Elastic Constants of Cross Laminated Timber Panels of Industrial Size: Non-Destructive Measurement and Verification

Cross laminated timber (CLT) is leading the evolution of wood construction throughout the world. As a two-dimensional plate-like construction product, the in-plane elastic constants of CLT panels are the fundamental parameters for serviceability design. The elastic constants including moduli of elasticity (MOE) in major and minor strength direction (Ex and Ey) and in-plane shear modulus (Gxy) of full-size CLT panels with different dimensions and layups from three CLT producers were measured by a non-destructive test (NDT) method developed by the first author. In total, 51 CLT panels were tested with most of the testing conducted at CLT mills. The measured values were used to examine the existing effective stiffness prediction models of CLT. Results show that k-method can be used for predicting Ex and Ey values of industrial size CLT with a large length/width to thickness ratio. Gxy cannot be well predicted by k-method and is greatly affected by edge bonding and gaps. Gamma method and shear analogy method can include the effect of transverse shear to different extents into account in predicting apparent Ex or Ey. Shear analogy method appears to predict closer apparent Ex to the measured values than gamma method for CLT with small length to thickness ratio. However, the effect of transverse shear on apparent Ey is not as much as predicted by shear analogy method for CLT panels with width from 1 to 3 meters. NDT by modal testing was proven to be an efficient mechanical property evaluation method for full-size CLT panels.