Types of products
Wood-based panels
Wood structural panels are a collection of flat panel products, used extensively in building construction for sheathing, decking, cabinetry and millwork, and furniture. Examples include plywood and oriented strand board (OSB). Non-structural wood-based panels are flat-panel products, used in non-structural construction applications and furniture. Non-structural panels are usually covered with paint, wood veneer, or resin paper in their final form. Examples include fibreboard and particle board.Plywood
Oriented strand board
Oriented strand board (OSB) is a wood structural panel manufactured from rectangular-shaped strands of wood that are oriented lengthwise and then arranged in layers, laid up into mats, and bonded together with moisture-resistant, heat-cured adhesives. The individual layers can be cross-oriented to provide strength and stiffness to the panel. Similar to plywood, most OSB panels are delivered with more strength in one direction. The wood strands in the outermost layer on each side of the board are normally aligned into the strongest direction of the board. Arrows on the product will often identify the strongest direction of the board (the height, or longest dimension, in most cases). Produced in huge, continuous mats, OSB is a solid panel product of consistent quality with no laps, gaps, or voids. OSB is delivered in various dimensions, strengths, and levels of water resistance. OSB and plywood are often used interchangeably in building construction.Fibreboard
Medium-density fibreboard (MDF) and high-density fibreboard ( hardboard or HDF) are made by breaking down hardwood or softwood residuals into wood fibers, combining them with wax and a resin binder, and forming panels by applying high temperature and pressure.Corky Binggeli. (2013), "Materials for Interior Environments". MDF is used in non-structural applications.Particle board
Particle board is manufactured from wood chips, sawmill shavings, or even sawdust, and a synthetic resin or another suitable binder, which is pressed and extruded. In recent time, research have shown that durable particle board can be produced from agricultural waste products, such as rice husk or guinea corn husk. Particleboard is cheaper, denser, and more uniform than conventional wood and plywood and is substituted for them when the cost is more important than strength and appearance. A major disadvantage of particleboard is that it is very prone to expansion and discoloration due to moisture, particularly when it is not covered with paint or another sealer. Particle board is used in non-structural applications.Structural composite lumber
Structural composite lumber (SCL) is a class of materials made with layers of veneers, strands, or flakes bonded with adhesives. Unlike wood structural panels, structural composite lumber products generally have all grain fibers oriented in the same direction. The SCL family of engineered wood products are commonly used in the same structural applications as conventional sawn lumber and timber, including rafters, headers, beams, joists, rim boards, studs, and columns. SCL products have higher dimensional stability and increased strength compared to conventional lumber products.Laminated veneer
Laminated veneer lumber (LVL) is produced by bonding thin wood veneers together in a large billet, similar to plywood. The grain of all veneers in the LVL billet is parallel to the long direction (unlike plywood). The resulting product features enhanced mechanical properties and dimensional stability that offer a broader range in product width, depth, and length than conventional lumber.Parallel strand
Parallel strand lumber (PSL) consists of long veneer strands laid in parallel formation and bonded together with an adhesive to form the finished structural section. The length-to-thickness ratio of strands in PSL is about 300. A strong, consistent material, it has a high load-carrying ability and is resistant to seasoning stresses so it is well suited for use as beams and columns for post and beam construction, and for beams, headers, and lintels for light framing construction.Laminated strand
Laminated strand lumber (LSL) and oriented strand lumber (OSL) are manufactured from flaked wood strands that have a high length-to-thickness ratio. Combined with an adhesive, the strands are oriented and formed into a large mat or billet and pressed. LSL and OSL offer good fastener-holding strength and mechanical-connector performance and are commonly used in a variety of applications, such as beams, headers, studs, rim boards, and millwork components. LSL is manufactured from relatively short strands—typically about long—compared to the strands used in PSL. The length-to-thickness ratio of strands is about 150 for LSL and 75 for OSL.I-joists
I-joists are ""-shaped structural members designed for use in floor and roof construction. An I-joist consists of top and bottom flanges of various widths united with webs of various depths. The flanges resist common bending stresses, and the web provides shear performance. I-joists are designed to carry heavy loads over long distances while using less lumber than a dimensional solid wood joist of a size necessary to do the same task. As of 2005, approximately half of all wood light framed floors were framed using I-joists.Mass timber
Mass timber, also known as engineered timber, is a class of large structural wood components for building construction. Mass timber components are made of lumber or veneers bonded with adhesives or mechanical fasteners. Certain types of mass timber, such as nail-laminated timber and glue-laminated timber, have existed for over a hundred years. Mass timber has enjoyed increasing popularity in the past decade, due to growing concern around the sustainability of building materials, and interest in prefabrication, off site construction, and modularization, for which mass timber is well suited. The various types of mass timber share the advantage of faster construction times as the components are manufactured off-site, and pre-finished to exact dimensions for simple on-site fastening. Mass timber has been shown to have structural properties competitive with steel and concrete, opening the possibility to build large, tall buildings out of wood. Extensive testing has demonstrated the natural fire resistance properties of mass timber primarily due the creation of a char layer around a column or beam which prevents fire from reaching the inner layers of wood. In recognition of the proven structural and fire performance of mass timber, the International Building Code, a model code that forms the basis of many North American building codes, adopted new provisions in the 2021 code cycle that permit mass timber to be used in high-rise construction up to 18 stories.Cross-laminated timber
Glue-laminated timber
Dowel-laminated timber
Dowel laminated timber (DLT) is a less known type of mass timber product. It is made by placing multiple boards of softwood lumber next to each together, each with a hole so that a hardwood dowel can be friction fitted through all of them. As the hardwood dowel dries to reach an equilibrium moisture content with the softwood lumber, it expands into the surrounding boards creating a connection. The use of a dowel connection eliminates the need for any metal fasteners or adhesives.Nail-laminated timber
Nail laminated timber (NLT) is a mass timber product that consists of parallel boards fastened with nails. It can be used to create floors, roofs, walls, and elevator shafts within a building. It is one of the oldest types of mass timber, being used in warehouse construction during the Industrial Revolution. Like DLT, no chemical adhesives are used, and wood fibers are oriented in the same direction.Structural composite lumber
Structural composite lumber (SCL) can be categorized into two different types of products: laminated veneer lumber (LVL) and laminated strand lumber (LSL). SCL is created by gluing smaller pieces of wood together to create one solid structural member. Of the two SCL products, LVLs are more common than LSLs. While LVLs use wood veneers and LSLs use timber strands, they are both suited for residential construction and can be used as beams joists, studs, and rafters.Engineered wood flooring
Engineered wood flooring is a type of flooring product, similar to hardwood flooring, made of layers of wood or wood-based composite laminated together. The floor boards are usually milled with a tongue-and-groove profile on the edges for consistent joinery between boards.Lamella
The lamella is the face layer of the wood that is visible when installed. Typically, it is a sawn piece of timber. The timber can be cut in three different styles: flat-sawn, quarter-sawn, and rift-sawn.Types of core/substrate
#Wood ply construction ("sandwich core"): Uses multiple thin plies of wood adhered together. The wood grain of each ply runs perpendicular to the ply below it. Stability is attained from using thin layers of wood that have little to no reaction to climatic change. The wood is further stabilized due to equal pressure being exerted lengthwise and widthwise from the plies running perpendicular to each other. #Finger core construction: Finger core engineered wood floors are made of small pieces of milled timber that run perpendicular to the top layer (lamella) of wood. They can be 2-ply or 3-ply, depending on their intended use. If it is three-ply, the third ply is often plywood that runs parallel to the lamella. Stability is gained through the grains running perpendicular to each other, and the expansion and contraction of wood are reduced and relegated to the middle ply, stopping the floor from gapping or cupping. #Fibreboard: The core is made up of medium or high-density fibreboard. Floors with a fibreboard core are hygroscopic and must never be exposed to large amounts of water or very high humidity - the expansion caused by absorbing water combined with the density of the fibreboard, will cause it to lose its form. Fibreboard is less expensive than timber and can emit higher levels of harmful gases due to its relatively high adhesive content. #An engineered flooring construction that is popular in parts of Europe is the hardwood lamella, softwood core laid perpendicular to the lamella, and a final backing layer of the same noble wood used for the lamella. Other noble hardwoods are sometimes used for the back layer but must be compatible. This is thought by many to be the most stable of engineered floors.Other types of modified wood
New techniques have been introduced in the field of engineered wood in recent years. Natural wood is being transformed in laboratories through various chemical and physical treatments to achieve tailored mechanical, optical, thermal, and conduction properties, by influencing the wood’s structure.Densified wood
Densified wood can be made by using a mechanical hot press to compress wood fibers, sometimes in combination with chemical modification of the wood. These processes have been shown to increase the density by a factor of three. This increase in density is expected to enhance the strength and stiffness of the wood by a proportional amount. More recent studies have combined chemical processes with traditional mechanical hot press methods. These chemical processes break downThermally efficient wood
RemovingMoldable wood
Using similar chemical modification techniques to chemically densified wood, wood can be made extremely moldable using a combination of delignification and water shock treatment. This is an emerging technology and is not yet used in industrial processes. However, initial tests show promising advantages in improved mechanical properties, with the molded wood exhibiting strength comparable to some metal alloys.Transparent wood composites
Environmental benefits
With the global population growing at the rate, it is right now, there is going to be an enormous demand for new housing, commercial buildings, and infrastructure to sustain everyone. The main materials used to build these buildings are steel and concrete, but they emit tons of carbon dioxide () into the atmosphere which is not good for the environment. A material that has the potential to reduce carbon emissions is engineered wood if it replaces steel concrete as the primary material in the construction of buildings. Not only do buildings made from engineered wood act as a carbon sink, but they also produce less emissions in the manufacturing process than steel and cement, which both emit a lot of due to the chemical processes involved in their manufacturing. For example, in 2014, steel and cement production accounted for about 1320 megatonnnes (Mt) and 1740 Mt respectively, which made up about 9% of global emissions that year. In a study that did not take the carbon sequestration potential of engineered wood into account, it was found that roughly 50 Mt e (carbon dioxide equivalent) could be eliminated by 2050 with the full uptake of a hybrid construction system utilizing engineered wood and steel. When considering the added effects that carbon sequestration can have over the lifetime of the material, the emissions reductions of engineered wood is even more substantial, as laminated wood that is not incinerated at the end of its lifecycle absorbs around 582 kg of /m3, while reinforced concrete emits 458 kg /m3 and steel 12.087 kg /m3. There is not a strong consensus for measuring the carbon sequestration potential of wood. In life-cycle assessment, sequestered carbon is sometimes called biogenic carbon. ISO 21930, a standard that governs life cycle assessment, requires the biogenic carbon from a wood product can only be included as a negative input (i.e. carbon sequestration) when the wood product originated in a sustainably managed forest. This generally means that wood needs to be FSC or SFI-certified to qualify as carbon sequestering.Advantages
Engineered wood products are used in a variety of ways, often in applications similar to solid wood products: * Mass timber (MT) is lightweight allowing the wood to be easily handled, manufactured, and transported. This contributes to it being cost effective and easy to use on site. * MT offers greater strength and stiffness (based on its strength to weight ratio), increased dimensional stability, and uniformity in structures. * When compared to steel/concrete, MT built buildings use up to 15% less energy because of the reduced energy needed to create these wood products. * MT buildings on average save 20-25% in time when compared to conventional steel/concrete buildings and 4.2% on capital cost. * MT products sequester carbon and store it within themselves over their lifespan. Using this instead of concrete and steel in buildings will reduce the embodied emissions in buildings. * Using MT has an estimated savings of around 20% in embodied carbon when compared to steel or concrete. This is because MT is a lot lighter when compared to these two materials, so it is less intensive for the machinery to transport both to site and once delivered. * MT products also have high levels of airtightness and low coefficients of thermal conductivity meaning that the air inside cannot escape, and heat isn’t lost easily. * MT built buildings perform very well in seismic events because they are roughly half the mass and half the stiffness when compared to reinforced concrete buildings which properties that are desirable. Having half the stiffness allows MT buildings to be ductile which leads to it being able to resist lateral distortion without compromising the structural integrity of the building. * MT is fire resistant to an extent. Although it is considered a combustible material, MT burns slow and in a predictable manner. When it is burned, a charred layer is formed on the outside that protects the inner layers of the wood. However, once the charred layer falls off, the inner layers will be exposed which can compromise the integrity of the material. All mass timber products offer different types of advantages, and they can be seen in the following: * CLT: Offers high dimensional stability, high strength and stiffness and is easy to manufacture. * Glulam: Offers high strength and stiffness, is structurally efficient, and can be manufactured into complex shapes. * NLT: Doesn’t require any specialized equipment to manufacture, is cost effective, and easy to handle. * DLT: Offers high dimensional stability, is easy and safe to manufacture, and no metal fasteners or adhesive is required. * SCL: Is able to withstand greater loads compared to solid timber and is not prone to shrinking, splitting or warping. Engineered wood products may be preferred over solid wood in some applications due to certain comparative advantages: * Because engineered wood is man-made, it can be designed to meet application-specific performance requirements. Required shapes and dimension do not drive source tree requirements (length or width of the tree) * Engineered wood products are versatile and available in a wide variety of thicknesses, sizes, grades, and exposure durability classifications, making the products ideal for use in unlimited construction, industrial, and home project application.Wood UniversityDisadvantages
* Like solid wood, when exposed to high moisture conditions or termites, biodeteriorations and/or fungi decay will occur which reduces the structural integrity and durability of the wood product; essentially the wood will start to rot. * Raises concerns about potential widespread deforestation but can be mitigated with a sustainable forestry management plan. * MT buildings are susceptible to wind driven oscillation because of the relative flexibility of the MT material which may cause discomfort to people in the building. All mass timber products have different disadvantages, and they can be seen in the following: * CLT and Glulam: They both have high cost. * NLT: It is labor intensive to make and there is significant potential for human error. * DLT: It has limited panel sizing and thickness. * SCL: It has limited panel sizing and thickness and is more suitable for low rise buildings. When compared to solid wood the following disadvantages are prevalent: * They require more primary energy for their manufacture than solid lumber. * TheProperties
Plywood and OSB typically have a density of . For example, plywood sheathing or OSB sheathing typically has a surface density of . Many other engineered woods have densities much higher than OSB.Adhesives
The types of adhesives used in engineered wood include: * Urea-formaldehyde resins (UF): most common, cheapest, and not waterproof. * Phenol formaldehyde resins (PF): yellow/brown, and commonly used for exterior exposure products. * Melamine-formaldehyde resins (MF): white, heat, and water-resistant, and often used in exposed surfaces in more costly designs. * polymeric Methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (pMDI) or polyurethane (PU) resins: expensive, generally waterproof, and does not contain formaldehyde, notoriously more difficult to release from platens and engineered wood presses. A more inclusive term is ''structural composites''. For example, fiber cement siding is made of cement and wood fiber, while cement board is a low-density cement panel, often with added resin, faced with fiberglass mesh.Health concerns
While formaldehyde is an essential ingredient of cellular metabolism inMechanical fasteners
Some engineered wood products, such as DLT, NLT, and some brands of CLT, can be assembled without the use of adhesives using mechanical fasteners or joinery. These can range from profiled interlocking jointed boards, proprietary metal fixings, nails or timber dowels.Building codes and standards
Throughout the years mass timber was used in buildings, codes were added to and adopted by the International Building Code (IBC) to create standards for them for the proper use and handling. For example, in 2015, CLT was incorporated into the IBC. The 2021 IBC is the latest issue of building codes, and has added three new codes regarding construction with timber material. The new three construction types go as follows, IV-A, IV-B, and IV-C, and they allow mass timber to be used in buildings up to 18, 12, and nine stories respectively. The following standards are related to engineered wood products: * EN 300 - Oriented Strand Boards (OSB) — Definitions, classification, and specifications * EN 309 - Particleboards — Definition and classification * EN 338 - Structural timber - Strength classes * EN 386 - Glued laminated timber — performance requirements and minimum production requirements * EN 313-1 - Plywood — Classification and terminology Part 1: Classification * EN 313-2 - Plywood — Classification and terminology Part 2: Terminology * EN 314-1 - Plywood — Bonding quality — Part 1: Test methods * EN 314-2 - Plywood — Bonding quality — Part 2: Requirements * EN 315 - Plywood — Tolerances for dimensions * EN 387 - Glued laminated timber — large finger joints - performance requirements and minimum production requirements * EN 390 - Glued laminated timber — sizes - permissible deviations * EN 391 - Glued laminated timber — shear test of glue lines * EN 392 - Glued laminated timber — Shear test of glue lines * EN 408 - Timber structures — Structural timber and glued laminated timber — Determination of some physical and mechanical properties * EN 622-1 - Fibreboards — Specifications — Part 1: General requirements * EN 622-2 - Fibreboards — Specifications — Part 2: Requirements for hardboards * EN 622-3 - Fibreboards — Specifications — Part 3: Requirements for medium boards * EN 622-4 - Fibreboards — Specifications — Part 4: Requirements for soft boards * EN 622-5 - Fibreboards — Specifications — Part 5: Requirements for dry process boards (MDF) * EN 1193 - Timber structures — Structural timber and glued laminated timber - Determination of shear strength and mechanical properties perpendicular to the grain * EN 1194 - Timber structures — Glued laminated timber - Strength classes and determination of characteristic values * EN 1995-1-1 - Eurocode 5: Design of timber structures — Part 1-1: General — Common rules and rules for buildings * EN 12369-1 - Wood-based panels — Characteristic values for structural design — Part 1: OSB, particleboards, and fibreboards * EN 12369-2 - Wood-based panels — Characteristic values for structural design — Part 2: Plywood * EN 12369-3 - Wood-based panels — Characteristic values for structural design — Part 3: Solid wood panels * EN 14080 - Timber structures — Glued laminated timber — Requirements * EN 14081-1 - Timber structures - Strength graded structural timber with rectangular cross-section - Part 1: General requirements * ISO 21930:2017 - Sustainability in buildings and civil engineering works - Core rules for environmental product declarations of construction products and servicesExamples of mass timber structures
Plyscrapers
Plyscrapers are skyscrapers that are either partially made of wood or entirely made of wood. Around the world, there have been many different plyscrapers built including Ascent MKE building and theBridges
The Mistissini Bridge built in Quebec, Canada, in 2014 is a 160-meter-long bridge that features both glulam beams and CLT panels. The bridge was designed to cross over the Uupaachikus Pass. The Placer River Pedestrian Bridge built in Alaska, United States, in 2013. It spans long and is located in theParking structures
The Glenwood CLT Parking Garage in Springfield, Washington, is going to be a garage that features CLT. It will be 4 stories tall and hold 360 parking spaces. The parking garage however is under construction , and the year of competition is not yet known.Notes
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