Experimental Investigation of Interlocking Birch Plywood Structures

Synergies between digital fabrication and cutting edge timber-based materials have vastly enhanced the design space for spatial structures composed of engineered wood products. These new possibilities become visible, for example, in a recent demonstrator based on the principles of Interlocking Particle Structures (IPS), which was designed and built for an exhibition at Aalto University. In general, IPS are composed of plywood, laminated veneer lumber or cross laminated timber panels that mutually support each other and that are interconnected by slotted joints. A wide range of geometrically stable configurations can be generated with this approach. This paper presents and discusses the results of experimental tests that were carried out in order to determine the structural capacity of the joints in such assemblies. More importantly, it focuses on an assessment of the material properties of Finnish birch plywood and its suitability for such structures.