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Timber-frame brick veneer construction originated in countries in which houses were traditionally constructed with loadbearing timber frames which were clad with non-loadbearing weather boarding or similar light-weight materials. Timber-frame house construction is extensively used in countries such as Canada, Scandinavia, Australia and North America. With the Canadian system, buildings of up to three storeys can be erected with loadbearing timber frames. This particular system was also adopted in France - the Igny project~ and in England - the Harlow project. In most of these cases, basements or crawl-spaces underneath the house were incorporated in the design. In these countries there have a trend towards the use of a brick cladding (veneer) for timber-frame structures. This is a comparatively recent introduction in these countries, but it has already been extensively used. This trend is primarily related to the appearance and other advantages (for example durability and ease of maintenance in the case of a face-brick clauding) of a masonry exterior, while largely retaining the low cost benefits of timber-frame construction.

The concept of a ready-to-assemble kit fabricated in a factory and delivered to the customer is well known and commonly used by the furniture industry. In wood construction, the lack of a simple and reliable method of assembling the frame members creates a barrier to wide acceptance of prefabricated kit structures. This thesis focuses on a novel technology of assembling structural components of a wood frame using a metal nail plate connector (NPC). This technology was referred to as a ready-to-assemble (RTA) wood framing system. The RTA system simplifies the framing process and allows for rapid erection of a wood structural frame by a small nonprofessional crew. A 16 x 24 foot RTA building was constructed to demonstrate the feasibility of the RTA system concept. An effective assembly sequence was proposed and successfully implemented. The design procedure for the RTA buildings was presented. The lateral load path for the RTA building includes diaphragms and shear walls. The contribution of the RTA frame can be ignored from the lateral load analysis. This conclusion was validated for the diaphragms with aspect ratios up to 4:1. The finite element method was used to model the RTA structures. The models incorporated semi-rigid behavior of the NPC. An analytical model was developed to predict the nonlinear moment-rotation relationship of the NPC. The proposed model showed a good agreement (R2=0.98) with the experimental data. Tests were conducted to measure the load-drift response of the RTA shear walls. / Master of Science

The motivation for this research was to apply methods of vibrations testing in order to determine axial loads in the pin-ended truss members of the Breeding Bam. This method of vibrations testing was necessary in order to determine the in-situ axial loads of the truss members in the bam. Other common methods, such as strain gauges, were not useful for this application. This is because strain gauges can only detect changes in strain and therefore only changes in load. However due to the size and weight of the roof at the Breeding Bam, significant axial loads are produced in the truss members. This in-situ axial load due to the dead load of the roof is a significant portion of any additional loading and cannot be ignored. The ultimate goal of determining the axial loads in the truss members was to develop a model for the roof structure of the bam that accurately predicts axial loads in the truss members over a range of loading conditions. Developing such a model was important in order to make a structural assessment ofthe Breeding Bam's roof structure. In order to determine the axial loads in the truss members, acceleration time histories of the individual truss members were collected using wireless accelerometers provided by MicroStrain of Williston, Vermont. Using the Fourier transform, power spectral densities were produced from the raw acceleration time histories. It was from these plots that the resonant frequencies of the truss members were determined. Knowing the resonant frequencies for a member and the beam vibration equation developed for pin-ended members, the axial load of the truss member were calculated. This process was done for each wrought iron truss member for three separate loading conditions. The purpose of this was to provide enough experimental data so that it could be compared with predictions of several proposed frame models of the bam's roof structure. Ultimately a model was chosen that best predicted the axial loads in the truss members based upon the three loading combinations tested. Using this frame model, an assessment of the bam's roof structure could be made.

Modern timber frame buildings are a unique combination of ancient carpentry techniques coupled with one of the newest enclosure systems found on construction sites around the world. Contemporary timber frame structures typically utilize structural-insulated panels (SIPs) attached to a timber frame skeleton to create functional, enclosed structures, such as houses, churches and a myriad of retail and industrial buildings. The skeleton contains large wooden members connected using wooden joints held together with wooden pegs or wedges. SIPs consist of a layer of rigid expanded polystyrene insulation covered on one side by oriented strand board and on the other side by oriented strand board, drywall, or some other interior finish. In timber frame buildings, SIPs also serve as diaphragm elements, which are flat structural assemblies loaded by shear forces in the plane of the panel. Current design methodologies for timber frame structures do not formally incorporate the structural benefits of SIPs as diaphragm elements, which contribute significantly to the ability of these buildings to resist lateral loads. The contribution of this research was to quantify necessary design parameters to enable timber frame designers to capitalize on the significant in-plane strength and stiffness of SIPs when designing timber frame structures to resist lateral loads. Strength and stiffness tests were conducted on three 8 ft (2.44 m) deep and 24 ft (7.32 m) long roof diaphragm assemblies, and two 20 ft (6.10 m) deep and 24 ft (7.32 m) long roof diaphragm assemblies. Data from these tests were collected, tabulated and analyzed according to existing methods typically utilized for post-frame diaphragm testing. Strength and stiffness of timber frame and SIP roof diaphragm assemblies were determined from monotonic test results and a value for Response Modification Coefficient, R, for use with seismic design procedures, was estimated utilizing cyclic test data. Procedures for calculating strength and stiffness of a roof diaphragm based on the strength and stiffness of test panels were presented and incorporated within post-frame diaphragm design methods. Diaphragm-frame interaction analyses were performed utilizing test data from roof diaphragm assemblies that demonstrated the code conformance of members within timber frames subjected to lateral loads. Using roof diaphragm test data and procedures developed for adjustments from the test panel to building roof length, example designs were conducted which confirmed the effectiveness of including SIPs as diaphragm elements for code conforming designs for wind and seismic load resistance of timber frame and SIP buildings. / Ph. D.

There are many forces at work in a design process. Each element of a design sketch reacts to ones before and after it. As a designer, one must be able to look at each individually and as part of the whole. In addition, the ideals and experiences brought to a project works its magic as well. It is the tension and the balance between the elements and ideals that create architecture. With a Bed and Breakfast as a project vehicle, the connection to the site, the relationship between public and private areas, and how the materials and structure form spaces were studied. These considerations led to a process of discovery and the challenge to weave the site, structure, and materials in a cohesive design. / Master of Architecture

The United Kingdom published a legally binding document to reduce national greenhouse gas emissions by year 2020 up to 34% against the 1990 levels. This target also fulfils the Europe 2020 strategy of 20% carbon emission reductions by year 2020 (EC, 2010). Emissions due to space heating count for around 60% of the total domestic emissions (DCLG, 2012). The report “Rethinking Construction” published in 1998 emphasised the opportunities to improve the quality and efficiency of the UK construction sector (Egan, 1998). More recently, a framework has been published by the Government to tackle fuel poverty by building more energy efficient homes (DECC, 2015). In terms of energy performance, Passivhaus is recognised as one of the most energy efficient and researched construction standards which requires an exceptionally high-level of insulation and airtightness. Closed-panel timber frames are a relatively new system in UK with an opportunity for growth. These advanced panels are pre-fitted in the factory, reducing the on-site work. However, closed-panel systems present a more complex sole plate fixing detail which can have an undesirable long-term impact on the structural and thermal performance of the building. The work presented in this thesis investigates the structural considerations, racking performance, of timber frame closed panel systems for future building regulations. The thesis underlines the significance of structural stability, serviceability and detailing in relationship with long-term thermal efficiency and airtightness, according to Passivhaus standard. An experimental study was carried out to investigate the structural racking performance of advanced closed panel systems. A comparison was made between the behaviour of the timber frame panels and the analytical PD 6693-1. A set of different wall panel built-ups is presented for optimised Passivhaus design, including thermal bridge-free sole plate details. A timber frame racking software application was developed to optimise the structural design of shear walls. A parametric study was carried out with this tool to generate efficient timber frame wall design tables for different applied racking loads and U-values. The software application also allows for direct specification of robust sole plate base fixings and thermal bridge free details.

A prefabricated timber frame house previously built by Villafabriken AB has been modeled in Autodesk Revit Architectural, a 3D-program based on BIM-technology. This has been done tosee if it’s possible to produce the publications that Villafabriken demands from the designengineer’s work, and examine which possible extra values that may arise compared to traditional 2D-CAD drawing.BIM is short for Building Information Modeling. Everything is stored in a single database and a change in the project file is automatically updated across the project. BIM provides more than just drawings since information from the model can be retrieved in various ways such as lists and quantity schedules.It was possible to produce the publications that Villafabriken demanded using Revit, but BIM doesn’t only mean a new way of drawing, it also require a change in the company’s process were the information from the model is being used.

<p>A prefabricated timber frame house previously built by Villafabriken AB has been modeled in Autodesk Revit Architectural, a 3D-program based on BIM-technology. This has been done tosee if it’s possible to produce the publications that Villafabriken demands from the designengineer’s work, and examine which possible extra values that may arise compared to traditional 2D-CAD drawing.BIM is short for Building Information Modeling. Everything is stored in a single database and a change in the project file is automatically updated across the project. BIM provides more than just drawings since information from the model can be retrieved in various ways such as lists and quantity schedules.It was possible to produce the publications that Villafabriken demanded using Revit, but BIM doesn’t only mean a new way of drawing, it also require a change in the company’s process were the information from the model is being used.</p>

Ett sekellångt förbud mot att bygga hus med trästomme högre än två våningar har gjort att värdefulla kunskaper om träbyggandet gått förlorat samtidigt som andra material istället etablerat sig på marknaden.För utvecklingen av flervåningshus i trä har Växjö blivit en förebild för andra städer i Sverige och resten av världen. Med denna studie vill författarna skapa en uppfattning om var i utvecklingen vi står idag samt tillvarata erfarenheter från fyra representativa projekt.Målet har varit att ta fram faktorer i produktionsprocessen som påverkar tid, kvalitet och ekonomi för flervåningshus i trä. Dessutom har det undersökts i vilken grad och på vilket sätt erfarenheter från tidigare projekt omsatts i senare projekt.Arbetet resulterar i ett antal punkter som är viktiga att ta ställning till vid en byggnation av flervåningshus med en träbaserad stomme. Dessa punkter berör bl a vad som behöver beaktas vid hög prefabriceringsgrad, varför och hur väderskydd bör användas samt hur sättningar påverkar en träbyggnad. Utvecklingen är starkt beroende av kontinuitet och av att fler hus av denna sort byggs. Detta skapar förutsättningar för att det skall gå snabbare och bli mindre kostsamt att bygga med trä.