design clause in the next revision of the New Zealand timber design standard NZS 3603.
A new type of mass timber structural system has been developed in New Zealand over the last decade. Timber members made of engineered wood products are used in combination with post-tensioning cables to produce highly efficient structural components suitable for multi-story moment resisting frames or shear wall-based lateral load resisting systems. Both systems are particularly useful in structures designed in high seismic regions. The post-tensioning also ensures self-centering of the components and the structural systems after a seismic event. In addition to the post-tensioning, the systems can use energy dissipating devices within the connections that further enhance the ductility of the systems and make them good candidates for low damage structural applications. Extensive experimental and numerical studies have been conducted to determine the performance of these systems and design procedures have been developed for practical applications. In an effort to bring this system closer to the North American designers, this paper contains a summary of the evolution of the concept and the most important research projects and findings to date. In addition, a number of applications within and outside New Zealand are reviewed to demonstrate the applicability of the concept. Finally, potential and recent initiatives for adoption of the technology in North America are discussed.
Long span timber floor solutions have demonstrated their potential to compete with concrete and steel construction for multi-storey commercial buildings. Due to the high strength-to-weight ratio of timber, serviceable vibration performance is a critical structural design issue for long spans. This project investigates the vibration performance of cross laminated timber for long span floors in the Australian and New Zealand building sector. Laboratory experiments and computer analysis are used to study the effect of the increased transverse stiffness, inherent to a cross laminated timber, on the vibration performance of the floor. The effect of boundary conditions, connection and support type, are investigated and quantified where possible. A timber joist floor with a plywood sheath is analysed and tested to validate the methods used in this study.
