Towards Zero-waste Timber Construction: Turning CLT Offcuts into Discrete Timber Plate Assemblies

The fabrication process of CLT walls generates a significant amount of offcuts. Despite their intact quality, these offcuts are typically unused in the construction of standard CLT buildings due to their small size. Consequently, utilizing these offcuts in timber construction offers a remarkable opportunity to reduce waste in the CLT production line.

This research introduces an algorithm designed to transform CLT offcuts into discrete timber plate assemblies. The modeling workflow comprises four steps: surface discretization, joint generation, nesting, and fabrication. The algorithm converts geometry into a plate-shaped segmented structure using a custom planarization method and generates wooden form-fitting joints. To minimize material waste, the nesting process arranges the segments on the offcuts. Finally, the algorithm produces BTLx files for direct CNC fabrication.

The research demonstrates the algorithm's applications for multi-shaped discrete assemblies and discusses its limitations when applied to complex surface structures.