Abstract
This work establishes the main guidelines to produce high-performance Eucalyptus globulus Labill finger jointed solid timber and glued laminated timber laths and analyse their potential for application in multilayer strained gridshells. To this end, a proposal for strength grading of eucalyptus solid timber is firstly provided, combining visual and mechanical criteria. The bending strength of industrially produced eucalyptus finger jointed solid timber and glued laminated timber laths using different wood grades and two adhesives (1C-PUR and MUF) is investigated. The results suggest that strength classes D55 for finger jointed solid timber and GL56 for glued laminated timber could be reached by appropriately graded solid timber and adhesive. Moreover, the superior performance of eucalyptus products over those made of other species in terms of the minimum design radius of curvature, considering rheological aspects, and the stiffness of multilayer curved systems with semi-rigid connections as shown by FEM analysis, is discussed. Finally, eucalyptus products are successfully used in two full-scale strained gridshells, highlighting the promising future for this species here.
