EWPAA Structural Plywood and LVL Design Manual - Engineered ...

• whether or not to force the plywood to act compositely with the LVL;• construction techniques.Listing the above design considerations are not meant to deter the designer, but rather to make him/heraware of some of the vagaries, particularly those associated with buckling.Many large diameter domes have been built over a long time span, and without the aid of computers. ASchwedler dome, built in Vienna in 1874 had a clear span of 64m.However, with the computer power available in the 21st century, in conjunction with sophisticated finiteelement programs, capable of three dimensional second order analysis, provide the structural mechanistwith the necessary analytical tools to handle the most complex of shell structures. Additionally, the adventof Formex Algebra which facilitates the generation of shell topology, further enhances the use of computerswhere necessary.12.23 PhotographsTo demonstrate the versatility of plywood and LVL in the production of complex structural forms a collectionsof photographs of actual structures is presented in Appendix A12.1.12.24 Design AidsAppendix A12.2 contains some design aids to assist designers at the preliminary design stage.181