Flexural performance of cross-laminated timber constructed from fibre-managed plantation eucalyptus

This study was performed to evaluate the flexural performance of three-ply cross-laminated timber (CLT) floor panels made of unthinned and unpruned plantation Eucalyptus. The impact of the stress-grade of the timber boards on the modulus of elasticity (MOE) and modulus of rupture (MOR) of the panels was determined. The results indicated that the actual MOE of the timber boards from both species could not be appropriately estimated by visual stress-grading. The results revealed that the average MOE and MOR of the panels were significantly affected by the stress-grade of the boards in the top and bottom layers of the panels. The CLT panels made with high-grade boards showed respectively 24% and 21% higher MOE values than comparable panels made with low-grade boards for E. nitens and E. globulus. The failure modes were bending failure on the tensile side and rolling shear for the panels made of low-grade and high-grade boards, respectively. On average, the CLT panels made of E. globulus showed 17.7% higher MOE and 32.5% higher MOR values than comparable panels made of E. nitens.