Grant: Engage Grants Program

Although the benefits of using timber in mid- and high-rise construction are undisputed, there are perceivedshortcomings with respect to the corresponding lack of appropriate design guidance. Overcoming theseperceived shortcomings will allow timber, and its wood product derivatives, to further expand into thenon-residential construction sector. Cross-laminated Timber (CLT), an emerging mass-timber product, offers aseries of advantages in terms of load-carrying capacity, building physics performance and level ofprefabrication compared to light-frame wood construction. As such CLT constitutes a promising solution fornumerous structural applications, including for large and tall residential and commercial buildings.Of specific concern from an engineering perspective is the absence of reliable models for predictingfundamental dynamic characteristics and deformation of CLT buildings under seismic and wind loads. Withrespect to the seismic problem, in accordance with the current performance-based design philosophy, newstructures need to satisfy both safety and damage limit state requirements. The direct displacement-baseddesign (DDBD) approach represents the rational design choice to ensure multiple performance objectives aremet.The company-specific problem that will be addressed is the provision of DDBD design guidance formulti-storey CLT structures, establishing a direct link between the single structural member and theconstruction system as a whole and directly assessing their level of deformation. After the project conclusion,the company will have a better understanding how to apply DDBD to projects where architects and developersare interested in applying CLT systems.