Design Nordic Structures CLT to CSA O86

Nordic Structures (Chibougamau, Quebec) produces Nordic X-Lam cross-laminated timber. In Canada it is recognized under APA Product Report PR-L306(C), rated to ANSI/APA PRG-320. SPEC Toolbox designs the panels to CSA O86, in limit states design.

The integration covers Nordic X-Lam, cross-laminated SPF panels face-bonded with a non-formaldehyde exterior structural adhesive.

• The E1 grade, with 1950f-1.7E SPF in the major direction and No. 3 SPF in the minor direction, in 3 to 9 layers.
• Fifteen layups from 78-3s to 315-9l, thickness 76 to 381 mm, in panels up to 2.7 m wide and 19.5 m long.
• Applications in floor, roof and wall panels.

At a glance, in the Canadian scope the Nordic X-Lam panels support:

• Load-bearing floors, roofs and walls.
• Limit states design (LSD).
• Dry service (equilibrium moisture content 15 percent or less, not exceeding 19 percent).

• A full layup range, with specified strengths in both directions. Fifteen layups from 78-3s to 315-9l (thickness 76 to 381 mm), each with effective bending capacity, bending and shear stiffness and edgewise shear in the major and minor directions; the E1 major direction carries a specified bending strength of 28.2 MPa and a modulus of elasticity of 11 700 MPa.
• Large panels. Panels reach 2.7 m wide and 19.5 m long, for wide floor and roof plates with fewer joints.
• Non-formaldehyde adhesive. The panels are face-bonded with a non-formaldehyde exterior structural adhesive.
• Fire design to CSA O86 Annex B. Fire exposure is designed per Annex B of CSA O86, and the panels carry a CAN/ULC S102 flame-spread rating of 0 to 25 at thicknesses of 89 mm and above.

The Nordic X-Lam panels are available across the SPEC Toolbox CLT modules, worked to CSA O86:

• CLT floor and CLT wall.

and in the connection modules:

• the screw connection module and the panel-to-panel connection details (spline, butt joint and half-lap);
• CLT floor-to-glulam beam, CLT floor-to-floor and CLT wall-to-wall connections.

Panel behaviour is taken from the integrated database with the LSD specified strengths of PR-L306(C), using a relative density of 0.42 for fastener design.

Design follows CSA O86 (CSA O86:19, Engineering Design in Wood, limit states design) under the National Building Code of Canada. APA Product Report PR-L306(C) publishes LSD specified strengths and unfactored resistances for Nordic X-Lam, rated to ANSI/APA PRG-320: effective bending capacity, bending and shear stiffness, and edgewise shear, in the major and minor directions. Factored resistances are obtained with the CSA O86 modification factors, and the lumber size factor is not applied. The laminations are E1 SPF with a relative density of 0.42, the basis for connection design. The evaluation is for dry service (equilibrium moisture content 15 percent or less, not exceeding 19 percent); fire design follows Annex B of CSA O86.