Timber constructions

Duration

15h Th, 15h Pr

Number of credits

Lecturer

Margaux Geuzaine

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

Teaching in the first semester, review in January

Schedule

Schedule online

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

This course introduces the behaviour, conceptual design and verification of timber structures. Within the 3-ECTS format, emphasis is placed on simple members, elementary loading cases and statically determinate structures.

The course is structured into eight chapters:

• Timber as a structural material: context of timber construction, fields of application, advantages and limitations, material structure, anisotropy, moisture effects, mechanical properties, defects and variability.
• Products, structural systems and design basis: solid timber, glued laminated timber, LVL, CLT and wood-based panels; structural systems, load paths, service classes, load duration, load combinations and timber design properties.
• ULS resistance of cross-sections: tension, compression, bending, shear, compression perpendicular to grain and simple interaction conditions.
• ULS resistance and stability of members: compressed and flexural members, buckling, lateral instability, restraint and support conditions.
• SLS verifications: instantaneous and final deformation, creep and simplified assessment of floor vibrations.
• Connections: load-transfer principles, principal connection types, dowel-type metal fasteners, detailing requirements and failure modes.
• Durability, execution and fire: moisture control, biological risks, constructive protection, essential execution requirements, charring and the basic principles of structural fire design.
• Contemporary systems and normative transition: CLT and mass-timber structures, hybrid systems, holes and reinforcement, and the principal developments of the second-generation Eurocode 5.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of the course, each student should individually be able to:

• Explain how anisotropy, moisture, defects and variability affect timber structural behaviour.
• Select an appropriate timber product and simple structural system for a stated application.
• Establish design values and perform simple ULS member checks according to Eurocode 5.
• Check instantaneous as well as final deflection and interpret floor-vibration performance.
• Check simple member stability and determine when a lateral restraint system is required.
• Select, detail and calculate a simple dowel-type connection, according to Johansen's theory.
• Propose constructional protection measures and perform a basic fire reduced-section check.
• Check units, utilization and plausibility and formulate a concise engineering conclusion.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Students are expected to have a working knowledge of statics, strength of materials, structural analysis and elementary structural stability. In particular, they should be able to:

• draw a free-body diagram;
• calculate support reactions;
• determine M, N, V in simple statically determinate structures;
• calculate area, inertia, strain, stresses in regular cross-sections;
• determine deformations in simply supported / cantilever beams;
• apply the general principles of ULS and SLS design (Eurocode);
• conduct calculations consistently using physical units.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

Les principaux concepts et procédures de dimensionnement sont développés progressivement au tableau. De courtes activités d'apprentissage actif - questions de rappel, prédictions, calculs individuels, comparaison entre pairs et analyse d'erreurs - sont intégrées aux explications. Les travaux pratiques évoluent progressivement d'exemples guidés vers une résolution autonome. Les supports visuels sont principalement utilisés pour illustrer les produits, systèmes structuraux et détails constructifs.

Mode of delivery (face to face, distance learning, hybrid learning)

Face-to-face course


Further information:

Mostly face-to-face, with possibility of short interventions of guests online. 

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- Microsoft Teams


Further information:

The powerpoints of the course will be made available in electronic format on Teams.

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

oral exam

Continuous assessment

Out-of-session test(s)


Further information:

Assessment is entirely individual. It comprises three written quizzes organised during the teaching period, bonus points, and an individual oral examination during the examination session. No project, report, group work or project defence contributes to the final grade.

In both examination sessions, the oral examination accounts for 70% of the base grade. The mean of the two best quiz marks accounts for the remaining 30%. Any bonus points are then added to the resulting grade, which cannot exceed 20/20.

F = min(0.7E+0.3Q+B; 20)

Oral Test

The examination will take place face-to-face. It will comprise approximately 30 minutes of individual preparation, followed by an oral examination of approximately 20 minutes, conducted mainly at the blackboard.

Upon arrival, the student will receive two questions to prepare at the blackboard. These questions will form the basis of a discussion between the student and the examiner and may include several follow-up questions. This process will assess the student's conceptual understanding and engineering judgement in relation to timber construction. An overall mark (E), expressed out of 20, will be awarded for the examination as a whole.

During the preparation period, students may use only the data, formula sheets, tables and extracts from relevant standards provided with the examination questions. No personal documents, course notes, solved exercises or connected devices are permitted. No list of examination questions will be communicated in advance. With the exception of more advanced follow-up questions used to assess performance above 18/20, the examination will cover only material that has effectively been discussed in class.

Short Quizzes

Three individual 20-minute quizzes will be organised during the teaching period. Their dates and times will be communicated at least two weeks in advance. They will assess the students' ability to solve, rapidly and rigorously, a problem similar to those addressed during the practical sessions.

The pedagogical purposes of these quizzes are to encourage regular work, provide distributed practice and enable difficulties to be identified at an early stage before the examination. Only the two best quiz marks will therefore be retained. Their mean, expressed out of 20, will constitute the mark (Q).

Bonus Points

At the end of each practical session, except during weeks in which a quiz is already organised, students will solve a problem without assistance in approximately 20 minutes and submit their work to the examiner.

Two of these end-of-session assignments will subsequently be selected at random, with the same selection applying to all students. Each selected submission may be awarded:

• 0 points: no workable approach;
• 0.5 points: an approach moving in the right direction, but an incomplete solution;
• 1 point: a valid approach throughout, leading to a correct final conclusion.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

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Contacts

• Enseignante
  tel.+ 3243669935
  mgeuzaine@uliege.be

Association of one or more MOOCs

Items online