Connection Systems for Extended Building Life – Design Principles
Project Description
This project aims to assess the disassembly potential of timber connections and redesign case study building for maintenance and repair, adaptability, and disassembly and reuse.
This project expects to generate new knowledge in designing timber buildings for disassembly by quantifying the main parameters that affect the disassembly potential of timber connections.
The expected outcomes of this project are a disassembly potential measurement metric, validation of the metric through case studies, and demonstration of the metric through redesign of existing timber buildings. A design guide for timber connections to extend building life will also be developed.
This should provide significant benefits, including tools for designers to extend timber building life weighing off cost vs benefits of employing connection types that lend themselves to disassembly.
Objectives
Disassembly potential measurement tool:
- Development of a standardized metric / tool to quantitatively evaluate the disassembly potential of timber connections.
– Identification of the most important factors influencing dismantlability (e.g. connection type, material fatigue, fastening methods). - Validation and calibration of tool using real life data of connection disassembly.
– Experimental evaluation of typical joints made with common fasteners, and selected reversible connectors, to calibrate the tool, especially with respect to disassembly time and reuse potential.
– Test campaign with focus on wood screws, as this type of fastener is the most common in mass timber buildings. Evaluation of disassembly potential of partially threaded and fully threaded screws, both loaded in withdrawal and shear.
Analysis and redesign of case study buildings:
- Analysis and redesign of real-life case study timber buildings :
– Practical application of the developed measurement tool in a whole-of-building context, and validation of its informative value.
– Comparison of different types of connections and their influence on the damage-free disassembly and reusability of components.
– Redesign of existing building(s) with focus on connections to extend the building life.
Design guidelines:
- Development of connection design recommendations to extend building life.
– Technical design guide which focuses on disassembly potential of different typical joint details, e.g. based on the WoodWorks Mass Timber Connections Index, Swedish Wood, or similar.
Targeted industry focused outcomes
- Disassembly Potential Measurement Tool (Calculation Tool),
- Exemplar redesigned case study buildings (Case Studies),
- Connection design guide to extend building life (Design Guide)
Industry impact statement:
The project outcomes will support designers and planners to make informed choices about timber connection selection at early design stages to allow for future maintenance, repair, adaptation, and end-of-life disassembly and reuse of timber components. It will also allow manufacturers to assess the disassembly potential of new connectors.
Impact:
Industry uptake of tool and design guide, e.g. through survey and interviews – qualitative.
Overall uptake of the tool (incl. in research), e.g. number of downloads from UQ espace OR if online tool track usage and request user feedback – quantitative (& qualitative).
Objectives/Deliverables
- Development of a standardized metric / tool to quantitatively evaluate the disassembly potential of timber connections.
- Validation and calibration of tool using real life data of connection disassembly.
- Analysis and redesign of real-life case study timber buildings.
- Development of connection design recommendations to extend building life.
Project Leader/s
Lisa Ottenhaus
Node Leader - Design for Extended Building Life; Project Leader
The University of Queensland
Project Staff
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Postdoctoral Research Fellow Opportunity
Project Investigators
Lisa Ottenhaus
Node Leader - Design for Extended Building Life; Project Leader
The University of Queensland
Dayne Davis
Partner Investigator
BG&E Pty Ltd
Johann Gruber
Partner Investigator
SIHGA GmbH
Matt Smith
Partner Investigator
Simpson Strong-Tie
Lily Tandeani
Partner Investigator
Tzannes Associates
Marc Micuta
Affiliate Investigator
Tzannes
Lead Project Partner Organisation
Project Partners
