Development of cross-laminated timber (CLT) products from stress graded canadian hem-fir

To explore the feasibility of hem-fir for CLT products, this work addressed the exploratory and pilot plant studies of hem-fir cross-laminated timber (CLT) products through mechanical tests. The hem-fir lumber was procured and then stress-graded based on dynamic modulus of elasticity (MOE). The resulted 5-ply prototype CLT products were then tested non-destructively and 3-ply pilot plant hem-fir CLT was tested destructively. The results showed that bending performance of hem-fir CLT panel can be predicted. Considering cost-competitiveness and end applications of hem-fir CLT products, the panel structure can be optimized based on the stress-graded data of hem-fir lumber.