Dowel-laminated timber from waste lumber offcuts: Towards structural component circularity

Abstract

In the context of the global climate crisis, there is a need to develop low embodied carbon building systems. Moreover, construction and demolition generate substantial amounts of waste. The use of salvaged materials for structural applications presents the opportunity to divert this waste while reducing the embodied carbon of new structural components. This thesis proposes a typology for dowel-laminated timber (DLT) slabs built up from waste lumber offcuts. A mechanical model for a segmented DLT system composed of geometrically heterogeneous offcuts is developed. Prototypes of this mass timber system are fabricated and tested to observe their failure behavior and to evaluate the mechanical model. A computational workflow is introduced which employs algorithmic methods for inventory assignment and structural optimization to design slabs which meet deflection requirements under loading. These approaches are undertaken to evaluate whether DLT systems can leverage the irregularity of salvaged lumber dimensions to produce structurally efficient forms.