"Hygrothermal Performance of CLT Subjected to Rain Loads during Construction in Belgium"

Abstract

As the use of CLT is increasing, it is important to understand how to deal with moisture during construction. Throughout the construction phase it is often not feasible to shield every component and detail from direct rain impingement. This paper investigates what happens to CLT, and spruce wood in general, when it is exposed to rain events, and how fast it dries out afterwards. Subsequently, the implications of incorporating a wetted component into a finished wall system is also investigated. The moisture behaviour of both plain spruce and CLT samples that are exposed outdoors is investigated using the continuous moisture measurement (CMM) setup at the UGent Woodlab in combination with hygrothermal simulations in Delphin 6. Pieces of solid wood and CLT are mounted on load cells that record the weight every 5 minutes, to study the wetting and drying behavior. Hygrothermal simulations are done in Delphin 6 using a climate file that is made from the recorded weather data. This way, the CMM experiments can be recreated in simulations. The goal here is to understand what is happening in the simulations and to look at what influence different parameters have on the moisture content of the samples. Risks of mould and wood decay are investigated, and recommendations are made concerning practical moisture management and risk mititagion for these types of constructions.