As 6-storey wood-frame, massive-timber and hybrid wood buildings are increasingly accepted by more jurisdictions across Canada, there is a need to develop reliable elevator shaft designs that meet the minimum structural, fire, and sound requirements in building codes. Elevator shaft walls constructed with wood-based materials have the advantages of material compatibility, use of sustainable materials, and ease of construction.
In this exploratory study, selected elevator shaft wall designs built with nail-laminated-timber (NLT) structural elements were tested to investigate their sound insulation performance because little is known about the sound insulation performance of such wall assemblies. The tests were carried out in an acoustic mock-up facility in accordance to standard requirements, and provide preliminary data on the sound insulation performance of elevator shaft walls built with NLT panels.
Four different elevator shaft walls built with NLT panels were tested and their measured apparent sound insulation class (ASTC) ratings ranged from 18 to 39 depending on their construction details. Some of the reasons that may have contributed to the ASTC ratings obtained for the elevator shaft walls described in this report as well as recommendations for future designs were provided.
It is recommended to continue improving the sound insulation of elevator shaft walls built with NLT panels to meet or exceed the minimum requirements in building codes.
The North American product standard for performance-rated cross-laminated timber (CLT), ANSI/APA PRG 320, was published in 2012. The standard recognizes the use of all major Canadian and US softwood species groups for CLT manufacturing and provides design properties for specific CLT layups with visually graded and E-rated/MSR laminations. While design properties for CLT layups with Spruce-Pine-Fir and Douglas fir-Larch laminations are specified in the current standard, no design properties are indicated for CLT layups with Hem-Fir laminations.
Design properties for two proposed CLT grades manufactured with Hem-Fir lumber were developed. These include a CLT layup with visually graded laminations and another layup with E-rated/MSR laminations. Design properties for these two CLT layups were calculated separately for use in Canada and the US.
Supporting information for the addition of design properties for Hem-Fir grades to the CLT product standard was generated. Recommended amendments to the CLT product standard include durability and wood failure requirements of bondlines, and design properties for Hem-Fir layups.
This report describes the building, tested floor and wall assemblies, test methods, and summarizes the test results. The preliminary performance data provides critical feedback on the design of the building for resisting wind-induced vibration and on the floor vibration controlled design. The data can be further used to validate the calculation methods and tools/models of dynamic analysis. Originally confidential to FII, they have provided permission to make the report available.
Cross laminated timber (CLT) panels were manufactured and tested to assess their time dependent behaviour. This study is intended to help guide the development of an appropriate test method and acceptance criteria to account for duration of load and creep effects in the design of structures using CLT.
Nine CLT panels of different qualities and using different wood species combinations were manufactured at a pre-commercial pilot plant out of local wood species. The CLT panels manufactured in this study were pressed at about 54% lower pressure than the minimum vertical pressure specified by the adhesive manufacturer due to a limitation of the press, so the CLT panels are viewed as a simulated defective sample, which may occur in a production environment due to material- or process-related issues.
Full-size CLT panels were initially tested non-destructively to assess their bending stiffness. Then, billets were ripped from the full-size CLT panels, and tested to failure in 1-minute and 10-hour ramp tests, or assessed in creep tests under sustained load. The constant loads imposed on the CLT billets tested in creep were calculated as to allow for a maximum deflection of L/180. Following two cycles of loading and relaxation, the CLT billets tested in creep were further tested to failure at the end. The principles of ASTM D6815-09 and those of an in-house FPInnovations protocol were applied to assess the time dependent behavior of the CLT billets.
The main test findings are summarized below:
In terms of residual stiffness, the percentage change in the initial bending stiffness for the CLT billets subjected to the 10-hour ramp test varied between 0-5%, showing a 3% drop in stiffness on average, while that for the CLT billets tested in creep ranged between 0-3%, showing a 1% stiffness drop on average. These are regarded as relatively small changes in bending stiffness.
In general, decreasing creep rates were observed on most of the CLT billets especially in the first cycle up to 90 days. The creep rates went up after 120 days of loading due to an increase in temperature and relative humidity conditions, which greatly affect the rate of deflection and recovery of wood products.
Fractional deflections were calculated for all the CLT billets after 30-day intervals and found to be less than or equal to 1.43.
Creep recovery was above 36% after 30-day, 60-day, and 90-day recovery periods in the first cycle. However, in the second cycle, creep recovery for some CLT billets dropped below 20% for certain time periods.
ASTM D6815-09 provides specifications for evaluation of duration of load and creep effects of wood and wood-based products. The standard was designed to accommodate wood products that can be easily sampled, handled, and tested under load for minimum 90 days and up to 120 days. The standard requires a minimum sample size of 28 specimens. Because of its large dimensions, CLT products are not feasible for experiments requiring such large sample sizes. However, the findings of this study revealed potential for some of the acceptance criteria in ASTM D6815-09 to be applied to CLT products. The CLT billets in this study were assessed in accordance to the creep rate, fractional deflection, and creep recovery criteria in ASTM D6815-09 standard. All CLT billets tested in this study showed (1) decreasing creep rates after 90/120 days of loading, (2) fractional deflections less than 2.0 after 90-day loading, and (3) higher creep recovery than 20% after 30 days of unloading, as required by ASTM D6815-09. A single replicate billet was used per CLT configuration instead of the minimum sample size required by the standard which may have an effect on the findings.
The relationship between proof load level of fingerjoined lumber and degree of cure of adhesive bonds was investigated. Tension tests were completed for two different degrees of cure for two different adhesives. The proof load level determined for the partially cured joints did not cause damage to the joints that survived the proof test.
Preliminary guidelines for determining appropriate proof load levels for testing fingerjoined lumber with partially cured joints were proposed. The proposed guidelines will need to be validated through mill trials to demonstrate their efficacy and reliability to the manufacturer and third party inspection agency.
Keywords: fingerjoined lumber; tension proof testing/loading; partially cured adhesive bonds.
Duration of load (DOL) and creep effects characterize rheological behaviour of wood and are of critical importance to timber engineering. These effects are accounted for in the engineering design codes with adjustment factors for structural wood and wood-based products. Various methods are used worldwide for the evaluation of DOL and creep effects and for determination of appropriate adjustment factors. A review of the major international codes for engineering design in wood was carried out to understand how DOL and creep are taken into account in these codes and provide recommendations on how to level out the main differences between the codes. It is recommended to adopt an internationally recognized method for evaluation of DOL and creep, and suggestions for the contents of such a method are provided.
Statisticians were engaged to evaluate the damage accumulation models used in wood industry for assessing DOL and creep effects of wood products. The research undertaken yielded answers to whether the mathematical models can be improved, if times-to-failure for ramp and constant load tests can be approximated by Weibull or log-normal distributions, and whether some model parameters can be assumed constant and other treated as random effects. An experimental study was carried out to support the statistical work. The results of the study were used in statistical simulations to estimate the parameters used in the damage accumulation models in an attempt to refine the current models.
Cross-laminated timber (CLT) products are used as load-carrying slab and wall elements in structural systems, thus load duration and creep behaviour are critical characteristics that should be taken into account in design. Given the nature of CLT with orthogonal arrangement of layers and either mechanically fastened with nails or wood dowels, or bonded with structural adhesive, CLT is more prone to time-dependent deformations under load (creep) than other engineered wood products such as glued-laminated timber.
Time-dependent behaviour of structural wood products is accounted for in design standards by providing load duration factors to adjust specified strengths. Since the Canadian Standard on Engineering Design in Wood (CSA O86-09) does not deal with CLT, it does not provide load duration and service condition factors. Until this can be rectified, two options are proposed for adopters of CLT systems in Canada. These include not only load duration and service factors, but also an approach to accounting for creep in CLT structural elements. The proposed recommendations are in line with the specifications in CSA O86-09 and Canadian National Building Code.
Le présent chapitre fournit de l’information générale sur la fabrication du CLT qui peut être intéressante pour les concepteurs. Les renseignements contenus dans ce chapitre peuvent également servir de guide aux fabricants de CLT quant au développement de leur cahier de spécifications d'exploitation d'usine.
Ce chapitre aborde également les étapes spécifiques du processus de fabrication de CLT et les variables de processus clés qui ont une incidence sur la qualité d’adhésion des lamelles des produits de CLT. On y retrouve également les méthodes proposées pour évaluer la qualité des panneaux.
This chapter provides general information about the manufacturing of CLT that may be of interest to the design community. The information contained in this chapter may also provide guidance to CLT manufacturers in the development of their plant operating specification document. Typical steps of the manufacturing process of CLT are described, and key process variables affecting adhesive bond quality of CLT products are discussed. Proposed methods for evaluating panel quality are presented.
The relationship between proof load level of fingerjoined lumber and degree of cure of adhesive bonds was investigated. Tension tests were completed for two different degrees of cure for a single adhesive. The proof load level determined for the partially cured joints did not cause damage to the joints that survived the proof test.
Preliminary guidelines for determining appropriate proof load levels for testing fingerjoined lumber with partially cured joints were proposed. The proposed guidelines will need to be validated through mill trials to demonstrate their efficacy and reliability to the manufacturer and third party inspection agency.
