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Cross-laminated timber, typical abbreviations CLT or XLAM, is currently one of the most innovative product in building with wood. This solid engineered timber product provides advantages compared to other solid timber slabs as the dimension stability, i.e. swelling and shrinkage, is controlled by the crosswise laminations. As for other components, the fire resistance has to be verified for this type of product. While fire testing is time consuming and costly, simulations provide flexibility to optimize the product or to develop simplified design models for structural engineers. In this paper, a simulation technique is presented which can be used to determine the fire resistance of CLT. The technique was then used to develop simplified design equations to be used by engineers to predict the behavior of CLT in fire resistance tests and verify its fire resistance. Following existing models, the simplified design model aims for a two-step process whereby in a (i) first step the residual cross section and in (ii) a second step the load bearing capacity of the partly heated residual cross section is determined. The presented simulations consider the effective thermal-mechanical characteristics of wood exposed to standard fire and perform an advanced section analysis using a temperature profile corresponding to the actual protection and the location of the centroid together with the possibility of plasticity on the side of compression. It was shown that simulation results agree well with test results and that they can be used to determine layup specific modification factors used by the reduced properties method or zero-strength layers used by the effective cross section method. It was shown that the use of the zero-strength layers is favorable compared to the modification factors to calculate the resistance of the residual cross section. This is due to the large range of modification factors answering the typical layup of CLT comprising layers with their fiber direction cross the span direction. Subsequently, the methodology was used to determine design equations for initially unprotected and protected three-, five-and seven-layer CLT in bending and buckling. While the zero-strength layer for glulam beams in bending is assumed to be 7 mm (0.3 in), for CLT the corresponding value is in most of the cases between 5 mm and 12 mm but is different for other loading modes such as buckling (wall elements) and depending on the applied protection.

Purpose Insulation materials’ contribution to the fire resistance of timber frame assemblies may vary considerably. At present, Eurocode 5 provides a model for fire design of the load-bearing function of timber frame assemblies with cavities completely filled with stone wool. Very little is known about the fire protection provided by other insulation materials. An improved design model which has the potential to consider the contribution of any insulation material has been introduced by the authors. This paper aims to analyze the parameters that describe in a universal way the protection against the charring given by different insulations not included in Eurocode 5. Design/methodology/approach A series of model-scale furnace tests of floor specimens for three different insulation materials were carried out. An analysis on the charring depth of the residual cross-sections was conducted by means of a resistograph device. Findings The study explains the criteria and procedure followed to derive the coefficients for the improved design model for three insulations involved in the study. Originality/value This research study involves a large experimental work which forms the basis of the proposed design model. This study presents an important step for fire resistance calculations of timber frame assemblies.

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Summary The load‐bearing capacity of timber members in fire conditions can be evaluated by an analytical design model known as effective cross‐sectional method (ECSM). For this method, an effective cross section of a member in fire is calculated by decreasing the original cross section by a notional charring depth and a so‐called zero‐strength layer. Then, the load‐bearing capacity can be evaluated by applying the mechanical properties as at ambient temperature to this effective cross section. The ECSM for timber frame assemblies (TFA) exposed to standard fire conditions according to European Norm 1363‐1 has been presented earlier in the European technical guideline Fire Safety in Timber Buildings (FSITB) with a limited field of application. This design model considers the fire protection provided by claddings and a limited range of cavity insulations. To cover the fire protection of a wider range of cavity insulation products, a new design approach has been developed. In this study, the zero‐strength layers for TFA with different cavity insulations are determined by means of a series of thermal and mechanical simulations. This paper proposes the protection coefficient for TFA with generic stone wool products as cavity insulation and zero‐strength layers for TFA with different cavity insulations.