Preservatives penetration and retention in post-treated cross-laminated timber panels with different layup and thickness

Abstract

Cross-laminated timber (CLT), a prefabricated multilayer engineered wood product, is a promising construction material for mid-and-high rise buildings due to its good mechanical properties, renewability, and low-carbon footprint. However, the vulnerability of CLT to biodeterioration limits its broad applications. Preservative treatment is an effective method of increasing the service life of structural wood products, while the treatment of CLT has not been widely studied. Herein, we fabricated 3- and 5-ply CLT panels and treated them with Cu-based preservatives. The effects of panel layup (lengthwise and crosswise) and thickness (3-and 5-layer) on the impregnation quality (i.e., Cu penetration and retention) are investigated using a color-based indicator approach and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy . Generally, the Cu penetration ratio was mostly above 90%, especially for the top layers (1st layer in 3-ply and 1st and 2nd layers in 5-ply) of the treated CLT panels. Similarly, higher Cu retention values were observed in the 1st layer of the 3- and 5-layer CLT panels. Further, there was a similarity in the Cu penetration of the 2nd layer in 3- and 5-ply CLT, indicating the preservative diffusion across adjacent layers is negligible in the preservative treatment of lumber-based wood composites. Overall, copper-azole type C (CA-C) exhibited better treatability than micronized copper azole (MCA) for CLT panels, resulting in higher Cu penetration and retention across the panels. Also, we found the lengthwise orientation preferable in fabricating preservative-treated CLT, this is due to the complete panel protection of the 1st and 2nd layers at all panel locations. Thus, our results show the feasibility of successfully treating CLT, especially when CA-C preservative and lengthwise orientation are utilized in fabricating the panels.