Timber constructions

Duration

15h Th, 15h Pr

Number of credits

Lecturer

Substitute(s)

José Alexandre Gouveia Henriques

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 is dedicated to the utilisation of wood as a material for structures in buildings. Because of its lightweight, its good environmental perception and, under some conditions, the good fire resistance that it allows to achieve, wood is more and more utilised for the construction of houses and multistorey buildings, for the roof of commercial and industrial buildings. The course is divided in 9 chapters:

• Introduction: i) Generalities about use of wood in Timber in construction (in Belgium and in other parts of the world; ii) Timber construction advantages and challenges; iii) Design context of timber structures.
• Physical and Mechanical Properties of wood: i) The wood from trees; ii) Physical properties (e.g. hygroscopic properties, thermal expansion, specific mass); iii) Mechanical properties (e.g. compressive strength, tensile strength, bending strength, shear strength, coe?icients of elasticity, stress-strain diagram); iv) Defects and variabilities, how to mitigate their impact.
• Structural applications: i) Timber construction products; ii) Examples of applications.  
• Design for Service Limit State (SLS): i) Verification of deflections in timber beams; ii) Verification of vibration performance in timber floors.
• Design for Ultimate Limit State (ULS), Cross-sections: i) General principles; ii) Formulae for verification.
• Design for Ultimate Limit State (ULS), Members: i) General principles; ii) Formulae for verification.
• Design of connections: i) Introduction (overview on different type of connections for timber construction); ii) General principles for dowel type connections using metal fasteners; iii) Formulae for verification of dowel type connections.
• Durability: i) Natural durability and methods to mitigate wood vulnerability (e.g. protection against rotting: choice of the species, constructive protection, chemical protection. Attacks by insects); ii) Fire (general aspects over wood behaviour in fire scenario and protection against fire).
• Innovations with timber: General overview on innovative applications of timber and the combination of timber with other materials.

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of this course, the student will be able to take into account the particularities and the properties of wood to make the conceptual design of a timber structure. He will be able to design the elements of a timber structure. He will be able to take constructional protection measures in order to garantee a good durability to the timber construction that he will create. He will be able to select the most suitable connection type and to design it.


The complete list of KLO's/AA for this course is defined in the matrix that can be found at: https://www.programmes.uliege.be/cocoon/20242025/formations/descr/A2SAUR01.html

https://www.programmes.uliege.be/cocoon/20242025/formations/descr/A2SCIV01.html

 

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Good understanding of structural mechanics and stability of constructions.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The "theoretical" considerations are presented during the course by the teacher.
As an application, the students will then project and design (either individually or in a group of 2 students) a small structure under supervision of the teacher and assistant.

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

Face-to-face course

Course materials and recommended or required readings

Platform(s) used for course materials:
- MyULiège


Further information:

The powerpoints of the course and the syllabus of the previous academic year will be made available in electronic format on "MyUiege".

Exam(s) in session

Any session

- In-person

oral exam

Written work / report


Further information:

60% of the points are awarded for a project that the students have to do, partly during the time of the course, partly outside the hours of the course. 40% of the points are awarded for the oral examination. For this examination, a list of questions is distributed to the students when the course is finished. On the day of the examination, each student draws at random two questions among the list. He will then discuss the subject with the teacher after having prepared his answer on a blackboard. The lecture notes cannot be used during the examination.

Work placement(s)

Organisational remarks and main changes to the course

In 2024-2025, the course will be given during the first quadrimester. To find out the course timetable, consult the online timetable : https://www.horaires.uliege.be/calendar/cal?vt=agendaWeek&dt=2024-10-21&et=module&fid0=GCIV0165-A-a

The course will be given in English.

Contacts

• Enseignant
  tel. +32-479.531.773
  jose.gouveiahenriques@uhasselt.be
• Secrétariat
  tel. +32-4-366.96.29 ou +32-4-366.93.45

Association of one or more MOOCs

Items online