MS32 Structural Reliability and Probabilistic Modelling of Timber

Prof. Gerhard Fink: gerhard.fink@aalto.fi

Session Chairs:
Gerhard Fink, Ass. Prof. Dr., Aalto University, gerhard.fink@aalto.fi
Jochen Köhler, Prof. Dr., NTNU Trondheim, jochen.kohler@ntnu.no
Hélder S. Sousa, PhD, University of Minho, sousa.hms@gmail.com

Abstract of the special session:
Timber is a widely available natural grown building material, that is characterised by many advantages, such as the highly sustainability or the efficient strength to weight ratio. On the other hand, as a natural material, timber demonstrates a large variability of its material properties. Furthermore, the mechanical properties of timber are strongly dependent on type and orientation of stresses and are influenced significantly by moisture, fire or duration of load.
In order to improve the quality of timber, engineered wood products such as glued laminated timber or cross laminated timber have been developed. Compared to solid wooden members, engineered wood products have many advantages, such as a lower variability of the material properties, or the larger range of available component dimensions to choose from. Because of that, timber has been established as a competitive building product within the last decades.
However, there is still a large potential for improving the performance of structural timber and engineered wood products. For this purpose a significant amount of research is recently invested into the development of probabilistic models for prediction of the performance of timber structures. In the present mini-symposium the latest findings will be demonstrated and discussed. The following aspects among others are particularly addressed:
Timber grading, engineered wood products, seismic response, climate and load duration aspects, fire exposure, timber connections, robustness, durability, assessment of structures Researchers from all over the globe will be invited to present and discuss their recent research findings about these various aspects.