The shift from traditional linear support systems, such as post-and-beam frames and shear walls, to point-supported timber floor structures enables more flexible, open-plan layouts. This makes cross-laminated timber (CLT) floor systems increasingly attractive for multistory office buildings, where spatial adaptability is essential for functional and economic competitiveness. This transition presents new engineering challenges, requiring advanced modeling techniques, design methodologies, and specialized connection solutions. Unlike established steel and concrete systems, timber demands tailored approaches due to its orthotropic behavior, low density, reduced stiffness, and brittle failure under tension and shear. Current research addresses critical local phenomena in point-supported CLT systems, including panel joints (Ren et al. 2024; Asselstine et al. 2021; Zhang and Chui 2020; Hosseini et al. 2025), column connections (Ren et al. 2024; Tapia and Aicher 2023), and punching shear behavior (Ganjali et al. 2024; Muster and Frangi 2020). While these studies provide practical insights for local design, a gap remains in understanding global structural behavior and the interaction of key system parameters. This paper conducts a parametric evaluation of selected design parameters affecting the global system performance and identifies key research gaps to guide further development of point-supported CLT floor systems.
Keywords: Cross-laminated timber (CLT), Point-supported floor systems, FE-modelling
Authors
Christian Broberg
Department of Building Technology, Linnaeus University, Sweden
Michael Schweigler
Department of Building Technology, Linnaeus University, Sweden
Thomas K. Bader
Department of Building Technology, Linnaeus University, Sweden
Login to download the PDF