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Thanks to innovative construction materials like cross laminated timber (CLT) and laminated veneer lumber (LVL), wooden buildings are no longer mere houses made of sticks.<\/p>\n
Attracted by the aesthetic and environmental benefits of timber, structural engineers have overseen a lumber comeback, from Landlease\u2019s International House development in Sydney\u2019s Barangaroo district to Brisbane\u2019s newly completed 25 King, which is the world\u2019s tallest commercial timber building.<\/p>\n
But with ambitious projects in Tokyo, Chicago, and London eyeing far greater heights for timber as a building material, engineers and the public need to be assured wood can match up with concrete and steel when it comes to safety and stability.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why Griffith University\u2019s Associate Professor Benoit Gilbert has been putting timber to the test, using high-tech machinery to better understand how timber behaves in a variety of situations.<\/p>\n
Filling in the blanks
\nGilbert\u2019s current tests focus on progressive collapse, a term that describes the severe failure of a structure due to something going wrong in one part of it. That could be a gas explosion, a fire or if a car were to collide with the building.<\/p>\n
\u201cProgressive collapse is very, very rare,\u201d Gilbert told create.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t happen a lot, but when it happens, it\u2019s very catastrophic, so you need to consider it in some designs.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said progressive collapse has been well studied for concrete and steel buildings, but not for tall timber buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to understand what happens if you\u2019ve got any car accidents or if you\u2019ve got anything happening, and you\u2019re losing one of the main columns.\u201d<\/p>\n
This particular test focused on a system consisting of beams, columns and a CLT panel, though Gilbert plans to conduct future tests using different configurations. The ultimate goal, once the data has been processed, is to produce design guidelines that can account for progressive collapse of timber, something that already exists for concrete and steel buildings.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor concrete you need to get some continuous reinforcements for the columns,\u201d Gilbert said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re trying to develop some guidelines [for timber] \u2014 to say to the designer, when you design for progressive collapse, this is what you need to take into account, and this is what you need to design for.\u201d<\/p>\n
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