Current State and Future Tasks for Timber and Wood-Based Materials for Engineered Wood Products

Several current states and future tasks for timber and wood-based materials for engineered wood products were described. Because of performance-based design codes for buildings, performance criteria for timber and wood-based materials have been established more clearly, and requirements have become more stringent. Therefore, there is a need to reconsider characteristic strength values based on ambiguous rationale. Especially, since characteristic strength values of embedment, shear and splitting have often caused problems in building design, it is necessary to promote practical and theoretical research. In addition, research on the duration of load effect and the referenced strength of wood-based structural panels requires the accumulation of steady experimental data. Progress in research on these tasks is expected.