Investigating the Out-of-Plane Bending Stiffness Properties in Hybrid Species Diagonal-Cross-Laminated Timber Panels

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Applied Sciences Switzerland

Publication Date

4-1-2024

Abstract

Since the introduction of Cross-laminated Timber (CLT) in Austria in the early 1990s, the adoption of this 90°-crosswise-laminated product has seen exponential growth worldwide. Compared to traditional laminated timber products (e.g., glulam), CLT provides improved dimensional stability but with reduced out-of-plane bending stiffness. To improve the bending stiffness, while maintaining relative dimensional stability, a modified orientation of the inner layers in a diagonal direction can be used. This novel product is Diagonal-Cross-laminated Timber (DCLT), a composite timber product, consisting of inner layers which are rotated at different angle-ply orientations between 0 and 90 degrees to the outer layers. To properly model the out-of-plane bending behavior of the DCLT, analytical models and finite element analysis (FEA) were used, and the results were validated by four-point bending tests performed on DCLT panels with angle-ply orientations of 10°, 20°, 40°, 70°, and a conventional CLT 90° panel. The results indicate that DCLT panels with angle-ply cross layers have a structural advantage in out-of-plane bending over traditional CLT (90°) panels. The apparent bending stiffness from DCLT 90° to DCLT ± 10° has an increase of 33%, 24%, and 35%, respectively, regarding the assessed methods of experimental, theoretical, and FEM modeling. Using these panels would allow for increased spans or load-carrying capacity for a given panel span-to-depth ratio. The development of DCLT and its introduction to the industry not only could enable the use of lower-quality timber that would not otherwise satisfy structural requirements for CLT but also could help reduce the fabrication cost of CLT due to utilizing lower amounts of fiber.

Volume

14

Issue

7

DOI

10.3390/app14072718

E-ISSN

20763417

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