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.
AcoustiTECH is a North American leader in acoustic solitions and has quickly become the reference standard in the industry. For 25 years, AcoustiTECH has teamed uo with Architects, builders, general contractors, acoustic consultants and other stakeholders to help them achieve their vision by providing proven acoustical solutions and expertise. AcoustiTECH looks at the specific requirements of each individual project, evaluates the requirements, determines the needs and provides personalized solutions. AcoustiTECH's approach is unique, efficient and reliable. We possess our own acoustic laboratory that we use for our research and development in order to recommend the best acoustic solutions by type of structure. Thousands of tests have been performed inclusing over 300 on heavy timber assemblies.
The principal objective of creating this document is for the professionals to compare and choose from 25 assemblies the ones that suit their needs the best. The most interesting and popular assemblies have been selected and compared side by side in the same environment, built and tested by the same professional unisg the same flooring materials.
It is important to note that the quality of construction can affect the performance. Indeed, construction standards and assemblies recommendations must be followed in order to reach the seeking performance.
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.
The growing diffusion of cross-laminated timber structures (CLT) has been accompanied by extensive research on the peculiar characteristics of this construction system, mainly concerning its economic and environmental benefits, lifecycle, structural design, resistance to seismic actions, fire protection, and energy efficiency. Nevertheless, some aspects have not yet been fully analysed. These include both the knowledge of noise protection that CLT systems are able to offer in relation to the possible applications and combinations of building elements, and the definition of calculation methods necessary to support the acoustic design. This review focuses on the main acoustic features of CLT systems and investigate on the results of the most relevant research aimed to provide key information on the application of acoustic modelling in CLT buildings. The vibro-acoustic behaviour of the basic component of this system and their interaction through the joints has been addressed, as well as the possible ways to manage acoustic information for calculation accuracy improvement by calibration with data from on-site measurements during the construction phase. This study further suggests the opportunity to improve measurement standards with specific reference curves for the bare CLT building elements, in order to compare different acoustic linings and assemblies on the same base. In addition, this study allows to identify some topics in the literature that are not yet fully clarified, providing some insights on possible future developments in research and for the optimization of these products.
With the emergence of cross laminated timber (CLT) as a structural material on the global market, the need to understand the acoustical behavior of buildings constructed with the material grows. CLT faces a set of challenges that concrete or masonry do not; being low density, high in stiffness, sometimes isotropic and sometimes orthotropic depending on the composition. Flanking sound transmission often becomes an issue in the acoustic performance of mass timber buildings. While direct sound transmission can be treated with conventional methods e.g. additional layers, the flanking paths are more complicated to treat since they need to transfer loads over the length of the element. This master’s thesis aims to investigate the flanking paths in cross laminated timber buildings by measuring the structure-borne vibration reduction index (Kij) in realized buildings. The in-field measurements are compared to standardized estimation models and lab measurements published in past research. This thesis finds that standardized estimations underestimate the performance of the examined junctions in low frequencies. The lab measurements are closer to the in-field performance but exaggerate the influence of metal connections and mass-spring behavior of junctions with elastic interlayers. Additionally the theory and results indicates that external loads on the junction play a major role in the resulting performance. Elastic interlayers are not as effective in low levels as in the high levels of any given building, presenting a challenge as mass timber structures are increasingly being built taller.
This client report on the acoustics research component regarding sound insulation of elements and systems for mid-rise wood buildings is structured into a main part and four appendices. The main part outlines the background, main research considerations and summarizes conducted research and major outcomes briefly. It is structured like the Acoustics tasks in the Statement of Work of the Mid-rise Wood research project to identify accomplishments. For details on the research, testing and results, the main part references to four appendices that contain more details including test plans, test methods, specimen descriptions and all test data that is vetted so far.
This report summarizes the acoustics research component regarding sound insulation of elements and systems for the research project on mid-rise and larger wood buildings. The summary outlines the background, main research considerations, research conducted and major outcomes. Further details of the design and the results can found in the appendix of Client Report A1-100035-02.1.
The goal of the acoustics research components was to develop design solutions for mid-rise wood and wood-hybrid buildings that comply both with the current National Building Code of Canada (NBCC) 2010 [2] requirements for direct sound insulation and with the anticipated requirements for flanking sound transmission in the proposed, 2015 version of the NBCC. In addition, the design solutions were to provide better impact sound insulation while still achieving code compliance for all other disciplines (interdependencies) as identified in the final report of the scoping study conducted in FY 2010/2011.
A. Shop Drawings and Details for Tests
B. Sound and Impact Test Results Summary
C. Test 1: Sound and Impact Transmission Test - CLT
D. Test 2: Sound and Impact Transmission Test - Concrete Topping
E. Test 3a: Sound and Impact Transmission Test - Marmoleum
F. Test 3b: Sound and Impact Transmission Test - Marmoleum
G. Test 4: Sound and Impact Transmission Test - Carpet
H. Test 5a: Sound and Impact Transmission Test - Luxury Vinyl Plank
I. Test 5b: Sound and Impact Transmission Test - Luxury Vinyl Plank
J. Test 6: Sound and Impact Transmission Test - Mechanical Roof
This report contains the transmission loss (TL) results measured in accordance with ASTM E90-09 and the normalized impact sound pressure level (NISPL) results measured in accordance with ASTM E492-09 of 13 cross-laminated timber (CLT) floor assemblies and 5 glulam floor assemblies. The report also contains the nonstandard impact sound pressure level results measured on 6 different small patch specimens.
Summary tables containing the specimen number, sketch, short description, the sound transmission class (STC) and impact isolation class (IIC) ratings, as well as, the page number of the detailed test reports are provided starting on page 5.
A brief analysis of the floors tested as part of this test series is provided after the summary tables on page 9. The standard test reports of the tested floor assemblies begin on page 16. The floor assemblies were built and tested between January and April 2016.
