The use of timber–concrete composite (TCC) bridges in the United States dates back to approximately 1924 when the first bridge was constructed. Since then a large number of bridges have been built, of which more than 1,400 remain in service. The oldest bridges still in service are now more than 84 years old and predominately consist of two different TCC systems. The first system is a slab-type system that includes a longitudinal nail-laminated deck composite with a concrete deck top layer. The second system is a stringer system that includes either sawn timber or glulam stringers supporting a concrete deck top layer. The records indicate that most of the TCC highway bridges were constructed during the period of 1930–1960. The study presented in this paper discusses the experience and per-formance of these bridge systems in the US. The analysis is based on a review of the relevant literature and databases complemented with field inspections conducted within various research projects. Along with this review, a historical overview of the codes and guidelines available for the design of TCC bridges in the US is also included. The analysis undertaken showed that TCC bridges are an effective and durable design alternative for highway bridges once they have shown a high performance level, in some situations after more than 80 years in service with a low maintenance level.
Project contact is Erol Karacabeyli at FPInnovations
Summary
To support NRCan's Tall Wood Building Demonstration Initiative, FPInnovations developed and published the 2014 Edition of Technical Guide for the Design and Construction of Tall Wood Buildings in Canada. More than 80 technical professionals comprised of design consultants and experts from FPInnovations, the National Research Council, the Canadian Wood Council and universities were involved in its development. The Guide has gained national and worldwide reputation as one of the most complete and credible documents helping to introduce to the design and construction community, and Authorities Having Jurisdiction the terms "Mass Timber Construction" and "Hybrid Tall Wood Buildings".
Since the publication of the First Edition, a number of tall wood buildings have been designed and constructed. Substantial regulatory changes are expected to happen based on the experience obtained from the demonstration initiative and the extensive research that has taken place domestically and internationally since the publication of the First Edition. These developments highlight a need for the Guide to be updated so that it aligns with efforts currently underway nationally and provincially and continues to lead in providing the design and construction community technical insight into new opportunities for building in wood.
The First Edition of the Guide helped to focus the efforts of the early adopters who participated in NRCan's Tall Wood Building Demonstration Initiative. Updating and aligning the Guide with the release of the new National Building Code of Canada and the Canadian wood design standard (CSA O86), and sharing the experiences gained from tall wood buildings built since the First Edition, will not only continue to expand the base of early adopters, but also help to move aspects of mass timber and hybrid wood buildings into the mainstream.
Project contact is Peter Dusicka at Portland State University
Summary
The urgency in increasing growth in densely populated urban areas, reducing the carbon footprint of new buildings, and targeting rapid return to occupancy following disastrous earthquakes has created a need to reexamine the structural systems of mid- to high-rise buildings. To address these sustainability and seismic resiliency needs, the objective of this research is to enable an all-timber material system in a way that will include architectural as well as structural considerations. Utilization of mass timber is societally important in providing buildings that store, instead of generate, carbon and increase the economic opportunity for depressed timber-producing regions of the country. This research will focus on buildings with core walls because those building types are some of the most common for contemporary urban mid- to high-rise construction. The open floor layout will allow for commercial and mixed-use occupancies, but also will contain significant technical knowledge gaps hindering their implementation with mass timber. The research plan has been formulated to fill these gaps by: (1) developing suitable mid- to high-rise archetypes with input from multiple stakeholders, (2) conducting parametric system-level seismic performance investigations, (3) developing new critical components, (4) validating the performance with large-scale experimentation, and (5) bridging the industry information gaps by incorporating teaching modules within an existing educational and outreach framework. Situated in the heart of a timber-producing region, the multi-disciplinary team will utilize the local design professional community with timber experience and Portland State University's recently implemented Green Building Scholars program to deliver technical outcomes that directly impact the surrounding environment.
Research outcomes will advance knowledge at the system performance level as well as at the critical component level. The investigated building system will incorporate cross laminated timber cores, floors, and glulam structural members. Using mass timber will present challenges in effectively achieving the goal of desirable seismic performance, especially seismic resiliency. These challenges will be addressed at the system level by a unique combination of core rocking combined with beam and floor interaction to achieve non-linear elastic behavior. This system behavior will eliminate the need for post-tensioning to achieve re-centering, but will introduce new parameters that can directly influence the lateral behavior. This research will study the effects of these parameters on the overall building behavior and will develop a methodology in which designers could use these parameters to strategically control the building seismic response. These key parameters will be investigated using parametric numerical analyses as well as large-scale, sub-system experimentation. One of the critical components of the system will be the hold-down, a device that connects the timber core to the foundation and provides hysteretic energy dissipation. Strength requirements and deformation demands in mid- to high-rise buildings, along with integration with mass timber, will necessitate the advancement of knowledge in developing this low-damage component. The investigated hold-down will have large deformation capability with readily replaceable parts. Moreover, the hold-down will have the potential to reduce strength of the component in a controlled and repeatable way at large deformations, while maintaining original strength at low deformations. This component characteristic can reduce the overall system overstrength, which in turn will have beneficial economic implications. Reducing the carbon footprint of new construction, linking rural and urban economies, and increasing the longevity of buildings in seismic zones are all goals that this mass timber research will advance and will be critical to the sustainable development of cities moving forward.
Project contact is Jianhui Zhou at the University of Northern British Columbia
Summary
Building acoustics has been identified as one of the key subjects for the success of mass timber in the multi-storey building markets. The project will investigate the acoustical performance of mass timber panels produced in British Columbia. The apparent sound transmission class (ASTC) and impact insulation class (AIIC) of bare mass timber elements as wall and/ or floor elements will be measured through a lab mock-up. It is expected that a database of the sound insulation performance of British Columbia mass timber products will be developed with guidance on optimal acoustical treatments to achieve different levels of performance.
Project contacts are Frederico França at Mississippi State University and Robert J. Ross at the Forest Products Laboratory
Summary
With the rapid development of CLT manufacturing capacity around the world and the increasing architectural acceptance and adoption, there is a current and pressing need regarding adhesive bond quality assurance in manufacturing. As with other engineered glued composites, adhesive bondline performance is critically important. Bondline assessment requires technology in the form of sensors, ultrasonics, load cells, or other means of reliable machine evaluation.
The objectives of this cooperative study are to develop quality assurance procedures for monitoring the quality of mass timber and CLT during and after manufacturing and to develop assessment techniques for CLT panels in-service.
This report addresses serviceability issues of tall wood buildings focusing on vibration and sound insulation performance. The sound insulation and vibration performance may not affect building's safety, but affects occupants' comfort and proper operation of the buildings and the funciton of sensitive equipment, consequently the acceptance of midrise and tall wood buildings in market place. Lack of data, knowledge and experience of sound and vibration performance of tall wood buildings is one of the issues related to design and construction of tall wood buildings.
Advanced Wood-Based Solutions for Mid-Rise and High-Rise Construction: In-Situ Testing of the Brock Commons 18-Storey Building for Vibration and Acoustic performances
This report addresses serviceability issues of tall wood buildings focusing on their vibration and sound insulation performance. The sound insulation and vibration performance may not affect the building’s safety, but affects the occupants’ comfort and the proper operation of the buildings and the function of sensitive equipment...
New Zealand Society for Earthquake Engineering Conference
Research Status
Complete
Notes
April 13-15, 2012, Christchurch, New Zealand
Summary
The Nelson Marlborough Institute of Technology Arts and Media building was completed in 2011 and consists of three seismically separate complexes. This research focussed on the Arts building as it showcases the use of coupled post-tensioned timber shear walls. These are part of the innovative Expan system. Full-scale, in-situ dynamic testing of the novel building was combined with finite element modelling and updating to obtain an understanding of the structural dynamic performance within the linear range. Ambient testing was performed at three stages during construction and was combined with forced vibration testing for the final stage. This forms part of a larger instrumentation program developed to investigate the wind and seismic response and long term deformations of the building. A finite element model of the building was formulated and updated using experimental modal characteristics. It was shown that the addition of non-structural elements, such as cladding and the staircase, increased the natural frequency of the first mode and the second mode by 19% and 24%, respectively. The addition of the concrete floor topping as a structural diaphragm significantly increased the natural frequency of the first mode but not the second mode, with an increase of 123% and 18%, respectively. The elastic damping of the NMIT building at low-level vibrations was identified as being between 1.6% and 2.4%
Le présent rapport décrit une partie des activités de recherche et développement (R&D) en lien avec la démonstration de la résistance au feu ainsi que les études sur la performance acoustique effectuées dans le cadre de la construction du bâtiment Origine. Ce bâtiment est la tour résidentielle en bois massif la plus haute au Québec. Sa réalisation a débuté en 2015 à la suite des analyses préliminaires de faisabilité technique-économique qui se sont étalées pendant toute l’année 2014. La construction et l’installation se sont finalisées vers la fin de 2017.
En premier lieu, le rapport présente les démarches liées à la réalisation d’un exercice de démonstration d’incendie pour une cage d’escaliers/ascenseur avec une chambre d’habitation adjacente, l’analyse de résultats et les principales conclusions en lien avec la pertinence de l’utilisation du bois massif pour des édifices de grande hauteur. En ce qui concerne la performance acoustique, le rapport présente la méthodologie d’étude et d’analyse des résultats des tests acoustiques pour des assemblages de mur et de plancher utilisés dans le projet Origine. De plus, ce rapport facilite la compréhension des activités réalisées et permet de montrer objectivement la capacité des produits en bois massif à offrir un environnement sécuritaire et confortable aux occupants de bâtiments multi-étagés.
Les principaux résultats indiquent que les cages d’escaliers/ascenseur faites en bois massif, conçues pour une résistance au feu équivalente à celle faites en béton, peuvent offrir une excellente performance et servent d’alternatives adéquates pour les bâtiments multi-étagés. En ce qui concerne le développement d’assemblages acoustiques pour les murs et les planchers en bois massif, il a été prouvé qu’une approche multicritère permet d’offrir des solutions performantes à des coûts raisonnables.
Finalement, il est clair que ce projet constitue un jalon très important dans le chemin d’acceptation des bâtiments multi-étagés en bois massif au Québec et au Canada. Sa construction, faite presque entièrement en bois, a nécessité de nombreux efforts économiques, de R&D, de conception et d’installation. De plus, les activités réalisées pour l’acceptation de ce type de construction ont permis de mettre en place de nouvelles technologies et des techniques de conception qui faciliteront la réplication de ce type de projet partout en Amérique du Nord.
