Course syllabus

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VSM196 Timber engineering lp3 VT20 (7.5 hp)

Course is offered by the department of Architecture and Civil Engineering

The course information can be found here!

Contact details

Examiner     

Robert Jockwer (RJ),   031-772 6583,   robert.jockwer@chalmers.se

 

Lecturers     

Robert Jockwer (RJ),   031-772 6583,   robert.jockwer@chalmers.se

Reza Haghani (RH),   031-772 2011,   reza.haghani@chalmers.se

Robert Kliger (RK),   031-772 2016,   robert.kliger@chalmers.se

Rasoul Atashipour (RA),   031-772 2255,   rasoul.atashipour@chalmers.se

Johan Jonsson (JJ),   076-135 5565,   johan.jonsson@trafikverket.se

 

Design task

Jincheng Yang (JY),   031-772 2058,   jincheng.yang@chalmers.se

 

FEM lab

Rasoul Atashipour (RA),   031-772 2255,  rasoul.atashipour@chalmers.se

 

Course secretary

Lena Högberg,   031-772 1968,  lena.hogberg@chalmers.se

 

Course purpose

The aim is to provide advanced knowledge of the design of both simple and complex timber structures, detailing and connections. This includes the necessary skills to understand and design the stabilising system for multi-storey timber buildings and frameworks made of timber elements, understanding both how different more complex elements such as engineered wood products (EWP) including glulam (especially curved-glulam beams), wood-based I-beams and wood-based panels behave in structures and the overall structural performance. Furthermore, the emphasis is stressed on understanding the design of connections and some detailing, to provide the necessary skills to design stressed-skin panels and understanding how different elements behave in service conditions, especially the vibration and springiness in timber-based floors. The use of Eurocode 5 (Design Manual for Timber Structures) will be emphasised. The course comprises 7.5 credits.

 

Schedule

TimeEdit

Course literature

 

Course design

Content of lectures

The course consists of lectures in the four main areas and they include:

  • Introduction to Eurocode 5 (EC5)
    • Material properties related to EC5
    • Structural timber and engineering wood products (EWP) – main differences
  • Design of structural timber elements in ULS and SLS
    • Tension, compression and loading at the angle to the grain
    • Cross-sections subjected to combined stresses
    • Glulam beams with varying cross-sections: tapered, curved and pitched
    • Glued, thin I-beam, box beams and SSP
    • Vibration and springiness in floors
    • Fire & Timber
  • Design and production of multi-storey buildings
    • Structural systems and production methods - houses
    • Stabilising system for multi-storey timber buildings
    • Models for shear walls, diaphragms and their design
    • CLT Structures
  • Detailing and connections
    • Dowel-type joints – theory
    • Joints - mechanical and glued
    • Strengthening and repair of timber structures
    • Notched beams, holes, splitting and cracking

 

Project work

The course includes project work covering a design task and FEM workshop. For more details, see memorandum to the project work and FEM workshop. Approved design, participation in FEM workshop and participating in the exam are compulsory for passing the course. The design task will be done in groups of two students and each two design task groups form a FE workshop group. The grouping shall be done by teachers in the course. The project work which will be evaluated and graded accounts for 30% of the final grade in the course. Deadline to deliver the report (Design task) is Friday, March 6th. Presentation of the design task for teachers shall take place on Tuesday March 10th and Friday, March 13th. The report for FEM workshop should be handed in on Friday, March 13th. A group schedule for presentation will be provided to students in due time. The report shall be done according to guidelines which will be provided in the memorandum and the report will be group based, however, all group members should actively participate in all parts of the task and should be able to demonstrate their participation. The presentation for each group will take 10 minutes.

The FE workshop will be evaluated based on group reports which shall be prepared according to a template which will be provided. The report will be evaluated based on the same grading system as design task.

 

Design task

The main aim of the design task is to equip the students with necessary skills to perform hand calculations of a stabilising system for a four-storey timber-framed residential building, to define the capacity of the stabilising elements, to perform the structural design of some load-bearing elements such as floor elements, roof members with curved glulam beams and some detailing related to multi-storey building. The students work in groups of three students.

 

Consultation

Due to time limitations, there will be no individual consultations. The organization for consultation is as students should use Ping Pong platform to ask their questions. There are specific discussion forums for design task and FE workshop. Students have the chance to initiate discussions and comment on each other questions in these forums. Teachers will go through the questions on these forums, collect the questions and answer them on consultations sessions. As there might be no order in answering the questions, it is recommended that all students would be present in consultation sessions. Please notice that teachers will not answers questions via emails. It is also recommended that all students keep up the pace during the course as it would be very difficult to address all questions close to the exam.

 

Learning objectives and syllabus

Learning objectives:

After this course, students will be equipped to work at structural engineering companies and be able to design the vast majority of timber structures. Students will obtain practical experience of ways of designing the main parts of multi-storey timber buildings. In order to do this, students should be able to:

  • Explain the specific aspects of timber construction, the strengths and weaknesses and some specific problems related to timber design
  • Perform structural design by applying Eurocode 5
  • Describe, explain and design a stabilising system for multi-storey timber buildings
  • Explain different properties of floor components, calculate the dynamic behaviour of wood-based floors and identify the components and properties that influence this behaviour
  • Identify the demands on connections used in timber construction and chose and design adequate connections for individual situations.
  • Optimize the structures with regard to structural performance, economy and appearance, based on the good understanding of the mechanical behaviour of connections and members.

 

Link to the syllabus on Studieportalen.

Study plan

 

Examination form

Examination Wednesday, 18th March 2020

To pass this course it is necessary to pass the exam. In order to take part in the exam both parts of the project work has to be approved. The exam has two parts; one part with design problems to solve, and one part with theoretical and descriptive questions - 26 points maximum (16 points coming from the first part and 10 points from the second). The second part consists of two descriptive questions and 12 multi-choice questions. To pass the exam both parts have to be approved (at least 6 points from the first part and 4 points from the second), and a total of 11 points is required. Registration through the Student Portal is necessary. Please notice that for the theoretical part of the exam, no aid is allowed. For the calculation part, you can only use the Eurocode 5 extracts and DoTs vol 2. You can only have short reference notes on these documents to be able to use them on the exam.

Please notice that the theoretical descriptive and multi-choice questions will be from the lecture notes, and DoTs vol 1.  

Two additional exams will be offered; one at the beginning of June and one on 18th August 2020.

Course summary:

Date Details Due