Elastic Response of Cross-Laminated Timber Panels using Finite Element and Analytical Techniques

Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) is an engineered timber composite that is finding increasing structural application in construction today. Analysis of the structural behavior of CLT can be carried out by various analytical and numerical methods. Due to the complex behavior of CLT, use of numerical modelling such as the Finite Element Method (FEM) offers a convenient approach to analysis. In this paper, simulation of the elastic behavior of 1-way and 2-way spanning CLT panels using the FEM program ABAQUS is presented. Various modelling choices are explored numerically with the results being evaluated against those from either a 3D analytical method known as the State Space Approach (SSA) or existing experimental data. Among the case studies examined is a novel boundary condition for the SSA solution. In general, the optimum finite element model produced reasonable levels of accuracy with an average relative error equal to 3% in comparison to the SSA and a maximum of 10% in comparison to the experimental results.