The design of a 84 m-long 6.7 m-wide one-storey residence built on an island off the coast of British Columbia, Canada presented special timber engineering challenges. To use materials that can be easily transported in pieces and built on site, panel web beams (PWB) were developed as main structural components. The PWB utilizes 130 mm x 300 mm Glulam members as top and bottom flanges, 12.5 mm thick plywood panels as web, and 38 mm x140 mm dimension lumber as stiffeners. In regions where shear forces are excessive, thin steel sheathing concealed in the beam was used as reinforcement. Due to transportation constrains, beam splices using steel plates and glulam rivets were introduced.
The application of PWB shows the possibility of designing and building wood composite members to span a large distance with commercially available timber materials which can be easily transported to and built on site.
Introduction
As a conventional construction material, wood has the advantage of light-weight, easy- fabrication, low-cost, and good structural performance. Being one of the few renewable building materials, wood and wood based material is an environmental friendly building material. Its use is attracting much attention from stakeholders seeking “green” solutions in construction practice. Commercially available solid sawn timber has size limitations. Over the years, engineered wood products such as structural panel (plywood/OSB), glued laminated timber (Glulam), structural composite lumber, wood I beam, and wood trusses have been introduced in the market allowing large span structures to be built thus expanding the application of wood products in construction. This paper introduces the application of a built-up composite beam that can be assembled on site using commercially available material.
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