Research project: Load-bearing wood panel systems

The tried-and-tested ceiling system consists of flat panels with wooden elements such as CLT glued to the front, which remove vertical loads biaxially. The main material is beech veneer plywood, with the front-side glueing carried out using a 2-component polyurethane adhesive as a blunt joint. During the course of the study, the now patented Timber Structures 3.0 system was tested for changes in humidity, long-term stress on the flexural strength of the frontal connection, and fire behaviour. Fur­ther investigations are ongoing. The results to date have shown that it is possible to realise wood flat ceilings in a support grid up to 8 x 8 m in size and with a payload of 5 kN/m². The developed ceiling system is intended for use in residential, commercial and industrial buildings, and an apartment building in Thun, Switzer­land, has already been built using TS3 technology. A current project aims to make the technology market-ready by 2019. www.ts3.biz