Prediction of vibration reduction index for junctions made of cross laminated timber elements

Abstract

The new revision of standard EN 12354-1 will provide some prediction formulas for estimating the vibration reduction index (Kij) of junctions made of cross laminated timber (CLT) elements. These are based on laboratory and in situ measurements. At the same time, new Kij prediction formulas for heavyweight junctions have also been added to this revised standard, in order to include large amount of data generated by means of parametric numerical analysis. The goal of this research is to study if the same philosophy based on numerical models used for the heavyweight junctions can be extended to CLT elements junctions. This step is not direct because the modeling of CLT structures implies a list of non-trivial aspects to take into account: (1) the details of the junction construction (i.e., direction and type of screws, presence of steel angles and plates); (2) the orthotropy on the mechanical properties of CLT panels; and (3) the different range of material properties and how damping must be considered in the numerical model. The contribution presents the advances made in this direction: comparison with available experimental data, analysis of specific aspects of CLT junctions, comparison with the standard formulation, and extension to different junction types.