The production of glued laminated timber is a multi-stage, expensive, labor-intensive and high-tech process.
The term for the production of glued laminated timber at all stages of production directly depends on the equipment of production with equipment, mechanization and lifting mechanisms, says Vera Vavilova, a member of the board of ADD, the general director of DDM-stroy. “The more modern the equipment and the more correctly it is selected by technologists, the faster and better the production process. Similarly, the more complex the project, the more sidetracking, drilling, variety of sections in one project, the longer it takes, ”she notes.
Conventionally, experts divide the process of production of glued laminated timber into several stages:
The production process begins with sawing the debarked wood into boards.
Then the boards, selected according to size and quality, are dried in special chambers to a certain humidity, depending on the type of timber and the glue used. Thus, conditions for further processing are provided and wood shrinkage during further operation is excluded.
After that, the dried lamellas are planed and sorted by strength. At the same stage, areas with defects are marked and trimmed – large knots, cracks, and so on. The material is examined by specialists – graders. Then comes automatic checking and sorting, which eliminates the human factor.
Next, a toothed profile is milled at the ends of lamella segments of different lengths, and under pressure, the lamellae are glued together to the required length. Spikes can be cut both across and parallel to the plane of the board. The adhesive is applied using a special machine.
After applying the glue, the lamellae are assembled into packages (a blank of a bar of the required section) and pressed. As soon as the glue hardens, the glued beam is planed and milled (profiled). Details of the future structure are cut out of the material obtained.
Leading glulam companies use computer numerical control (CNC) equipment. The project of a house kit or individual structures is developed in a specialized program, then loaded into the CNC equipment that produces each part, Semyon Goglev said. On such equipment, it is possible to produce parts that are structurally complex and with a high accuracy tolerance with minimal influence of the human factor.
