Improving the performance of wood panels under high concentrated loads

The current revision of DTU 51.3 (the current version dates from 2004) relating to wood-based floor structures, has highlighted the need to take into account the justification under concentrated load depending on the category of use of the floor in accordance with the Eurocode rules.

As this justification cannot be achieved using a reliable and calibrated “full calculation” approach, a previous study (MODPAN) enabled the calibration and validation of mechanical behaviour models for wood-based panels commonly used in flooring. However, the MODPAN results did not reveal any solutions using OSB3 panels or P5 particleboard for offices and public buildings.

The CODIFAB project Amélioration des performances des panneaux bois sous fortes charges concentrées (Improving the performance of wood panels under high concentrated loads), which has now come to an end, was designed to fill this gap. It proposes solutions for the above-mentioned load-bearing panels for offices and certain ERP buildings, taking into account, under certain conditions, the contribution of a floating dry screed or a floating floor made of wood-based panels. The results of this project will be included in the next version of DTU 51.3.