Mass Plywood Panels (MPP)

Mass plywood panels (MPP), a brand-new mass-timber product created by Freres Lumber in Lyons, Ore., are used throughout the AWP and as the roof for the PFSC. The panels are constructed with density-graded Douglas-fir veneers, which are glued and pressed together, creating large-format wood platforms, beams and columns that can be manufactured in thickness of 1” increments to depths up to 24”. Arijit Sinha, associate professor of renewable materials at Oregon State, led the testing of the panels to help Freres bring MPP to market.

“During phase one testing, we helped Freres identify the layup pattern they wanted to use,” Sinha says. “And during phase two we tested an optimized layup at different thicknesses that they eventually took to market in 2018.”

Phase two included bending tests to characterize the strength and stiffness of the product. Later, connections, performance acoustics characteristics, and shear wall application of the product will be tested. Extensive testing on both of these products will continue inside the new AWP lab.