Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) is an engineered wood product consisting of an odd number (three to seven) of lumber layers, which are glued in an orientation of each layer perpendicular to other. After its introduction, CLT has been widely adopted in Europe since 1990s and has quickly become popular in the US in the last decade as a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to traditional building materials such as concrete and steel. The first version of PRG-320 was published in 2012 for the US and Canada to help designers and builders understand the properties of CLT and use it safely. The current version of PRG-320 only allows the use of softwood species for commercial production of cross-laminated timber (CLT) in the US. However, recent studies have investigated the possibility of using hardwood species for CLT and have shown promising results. In parallel to this, the next version of PRG-320 is being revised to include hardwood species. The inclusion of hardwood species is an effort to increase the value of underutilized wood species in the United States. This study presents the results from testing of three-layer and five-layer CLTs manufactured using yellow-poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera) as hardwood and southern pine (Pinus spp.) as softwood in different layers, defined as hybrid CLT. The purpose of this project was to compare the bending and shear properties in the major axis direction of hybrid CLT panels obtained from five-point, four-point, and three-point bending tests with the current ANSI/APA PRG-320 values, and also to evaluate their resistance to shear by compression loading and delamination according to ANSI A190.1 and AITC T110 standards, respectively. The bending strength and bending stiffness, except for some individual groups, as well as the shear strength and shear stiffness values exceeded the Grade V3 from PRG-320. However, the wood failure in resistance to shear by compression loading and face delamination in resistance to delamination were lower than the required values in the standards. The test results demonstrated that CLT groups consisting of yellow-poplar has strength and stiffness properties comparable to those consisting of southern pine. This suggests that yellow-poplar could be a promising alternative species to softwood in the production of CLTs. / Master of Science / Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) is a wood composite material made of lumbers that are oriented perpendicular to each other and glued together. CLT has quickly gained popularity in Europe since its introduction in the early 1990s and has become an attractive material in the United States in the last decade due to its sustainability and cost-effectiveness compared to traditional building materials. As a standardization effort, the first standard for CLT, PRG-320, was published for both the US and Canada as a guide for designers and builders to understand the properties of CLT and has allowed only softwood for the commercial production of CLT in the US since its initial version. The promising results of research on the use of hardwoods in CLT production have enabled efforts to include hardwood species in the next version of the PRG-320. This study presents the results from testing of three-layer and five-layer CLTs manufactured using yellow-poplar as hardwood and southern pine as softwood in different layers, defined as hybrid CLT. The purpose of this project was to compare the bending and shear properties in the major axis direction of hybrid CLT beams obtained from five-point, four-point, and three-point bending tests with current industry guidelines, and also to evaluate their resistance to shear by compression loading and delamination. The test results indicated that yellow-poplar possesses similar strength and stiffness properties to southern pine, indicating that it has potential to be used as an alternative to softwood species in CLT production.

Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) is an engineered wood product made by laminating dimensional or structural composite lumber in alternating orthogonal layers. Compared to Canada and Europe, CLT is a novel product to the US. With the additions included in the 2021 International Building Code (IBC), CLT material properties, especially rolling shear, would need to be explored. The increasing demand for softwood lumber, along with the increase of demand of CLT panel production, could place a burden and surpass the domestic softwood supply. Rolling shear is a phenomenon that occurs when the wood fibers in the cross-layers roll over each other because of the shearing forces acting upon a CLT panel when it is loaded out-of-plane. This study used the two-plate shear test from ASTM D2718 to measure the rolling shear properties of various southeastern US wood species: southern pine, yellow-poplar, and soft maple. A secondary study was conducted, using the same two-plate shear test, to measure the rolling shear properties of re-manufactured southern pine for CLT cross-layer application. The soft maple had the greatest average rolling shear strength at 5.93 N/mm2 and southern pine had the lowest average rolling shear strength at 2.51 N/mm2. Using a single factor analysis of variance (ANOVA), the rolling shear strength values from soft maple were significantly greater than yellow-poplar, which was significantly greater than the southern pine. For the rolling shear modulus, the southern pine and soft maple were of equal statistically significant difference, and both were greater statistically significant different compared to the yellow-poplar. The most common failure found from testing was rolling shear. / Master of Science / Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) is an engineered wood panel product, similar to plywood, constructed with solid-sawn or structural composite lumber in alternating perpendicular layers. The additions included in the incoming 2021 International Building Code (IBC) has placed an importance in expanding the research related to the mechanical and material properties of CLT. Also, with the increasing demand for softwood lumber and CLT panel production, the demand for the domestic softwood lumber could place a burden and surpass the domestic softwood supply. Rolling shear is a failure type that occurs when the wood fibers in the cross-layers roll over each other because of the shearing forces acting upon a CLT panel. This study used the two-plate shear test to measure the rolling shear properties of various southeastern US wood species: southern pine, yellow-poplar, and soft maple. A secondary study was conducted, using the same two-plate shear test, to measure the rolling shear properties of re-manufactured southern pine for CLT cross-layer application. The soft maple had the greatest average rolling shear strength at 5.93 N/mm2 and southern pine had the lowest average rolling shear strength at 2.51 N/mm2. Using a single factor analysis of variance (ANOVA), the rolling shear strength values from soft maple were significantly greater than yellow-poplar, which was significantly greater than the southern pine. For the rolling shear modulus, the southern pine and soft maple were of equal statistically significant difference, and both were greater statistically significant different compared to the yellow-poplar. The most common failure found from testing was rolling shear.