How It's Made: Cross Laminated Timber (CLT)

[Music] today we're at a factory in northern victoria that uses locally grown soft woods to produce cross-laminated timber let's go and see how it's made [Music] cross-laminated timber or clt is quickly growing in popularity around the world while the product was first developed in europe recent years have seen australia and north america quickly adopt the high performing and environmentally friendly structural material i asked tyson infanti from a local clt supplier to explain the product further so crosslanding timber is is part of the mass timber family so it's a it's a panelized system made up of multiple layers of boards um you can see the multiple layers here this is a three layer panel in each subsequent layer the boards run 90 degrees to to to each other so with an odd number of boards we can make up um a range of three five seven and nine layer panels uh and with that we can make 60 mil panels all the way up to 350 mil panels um in terms of the actual format or the size of the panels we can make uh 16 meters by three and a half meter panels and and then they're cut up into the sort of the final panels that would go to site so now we know what we're talking about let's take a closer look at how it's made like all engineered wood products cross-laminated timber is manufactured in a safe highly coordinated factory environment here a workforce of dedicated and skilled staff monitor production and test product to ensure the highest quality output possible the manufacturing process starts with rough sawn wood sections these are most commonly untreated structural softwood but treated softwood and even hardwoods are now possible different thicknesses of clt panels may require different layups comprising boards of varying thicknesses for this reason clt producers must plan ahead to ensure they have the right feedstock for a project once the specified boards have been sourced they are loaded onto the production line where they are first scanned for moisture content before proceeding to the next station here the boards go through a finger jointing process to create a single long board out of any feedstock length this means that even if the factory only has two meter long feedstock it can still produce a panel of 16 meters in length the finger joint owes its name to its form which looks similar to two hands with fingers entwined [Music] to create this join both ends of each board must first be cut into the zigzag profile which fits snugly into the profile of the corresponding board one of these profiles then receives a thin layer of high strength glue and the two zigzag profiles are pressed together under force to create an immediate bond [Music] the newly finger-jointed board can be cut to the exact length required and is left to rest in a large storage rack to allow the glue bond to cure my name is colin stone and i'm the quality and safety manager for xlam australia and this site specifically our testing is um from the infeed feedstock with finger joint feedstock into lamella we're constantly monitoring the pressure the glue application we take finger joint samples um every shift and test those against the standards through the whole process we're doing quality checks to ensure that the end product is within specification once secured the long boards are mechanically planed on all four sides to the exact section size required for the panel layup while this planning process can occur at an earlier stage completing this process just before the clt panel is assembled ensures a clean fresh surface for the adhesive to bond to making for a reliable product cross-laminated timber is produced as a rectangular panel and as it features boards running in two directions it is necessary to produce both long and short sections for this reason once planed some boards are transferred to another cutting station which cuts shorter lengths these boards are then transported by conveyor to the panel layup area with all boards now planed and cut to size the panel layout process can commence this process can vary however all manufacturers follow the same basic steps the first layer of boards is laid on the platform and tightly packed together to minimize any gaps when ready a layer of adhesive is applied and the next layer of boards is stacked on top of the first this time in the perpendicular direction this gluing and stacking process continues until the total number of layers is assembled at which time the panel is transferred to a press here we can see a mechanical press being used however other types of press may be used depending on the supplier depending on the panel thickness press type and adhesive used this pressing process can vary in duration a typical panel and mechanical press shown here takes 25 to 30 minutes to complete the pressing and curing process after this time the pressure is reduced and the panel is transferred to a holding bay for processing with the master panel now pressed it can proceed to the cnc machine the cnc uses the digital design to cut out openings and smaller panels pre-drill holes and complete any other fabrication these robots feature a head that can rotate in up to 11 axis and can select from a range of cutting drilling or chasing tools to process an element as per the design cnc machines take the human error out of the cutting process resulting in very tight tolerances and a perfect fit on site the cnc cuts multiple samples from every panel which then undergo rigorous testing every single bullet is checked for glue line durability dimensional tones moisture and nothing leaves the site until all the checks and balances are done once processed by the cnc panels are stacked in order ready for delivery to the job site at the agreed time panels leave the factory with lifting straps pre-installed streamlining the on-site installation process here we can see a prefabricated stair produced from a thick 8-layer clt panel with treads and risers than cut out by the cnc machine as with all timber construction these panels will be installed using only screws and brackets making for a safe quiet site where required for the project a clt supplier can typically offer to add value to the panel prior to delivery at this factory panels can be sanded pre-coated with a liquid moisture barrier and lined with a breathable water resistant membrane the final step before delivery panels are packed and covered in a uv and water resistant sheet to ensure they arrive on site in the same condition they left the factory [Music] thanks for watching if you enjoyed this video make sure to click like below and don't forget to subscribe to be the first to hear when we release our next episode check out our other videos to learn more about wood wood products and how to design and build with wood correctly or head on over to our website at www.woodsolutions.com see you next time [Music] you

Channel: WoodSolutions

Views: 98,943

Keywords: timber, cross laminated timber, CLT, cross-laminated timber, engineered wood products, wood, advanced manufacturing, CNC, XLam, Xlam australia, How it's made, x-lam, timber construction, mass timber, mass-timber, massive timber, heavy timber, woodsolutions, forest and wood products

Id: rK49UjDivWM

Length: 8min 8sec (488 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 29 2020