Glued laminated timber made from European beech wood

Summary

Glued laminated timber made from European beech wood

Due to numerous possible applications, and an increasing social consciousness for sustainable constructions as well as economic competitiveness, glued laminated timber (glulam) has gained popularity and relevance in the construction industry during the past decades.

Nowadays, glulam products are almost exclusively made of softwoods, mainly Norway spruce. However another species, which is widely available in central Europe and frequently exhibits excellent mechanical properties, is European beech (Fagus sylvatica).

The aim of the ongoing research project is to set the technical basis for the market implementation of glulam made of European beech wood. Main prerequisites to be developed are appropriate production technologies, rules and processes in quality control of raw material and the final product as well as the definition of mechanical properties of beech glulam for the strength classes GL40, GL48 and GL55, serving as a basis for the design of structural elements.

The mentioned strength classes correspond to about double the strength of currently often used GL24 and have the potential to expand the application field of the sustainable construction material timber without replacing or repressing established products made of softwood.

 

Support

The project is embedded in the Aktionsplan-Holz and kindly supported by the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment (FOEN).