Evaluation of Cross Laminated Timber Resistance to Termite Attack

摘要

Cross laminated timber (CLT) is a relatively recent addition to the North American timber construction market. CLT has been successfully used for construction in Europe and, in the past few years, manufacturers have looked forward to expanding the useof this product into the North American market. However, no termite susceptibility experiments have been published for the product and no standards exist for testing of the CLT and other mass timber products against termites. It is extremely important to evaluate the resistance to degradation of CLT, especially if the manufacturers are trying to implement this product in areas where the occurrence of termite infestation is high. The objective of this paper is to describe an ongoing project on evaluation of CLT resistance against subterranean termites in the southeastern United States. To date, results indicate that the material is susceptible to subterranean termite attack. In terms of testing and standard development, results suggested that it may bedifficult to evaluate damage using conventional methods such as mass loss and visual rating, and more advanced imaging systems may give a more thorough evaluation of the material.