TIMBER TESTING’S STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING LESSONS
STRUCTURAL COLLEGE BOARD CHAIR KARLIE COLLIS PRESENTS STRUCTURAL ENGINEER ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR BENOIT GILBERT, WHO OUTLINES INITIAL FINDINGS FROM A MASS TIMBER TESTING PROJECT ON THE EFFECTS OF THE LOSS OF A KEY STRUCTURAL ELEMENT ON BUILDING STABILITY.
Associate Professor Benoit Gilbert from Griffith University’s School of Engineering and Built Environment has been leading a team tasked with putting mass timber to the test at the Gold Coast campus of Griffith University. The Structural College views this project as very important work and we will watch future research with great interest. Collapse and inherent robustness is an important factor in a structural engineer’s design. The increasing use of timber in high rise construction renders this research critical to understanding the full implications of using a nontraditional material for high-rise structures.
The test project’s team members comprise Prof. Hong Guan, Dr Hassan Karampour, Dr Shanmuganathan Gunalan, Dr Ian Underhill, Mr Chunhao Lyu, Mr Mahyar Masaeli and Mrs Xinyi Cheng. The team has been using Griffith University’s structural laboratory to look at engineered solid wood products, such as Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL), Glue laminated timber (Glulam) and Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) and their capabilities in collapse resistance.
Associate Professor Benoit Gilbert confirms that the structural engineers were in charge of designing a representative mass timber building which was used in the structural tests. They also designed the test rig and the position of all instrumentations.
“The future role of the engineers is to understand, by exploiting the test results, the load transfer through the building under a column removal scenario and the mechanisms engaged in resisting the progressive collapse of tall mass timber buildings.”
A number of key lessons have been garnered to date through the testing project.
Putting timber to the test – the growth of timber in high rise construction signals
the value of the project.
“We understood that the CLT panels and their layout play a key role in resisting progressive collapse. The type of the beam-to-column connection type significantly influences the structural response under a column removal scenario. Selecting the right type of connection will allow for ductility. While in concrete and steel buildings, catenary action can develop and contributes in resisting progressive collapse, this action is less pronounced in mass timber buildings.”
“We understood that the CLT panels and their layout play a key role in resisting progressive collapse. The type of the beam-to-column connection type significantly influences the structural response under a column removal scenario. Selecting the right type of connection will allow for ductility. While in concrete and steel buildings, catenary action can develop and contributes in resisting progressive collapse, this action is less pronounced in mass timber buildings.”
Associate Professor Benoit Gilbert, Griffith University’s School of Engineering and Built Environment.
“Numerical models are currently being developed and will allow analysing a large range of building configurations. Therefore, the progressive collapse mechanisms and responses of mass timber buildings will be further understood. This will ultimately lead to the development of design guidelines.”■
Karlie Collis – College of Structural Engineers (Chair), Engineers Australia.
Benoit Gilbert, Associate Professor, Griffith University’s School of Engineering and Built Environment.
