Computational Mechanics for Advanced Timber Engineering - from material modeling to structural applications

by Josef Füssl, Thomas K. Bader, Josef Eberhardsteiner Vienna University of Technology, Austria Wood products for structural elements are gaining importance in the building sector. Not least because of their evident ecological advantages, their share on the building market increases constantly, and volume consumption is facing enormous growth rates. Nevertheless, dimensioning practice and many existing design rules are still based on an empirical background, which often leads to unsatisfactory results in terms of efficiency and reliability. In order to exploit the full potential of the material and to facilitate its use for modern constructions (figure 1), which are characterized by twoand three dimensional bearing components, reliable computation methods for timber engineering are required.