Adhesive Method for Rapidly Bonded Wood Panel Joints of Prefab House Construction Joints

摘要

This paper covers a recently completed research project in Germany aimed at using a new rapid adhesive bonding technology in wood panel construction for modular prefabricated houses, which is an increasingly popular way of building single-family houses in Central Europe. In general, the prefabricated panels are built up by planking a frame of wooden square ribs with particleboards. Nailing or stapling has been the main joining technique so far. A new approach was established by applying an adhesive tape based on an adhesively coated metallic carrier inserted into the joint. By connecting it to an electric power supply and heating it within a short time to the melting point, the adhesive can wet the wood and cure in the compressed joint. Different thin metallic carriers made of sheets of steel, aluminum, and brass or expanded metal were used and combined with adhesives, such as polyurethane hotmelts (PUR), PUR adhesive dispersions, and co-polyamides. Because of the requirements for structural joining in the building industry, different European Standards, such as EN 15425 [EN 15425:2008, "Adhesives-One Component Polyurethane for Load Bearing Timber Structures-Classification and Performance Requirements," CEN-CENELEC, Brussels, Belgium, 2008], and preparation according to EN 302-1 [EN 302-1:2013, "Adhesives for Load-Bearing Timber Structures-Test Methods-Part 1: Determination of Longitudinal Tensile Shear Strength," CEN-CENELEC, Brussels, Belgium, 2013], were discussed and implemented to find out whether a combination of squared timber, new tapes, and attached panel materials are sufficient or not. In this paper, this new method and the material testing are introduced, from early screening for suitable adhesives to semi-sized panel specimens in the context of the European Standards.