Case-Study: Fully Prefabricated Wood Wall Connection to Improve Building Envelope and On-Site Efficiency

Abstract

As fully prefabricated wood walls (FPWW) are envisioned to increase building envelope performance, the junction between panels becomes crucial. Since FPWW restricts access to the inter-panel joints, it is preferable to generate an upstream mechanism to complete the joint automatically on-site. This study aimed to design a self-sealing joint for FPWW that would achieve high energy standards and accelerate on-site construction. Airtightness tests and thermal bridge assessments were conducted in the laboratory to compare the developed self-sealing joints with different sealing materials. These same tests were conducted on-site, in addition to observations of the assembly speed of conventional prefabricated walls and FPWW. Of all the materials tested, butyl tape showed the tightest connections. This material helps the joint developed to automatically seal adjacent walls spaced up to 7 mm apart. FPWW maximize the industrialization of conventional prefabricated walls by realizing the sealing details and the installation of doors, windows and exterior siding offsite. This way, FPWW could reduce the duration of a conventional single-family residential project. FPWW maximize quality control while reducing transportation costs associated with conventional modular solutions.

A Qualitative Study of Safety Issues in Industrialised Buildings in China

“…A number of scholars generally consider prefabricated components to be the greatest troublemaker for on-site safety. The Analytic Hierarchy Process was used to calculate the safety risk factor and the results showed that the requirements for materials in Industrialised buildings differ from those of traditional cast-in-place methods [16]. The produced prefabricated components are usually large in volume, and if improperly stacked at the construction site, they may become unstable, leading to potential collapse or slippage.…”

Experiment on Flexural Fatigue Performance of Precast Bridge Deck Joints with Loop Connections

“…With the promotion of Industry 4.0 and Made in China 2025, the industrial construction of bridges has been developed rapidly [1][2][3]. Prefabricated assembly technology has been widely used in bridge engineering [4,5].…”