The use of CLT in the construction sector has been growing significantly. In addition, the lumber price soars in many regions. Therefore, circular economy strategy is emerging. The main goal of this research is to show the possibility to adopt the strategy and to optimise the utilisation of low-grade wood in CLT. Secondary wood collected from recycling plants has been mixed with high quality timber to produce prototypes of CLT panels. This secondary wood was further processed with planing and removal of nails and has gone through mechanical tests for bending strength and modulus of elasticity, Brookhuis Timber Grader MTG and visual grading tests. The mechanical tests in this study show that the wood is above the acceptable strength limit and can technically be used in the production line. 9 CLT prototypes were produced for mechanical testing to investigate the quality of the elements according to standards, focusing on stiffness, rolling shear and delamination tests.
Keywords: CLT, Circular economy strategy, Low-grade wood
Authors
Roja Modaresi
Norwegian Institute of Wood Technology, Børrestuveien 3, Oslo 0373, Norway
Andreas Stenstad
Stine Lønbro Bertelsen
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