Is the main difference between CLT and plywood that CLT is a crossed grain stack of sawn lumber instead of peeled veneers?
Re:Cross-Laminated Timber
by josephpmay on Monday October 07, 2019 @02:35PM
(#21184376)
I don't know a huge amount about the manufacturing of the materials, so I'm not sure. The binding material may also be different for CLT.
Yes..ish. Because plain-sawn veneers also exists so plywood can be made the same way.
Pretty much, CLT is basically plywood with very thick laminations.
Re:Cross-Laminated Timber
by jcampbell1 on Monday October 07, 2019 @06:31PM
(#21186699)
True, but worth noting plywood is spiral shaved veneers which are unrolled glued with the curves counteracting This is quite different from sawn dimensional lumber. Plywood is entirely cut tangent to the grain / tree rings.
Plywood is much weaker essentially because trees evolved to withstand wind and the veneers are cut perpendicular to wind loads.
CLT is stiffer than plywood, and the construction techniques are closer to steel/concrete, so it'll likely need reinforcement or dampering. Traditional wood buildings these days are designed to flex in earthquakes.
But it hasn't been extensively tested for seismic properties yet