Timber in Construction: Trends and Perspectives

A special issue of Buildings (ISSN 2075-5309). This special issue belongs to the section "Building Materials, and Repair & Renovation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2023) | Viewed by 4966

Special Issue Editors

Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Zagreb, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia
Interests: timber; cross laminated timber; wood properties; wood structures; joints
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

For years, wood-based construction methods have been gaining market share and are thus asserting themselves against the obstacles. New players are appearing, especially those who were previously known for concrete and masonry construction. Furthermore, wood construction is receiving political support, along with serial production, as it combines the core goals of modern politics: digitization, sustainability and rapid processing—all necessary ingredients for a climate-neutral future. Wood construction is ready for the tasks ahead and the necessary transformations. The ecological features, however, remain important for wood in sustainability discourse and thus continue to have a strong impact on investors. In the last few decades, timber engineering has developed rapidly. Wide-span arenas and bridges as well as multi-story residential and office buildings made of wood are now common. High-quality and reliable connections are basic requirements for these structures. New and more demanding areas of application for wood as a building material require continuous further development in the area of connection technology and the incorporation of new hybrid solutions comprising timber with other materials such as steel, concrete and glass. As part of the European Green Deal, the European Union (EU) is planning a renovation strategy to make buildings more energy-efficient across the EU. Dealing with existing urban infrastructure thus becomes a central sustainable strategy for municipalities and cities. The focus is not only on the energetic upgrading of the buildings, but also on their revitalization, expansion or conversion. The potential is huge, and wood construction plays a key role. As a climate-protecting and resource-saving method, wood construction allows revitalizing existing buildings, expanding them, creating completely new ones or putting them to new uses. One of the main concerns is fire safety. In that field, there are many new findings in favor of the use of timber engineering materials and hybrids.

Prof. Dr. Vlatka Rajčič
Dr. Chiara Bedon
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • Concepts for multi-story construction
  • Connection technology
  • Prefabrication
  • Adhesive bond technology
  • Fire design
  • Hybrid concepts with timber
  • Upgrade of existing structure

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 4020 KiB  
Article
Non-Destructive Quality Control of the Adhesive Rigid Timber-to-Concrete Connection in TCC Structures
by Karina Buka-Vaivade, Liga Gaile, Dmitrijs Serdjuks, Aleksejs Tatarinovs and Leonids Pakrastins
Buildings 2022, 12(12), 2151; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12122151 - 06 Dec 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1082
Abstract
One of the limitations of using glued connections in practice is related to the need for connection quality control. Still, the need for the non-destructive quality control of finished products to determine the compliance of the developed structure with the designed one still [...] Read more.
One of the limitations of using glued connections in practice is related to the need for connection quality control. Still, the need for the non-destructive quality control of finished products to determine the compliance of the developed structure with the designed one still exists. Considering the small amount of research on timber–concrete composites with glued connections, there is a lack of research on non-destructive methods for the quality control of rigid connections in timber–concrete composite structures. During the literature analysis, no information was found on the possibilities of testing the quality of the rigid timber-to-concrete connection. Therefore, two well-known methods—operational modal analysis and ultrasonic testing—were tested to verify the possibilities of applying these methods in determining defects in the rigid glued connection between the concrete and timber layers in the timber–concrete composite structures. A series of small-scale specimens produced by the stone chips method with and without artificially made defects in the timber-to-concrete adhesive connection was tested by both methods. Operational modal analysis shows significant changes in mode shape, frequency values, and spectral density diagrams. Despite the sufficiently large reflection of the ultrasonic signal on the timber and concrete boundary, the transmitted signal is sufficient to perform local ultrasonic tests for detecting defects in the adhesive connection. Thus, it is concluded that the principles of both methods can be applied in practice, and further research is needed to develop testing technology. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Timber in Construction: Trends and Perspectives)
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17 pages, 3204 KiB  
Article
Determining the Charred Layer of Wooden Beams with Finite Element Analysis Based on Enthalpy Approach
by Dominik Špilák, Andrea Majlingová, Danica Kačíková and Patrik Tischler
Buildings 2022, 12(7), 875; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12070875 - 21 Jun 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1633
Abstract
In the process of computer modeling the formation of a charred layer in wood materials, it is important to implement the correct material data. In thermal analysis, there exist two different approaches of implementation: the temperature-dependent material data properties, heat capacity approach and [...] Read more.
In the process of computer modeling the formation of a charred layer in wood materials, it is important to implement the correct material data. In thermal analysis, there exist two different approaches of implementation: the temperature-dependent material data properties, heat capacity approach and enthalpy approach, which is not commonly used but which has a few advantages. This approach should be examined in more detail because it can solve the problem associated with inaccurate results at temperatures around 100 °C. This scientific paper deals with the assessment of the computer-aided fire modeling and simulation suitability based on the enthalpy approach for determining the charred layer of structural elements. The structural elements selected for testing were spruce wooden beams with rectangular and circular cross-sections. A finite element model (FEM) was created in ANSYS software. The model was validated by medium-scale fire tests data of the spruce wooden beams loaded with a radiation panel. Boundary conditions were identical to the medium-scale fire test. Due to the enthalpy approach, the temperature curves from the simulations also faithfully simulated the section with a constant temperature around 100 °C. Within the temperature profiles, the accuracy of simulations averaged 91.7%. The accuracy of the simulations describing the total area of the charred layer was 93.0% on average. Presented FEM can be used in the search for new construction solutions for wooden elements and modifications to the design of cross-sections of wooden beams or wooden joints so that they can better withstand fire conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Timber in Construction: Trends and Perspectives)
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12 pages, 1212 KiB  
Article
Critical Energy Properties Study for Unsymmetrical Deformable Structures
by Leonid Stupishin and Vladimir Mondrus
Buildings 2022, 12(6), 779; https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12060779 - 07 Jun 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1289
Abstract
There are difficulties in the formulation and solution of problems for follower loading, temperature actions, and whether the Lagrange principle is used. By dividing the external loads and internal deformation fields that exist according to their own laws, we focused on the advantages [...] Read more.
There are difficulties in the formulation and solution of problems for follower loading, temperature actions, and whether the Lagrange principle is used. By dividing the external loads and internal deformation fields that exist according to their own laws, we focused on the advantages in mechanics of deformable solids. This paper develops an approach to the study of the internal strain energy of deformed systems, based on the criterion of the critical levels of the internal strain energy. According to the criterion, the achievement of the limiting values of the internal strain energy by the system with varying internal parameters of the structure is possible for certain types of “self-stress” (“self-balance”) for deformable bodies. The latter corresponds to the levels of the critical energy of the body determined by the eigenvalues of the internal strain energy. New problems, namely the “weak link” and “progressive limiting state of the system”, are formulated and demonstrated in the examples of the study of asymmetric rod systems. The methodology used here is based on matrix methods of the structural mechanics and a mathematical apparatus for eigenvalue problems. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Timber in Construction: Trends and Perspectives)
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