REINFORCED GLULAM: AN INNOVATIVE BUILDING TECNOLOGY

Abstract

Wood represents one of the few renewable natural resource: coniferous timber is reproduced in nature with a quite short cycle allowing wide cultivation. Glulam is an evolved technology: an industrial product that overcomes the defects of wood trough technological production. In the last decade, glulam has become a valid alternative to the more usual and traditional technologies of reinforced concrete and steel in the planning and in the realization of engineering works. Since this technology has been widely available, one of the problems that needs to be overcome is the limited rigidity of the elements. Up to now, glulam stiffening techniques have only been developed successfully in very simple static schemes that don’t generally allow the full potential of the material to be exploited. The paper want show the result of a study that has been conducted on the different technologies of glulam reinforcement for the purpose of obtaining an innovative product. The aim is to verify which of these innovative experiments can constitute a point of departure for a competitive technology to be produced industrially.