Identifying significant factors affecting plate stiffness of innovative CLT using Random Forest analysis

Innovative cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a relatively new engineered timber product. It is a new version of CLT having large gaps between lateral lamellas. Since it is a new material, the mechanical performance of this innovative material is not studied yet despite these advantages. This paper explores the factors that influence membrane, bending, shear, and torsional stiffness in innovative CLT and their implications, acknowledging the significance of knowing the plate stiffness of these innovative materials in predicting their behaviour and promoting their use in construction as bio-based materials. Using a large database of plate stiffness moduli derived from finite element computations and incorporating microstructural characteristics such as layer thicknesses, board width, gap width, longitudinal modulus of elasticity, longitudinal shear modulus, and rolling shear modulus of timber, Random Forest analysis was employed to study the significance of factors affecting plate stiffness in innovative CLT. Our results show that the gap affects the membrane, shear, and torsional stiffness for innovative CLT. However, the trans-versal layer thickness primarily controls the bending stiffness.