Adam Faircloth
A Queensland Government timber engineer has been recognised at the Australian Young Researchers’ Conference for research that will save timber manufacturers time, money and resources. Minister for Agricultural Industry Development and Fisheries Mark Furner said Adam Faircloth, a timber engineer with the Queensland Government Department of Agriculture & Fisheries (DAF) Forestry Research team at the Salisbury Research Facility, won the prize for best presentation for his research into a non-destructive evaluation system for mass timber panels. Source: Timberbiz
“The manufacture of cross-laminated timber (CLT) products for full-scale applications has increased over the past decade and has placed pressure on manufacturers assessing the quality of these products,” Mr Furner said.
“At the moment these panels are assessed using static or destructive methods and while they provide accurate results, they are costly, time-consuming and destructive.
“Mr Faircloth’s work means timber panels don’t have to be destroyed to be assessed and will allow manufacturers to rapidly assess the stiffness and shear properties to determine uses for the product.”
Mr Faircloth said his research was part of a program of work from the department’s Forest Products Innovation team that would help manufacturers of mass timber panels save time, money and resources.
“Non-destructive grading techniques were commonly used in the manufacturing process for solid and engineered timber products,” he said.
“There is a need for a similar process for CLT products. The damping characteristics of CLT are important to quantify for use in construction applications for floors and walls to improve acoustic and vibration characteristics.”
Mr Faircloth will now go on to represent Australia in the 22nd Young Researchers Conference—an international event held in London in March 2020.
He is currently completing his Doctor of Philosophy at Griffith University.
The Young Researchers’ Conference series aims to develop awareness among young engineers of the importance and potential of research in advancing structural engineering.
The ‘Development of a Non-Destructive Evaluation Method for Mass Timber Panels’ project is funded through the ARC Future Timber Hub.
