Bending tests were conducted with cross laminated timber (CLT) panels made using an alternating layer arrangement. Boards of Norway spruce were used to manufacture five-layer panels on an industrial CLT production line. In total, 20 samples were tested, consisting of two CLT configurations with 10 samples of each type: transverse layers at 45 and the conventional 90 arrangement. Sample dimensions were 95 mm 590 mm 2000 mm. The CLT panels were tested by four point bending in the main load-carrying direction in a flatwise panel layup. The results indicated that bending strength increased by 35% for elements assembled with 45 layers in comparison with 90 layers. Improved mechanical load bearing panel properties could lead to a larger span length with less material.
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Buck et al. (2016) studied this question.