A Calculation Method for Interconnected Timber Elements Using Wood-Wood Connections

Julien Gamerro,Yves Weinand,Jean Bocquet

doi:10.3390/buildings10030061

Abstract

Wood-wood connections, widely used in the past, have been progressively replaced by steel fasteners in timber constructions. Currently, they can be manufactured and implemented more efficiently thanks to digital fabrication techniques. In addition, with the emergence of new timber plate engineered products, digitally produced wood-wood connections have been developed with a strong focus on complex free-form geometries. The gained knowledge through research and building implementations have pushed the development of more standardized structural elements. As a result, this work presents a new concept of building components using through tenon connections based on the idea of transportable flat-packs directly delivered and assembled on site. The main objective of this research is to develop a convenient calculation model for practice that can capture the semi-rigid behavior of the connections and predict the effective bending stiffness of such structural elements. A case study is used as a reference with three large-scale slabs of a 8.1 m span. Bending and vibration tests are performed to study the mechanical behavior and assess the proposed calculation method. The results show the high influence of the semi-rigid behavior of connections on the bending properties and, therefore, on the serviceability limit state. The model is in good agreement with the test results, and further improvements can be made regarding the local behavior of the connection. This study demonstrates the feasibility of the proposed construction system and the applicability of the developed calculation model to design practice.

Highlights

With the standardization of the construction industry, steel fasteners and adhesive bonding are generally used as connections for modern timber structures, replacing traditional wood-wood assemblies
The geometry and the precision of the computer numerical control (CNC) cutting for the joint were chosen to assemble the different parts of the structural element without gaps
The results are presented in three parts: first, the effective bending stiffness, EIe f, as it was the main interest of this study; second, the effects of panel discontinuities, as it was a challenging part of the construction system; the failure mode is briefly described to investigate potential areas of interest for future research

Summary

Introduction

With the standardization of the construction industry, steel fasteners and adhesive bonding are generally used as connections for modern timber structures, replacing traditional wood-wood assemblies. The emergence of digital fabrication and engineered timber materials has opened new design possibilities for wood-wood connections. In this context, improved connections have been proposed for timber plate structures [1]. IMA are an integral part of the panel and require a customized automated prefabrication They are cut with the panels in a single operation thanks to a computer numerical control (CNC) machine, as well as computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) [3]. This high level of automation and prefabrication make IMA a cost

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Conclusion