Cross-laminated timber (CLT) has been widely discussed as a relevant industrialized construction solution. Numerous publications have considered CLT as a structural wood-based panel, but other documents have mentioned it as a building or even a construction system. Many authors address its application in multistory buildings, although single-family houses and lower building applications have become desirable topics as well. Given these gaps, this review study addresses a systematic method to evince the functions of cross-laminated timber in construction. The elucidation and discussion were led by technical and scientific contents through publications present in scientific websites and the Google web search engine. Intricate perceptions about the knowledge and reference of CLT functions were identified. From prospections, it was possible to state that CLT is a timber-forest product created in Europe, whose function acts as a structural composite panel of the engineered wood product category. However, CLT has been mentioned by many publications as a building or a construction system. Suggestions were raised to clarify to all readers with respect to misconceptions, and elucidate the construction systems capable of using it as the main resource. Discussions evinced the characteristics and potentials of this wood product. Even with its increasing application in tall buildings, the commercial application of CLT in low-rise buildings may be boosted by the possibility of large-scale production of industrialized houses.

This paper presents a survey of the state of the art of microwave (MW) treatment of wood, informed by both past and recent research papers. It begins by introducing the main concepts regarding MW technology and its advantages, presenting a holistic perspective of this technology, and identifying 57 research papers published over the last 25 years. Next, an extensive literature review of the most significant experimental research papers is provided, divided into two MW heating treatment uses: wood drying and permeability improvement. For each study, the wood species, MW parameters, main objectives, and overall conclusions are provided. In this context, an explanation is given on how parameters such as MW power, frequency, intensity, and exposure time, as well as initial moisture content, influence the degree of wood modification. Next, a global overview of the most used wood species, genera, and dimensions is revealed. The paper concludes by indicating the potential fields of future research studies concerning the uses and applications of MW treatment technology.

Incorporating steel bars as reinforcement in glued laminated timber beams is a technique that aims at better structural performance, allowing the reduction of cross-sections. In the present research, based on experimental results from literature about the reinforcement of timbers beams, a parametric study was carried out with the aid of 164 numerical simulations performed within the scope of linear and nonlinear physical analysis via the finite element method to evaluate, with the aid of analysis of variance (ANOVA), the span, base, height, and the reinforcement ratio influence in the service force, ultimate force, and ultimate displacement. Multiple regression models evaluated by ANOVA were established to estimate the service and ultimate forces and ultimate and service displacements as a function of other variables. The results showed an average increase in the service load of 32% and 49%, and the ultimate load of 42.90% and 66.90%, for reinforcement rates of 2% and 4%, respectively. Regarding the multiple regression models, due to the good values obtained from the adjusted determination coefficients to estimate the values of the forces and the ultimate displacements, these can be used in the pre-design of glued laminated timber beams reinforced with steel bars.

Microwave (MW) drying of wood has gained popularity in the field of wood modification. The rise in temperature during MW drying leads to increased steam pressure, enhancing wood permeability but potentially decreasing mechanical properties. Understanding temperature and moisture behaviors during MW drying is crucial for its industrial application in wood drying. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the temperature and moisture behaviors during MW drying of small Portuguese maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Aiton.) wood samples to support a wider use of this technology. The effects on water uptake and the compressive strength parallel to the grain were also investigated. The results indicated three distinct phases in the MW drying rates, with an average of 0.085% of water removed per second. Moreover, the temperature underwent three distinct stages: an initial rapid increase, a period of constant temperature, and a slight decrease until drying was complete. At the beginning of MW drying, the temperatures were below 100 °C, with average temperatures ranging from 126 to 145 °C. Specimens with lower initial moisture content had higher temperatures, and a positive correlation was found between initial moisture content and drying time. In contrast, negative correlations were found between the initial moisture content and average temperature, as well as average temperature and MW drying time. Additionally, the operating condition parameters used in MW drying of pine samples enhanced water impregnability by 65%, generating a slight reduction of 11% in compressive strength. It was also noticed that the initial moisture content did not impact MW-dried samples’ water uptake or compressive strength. Finally, although small clear wood samples of maritime pine were utilized, the temperature and moisture patterns observed closely matched real-scale specimens. Thus, the findings corroborate a wide utilization of MW technology for wood drying, mainly demonstrating positive possibilities for structural-sized wood specimens.

In project practice, the search for optimal solutions is based on the traditional process of trial and error, which consumes much time and does not guarantee that solutions found are the optimal solutions for the problem. Many studies have been developed in recent years with the aim of solving problems in various fields of structural engineering with the aid of intelligent algorithms; however, when it comes to the optimization of structural designs, the approaches considered by the authors involve a large number of variables and constraints, making the implementation of optimization techniques difficult and consuming significant processing time. This research aims to evaluate the efficiency of intelligent algorithms when associated with structural optimization approaches that are simpler to implement. Therefore, a Genetic Algorithm in Real Coding was built to serve as an auxiliary tool for pre-dimensioning prestressed concrete beams. With this, the problem becomes simpler to implement, as it depends on a smaller number of variables, leading to less processing time consumption. Simulations were performed to calibrate the Genetic Algorithm and find the optimal solution later. The solution found by the algorithm was compared with the real solution of a project that had already gone through a traditional optimization process. Even in these circumstances, the proposed Genetic Algorithm was able to find, in 210 s, a more economical solution. Our studies found that even with more straightforward approaches, intelligent algorithms can help in the search for optimal solutions to structural engineering problems; in addition, using real coding in fact proved to be a great strategy due to the nature of the problem, making the implementation of the algorithm simpler and ensuring answers with little processing time.