Flexural creep behavior of structural insulated timber panels

A Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) is a panel composed of insulation core laminated between two oriented-strand boards (OSB). SIPs deliver building efficiencies by replacing several components of traditional residental and commercial construction, including: (i) studs; (ii) insulation; (iii) vapour barrier; and (iv) air barrier. A SIP-based structure offers superior insulation, exceptional strength, and fast installation. Besides those benefits, the total construction costs are less with SIPs compared to wood-framed homes, expecially when considering speed of construction, less expensive HVAC equipment required, reduced site waste, reduction construction financing costs, more favourable energy-efficient mortages available, and lower cost of owning a home built with SIPS. This thesis presents the experimental testing on selected SIP sizes to investigate their short- and long-term creep behavior under sustained loading. The experiment study performed in a manner to comply with applicable test methods and, Canadian Codes. Short-term creep test results showed the structural adequacy of the tested panels, while the long-term creep test results established the increase in panel total deflection with time. The ultimate load test results showed that the structural qualification of SIPs is "as good as" the structural capacity of the conventional wood-frame buildings.