Load Bearing Timber Glass Composites - A Woodwisdom-Net Project For Innovative Building System

The aim of this three year project, which is part of the WoodWisdom-net research program, is to develop an innovative load bearing building system composted of timber-glass composites. The structural loads applied onto these composites will be transferred to, and supported by, the glass component, in contrary to today's traditional solutions where glass elements only function as an environmental shield. Using such structural elements will make it possible to largely increase the glass surface in buildings, allowing the presence of more natural light in personal homes and office buildings. Timber-glass shear walls and beams will be developed taking into consideration long-term behaviour and seismic performance. Design concepts, feasibility studies and performance assessments of these components will be performed in order to improve the overall performance. The project also includes the development of new design calculations as well as the optimisation of manufacturing methods. Material properties of timber, glass and adhesives will be determined from small and large scale experimental investigations, and will be used as input for theoretical calculations and modeling work. The projects industrial partners will function as expertise and take part in the development and construction of demonstration objects. The project consortium is composed of academic and industrial partners from Austria, Sweden, Germany, Turkey, Slovenia, Chile and Brazil. This paper presents material specifications and results from small scale testing performed by the Swedish project partners.