Conceptual design and development of a preliminary calculation method for wood-wood connections - Through design of two visible connections

Abstract

Timber structures get more and more common in the Swedish context of construction. With an increasing interest in new ways of building sustainably, and with structures getting a more relevant role in the visual architecture of a building, the connection of structural members hold an important role. By constructing these connections of only wood instead of more commonly with metal screws, nails and plates, a more sustainable solution can be achieved. This also gives way for new solutions with a different architectural appearance, similar to the more traditional carpentry joints. Despite many advantages of using these types of connections, both due to the technological progress of manufacturing and the interest due to sustainability, amongst others, they are very rarely used in a building context today. One of the main problems that cause this is the lack of information as well as the lack of calculation methods and guidelines. Carpentry connections are today referred to as an historical connection. By designing two carpentry joints the aim is to investigate a method of design and open up the possibility of using these types of connections in a modern context.The method is designed by a literature review of current methods for carpentry joints. Different designs are compared against each other and evaluated to specify the method for the two specific connections. By using the construction of a timber building in Borlänge the method and thesis is narrowed down to a Swedish context. The method itself is, due to this, adapted for modern construction even more by utilizing the timber engineered materials glulam and CLT, which are the structural materials used in the building. The calculation method in the end is transformed to illustrate a more general approach. Where it can be used for more connections than the two utilized in this study. The method is a good starting point for increasing the interest in using carpentry connections as simple and tangible results can be calculated. Although for an holistic approach, and as a future step, more elements of construction need to be regarded for the connections to be fully plausible in design.