This thesis focuses on the fundamental behavior of CLT floor-to-wall connections during a fire.
Cross-laminated timber (CLT) panelized structures rely on floor-to-wall connections for the load path and stability of the structure. Additionally, the fire performance of these connections is critical to prevent horizontal or vertical fire spread within these...
Conflicts and disasters displace millions of populations worldwide. There is a need for rapid and affordable housing to cater to the needs of the displaced and unhoused population. Experience from previous post-disaster responses shows that temporary housing should be rapidly deployable, planned for months to years, and should be environmentally...
Wood-based composites (WBCs) are an important sector of the US economy. For a WBC product to succeed, understanding its long-term durability, including seasonal variations in temperature and humidity, is critical. Durability is especially important WBCs because they are predominantly made from wood, which is a biological, hygroscopic material that is...
Mass timber is emerging as a viable form of construction around the world in new markets for wood buildings. The entrance into these markets has driven the demand for more knowledge to enable designs alongside other structural materials such as steel and reinforced concrete.
Large, in-plane tests on cross-laminated timber...
The United States generates over 70 million tonnes of wood waste annually, with over 27 million tonnes still available for recovery. Current recycling rates for wood waste are in the range of 10% to 15%, which is much lower than other common building materials and indicative of an underutilized resource....
Wood plays a key role in modern electrical infrastructure; crossarms and power poles utilize the high strength to weight ratio, availability and low cost of wood to facilitate the access of power to millions of Americans. However, wood presents a variety of challenges as a material. In structural applications, one...
Western juniper (Juniperus occidentalis) is a conifer that is native to Oregon, California, Washington, Nevada, and Idaho. Juniper is known to have highly decay resistant heartwood and is a popular choice for finished furniture. With recent forest management practices over the past 100 years have resulted in an immense population...
Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a massive engineered wood product made of orthogonally bonded layers of solid-sawn lumber, and is intended for roof, floor, or wall applications. Although it was developed in Europe in the early 90s, CLT is relatively new to North America.
CLT products must be certified for structural...
The goal of this project is to contribute to the development of design values for cross-laminated timber (CLT) diaphragms in the seismic load-resisting system for buildings. Monotonic and cyclic tests to determine strength and stiffness characteristics of 2.44 m (8 ft) long shear connections with common self-tapping screws were performed....
Many wood composites are known to poorly resist the effects of moisture and temperature extremes over time. Degradation of adhesive bonds, irreversible thickness swell and dimensional instability result in a decrease of properties and a possible failure of the material. Accelerated weathering has become an essential tool for assessment of...
A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the production of poplar biomass grown under four management conditions in the Pacific Northwest (PNW) of the U.S.A. was conducted. While the extraction of fossil fuels and the subsequent generation of energy have environmental impacts, the alternative of extracting poplar biomass also has impacts...
Many nondestructive techniques for structural health monitoring are subjective and based on visual observations of degradation. In addition, dynamic properties of structures are already used to obtain quantitative structural health data. However, most current data collection is limited to localized damage on the structure, rather than global response. Recent research...
Architects and engineers are two key types of design professionals who influence the use of wood products in construction. Eighty to ninety percent by volume of all residential structures in the U.S. are wood (Gupta, 2005). In 2010, the non-residential market was made up by 10% wood, 60% steel and...
There are about 80 million single-family dwellings (SFD) in the United States, predominantly of wood-frame construction. Of these, 68% are owner occupied. A home is typically the largest single investment of a family, and is often not covered by earthquake insurance, even where it is available. Of all SFD in...
The objective of this study was to develop and validate practical modeling
methods for investigating load paths and system behavior in a realistic, light-frame wood
structure. The modeling methods were validated against full-scale tests on subassemblies
and an L-shaped house. The model of the L-shaped house was then modified
and...
The objective of this project was to evaluate methods to remediate a wood I-joist with a single, circular hole in the web while leaving utilities in place. The methods were experimentally evaluated with a full-scale bending test using four equally spaced point loads. There were three depths of joists with...
The purpose of this thesis was to evaluate orthogonal cutting as a method to determine the fracture toughness of low and high density polyethylene and wood plastic composites. A test fixture was developed to capture normal and tangential cutting forces at variable depth and rake angle. A tool interface method...
Since 2004 there have been multiple devastating tsunamis around the globe triggered by large magnitude earthquakes; with the most recent being the Tohoku, Japan tsunami in March 2011. These tsunamis have caused significant loss of life and damage to the coastal communities impacted by these powerful waves. The resulting devastation...