System and building module with oriented wood fibers, and production method

Abstract

A composite structural building module comprising an upper board joined to a structural base made of a composite material containing oriented wood fibers and binder and a modular building system comprising a plurality of said composite structural building modules and connecting means, wherein the composite structural building modules are structurally connected through the connecting means. A load-bearing structural system comprising a base consisting of at least one undulated shell comprising oriented wood fibers and binder, joined on its upper face to the underside of an upper board, an upper board located on the upper zone of the system, which receives the load, and is a board of a type selected from the group consisting of plywood, solid wood, OSB, CLT, chipboard, fiber-cement board, concrete board, WPC board, a composite board, a polymer board, a biopolymer board, a composite polymer board, and a board of the same material type as the material of the base, and joining means that join the upper board to the base, wherein at least one of the sides of the perimeter of the system is resting on and / or fixed to another structural element, and when the upper board receives a load, it transfers the forces derived from said load to the at least one undulated shell, whose design and the orientation of its fibers are deliberately determined by parameters generated using digital or analog optimization tools, in order to receive said forces and distribute them throughout the whole system mainly by means of the membrane effect, such that all the parts of the system collaborate along with the action of the joining means, maximizing the system's load-bearing capacity.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention pertains to the fields of construction, architecture and engineering, particularly to a composite structural building module and a corresponding method for manufacturing said composite structural building module. Also, the present invention refers to a load-bearing structural system and to a modular building system.BACKGROUND

[0002] In the field of construction and manufacturing of load-bearing structural elements capable of withstanding mechanical stresses, such as walls, slabs, or floors, reducing component weight and the amount of material used have become priorities, both for economic and sustainability reasons.

[0003] Various industries, especially construction and transportation, are adopting new technologies and lightweight composite materials in order to achieve necessary structural characteristics and meet their environmental goals, such as reducing CO2 emissions, raw material use, and energy consumption. In this context, composite materials and wood have become increasingly popular due to their high mechanical strength, suitability for digital fabrication, and low environmental impact.

[0004] The construction industry currently faces two fundamental challenges: 1) significantly reducing its environmental impact and 2) improving its productivity. Globally, construction is responsible for 40% of CO2 emissions and 40% of raw material consumption. This is due to the massive use of non-renewable materials with high CO2 emissions, such as concrete and steel, as well as their inefficient use. On the other hand, productivity in construction has remained stagnant for decades due to low levels of prefabrication and lack of integration in its production chain.

[0005] In this context, wood has re-emerged as a building material of great relevance for the future, due to its renewable nature, its suitability for prefabrication and its ability to capture CO2. However, climate change threatens some of the forest species most commonly used in construction, signaling a future with scarce and expensive wood. Moreover, the predominant structural timber technologies are inefficient in their use of forest resources: CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) uses only 20-40% of the tree and LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) uses less than 70%, and requires large, well-formed trees. All this poses a scenario of rising timber prices and the prospect of shortages that threaten the transition to sustainable construction (Pramreiter et al. 2023).

[0006] Various structural timber construction elements - or structural elements with timber parts - for use in building construction as walls, floors, or ceilings, among others, are known in the art. In the construction industry layered solid wood panels which consist of several layers arranged flat on top of each other in crosswise orientations are known as cross-laminated timber panels (CLT), and are mainly used in wall, roof, or ceiling structures.

[0007] Other lighter solutions for timber floors, ceilings or walls use "ribs" or beams to separate top and bottom planks. Some of these lightweight timber slabs are made up of a longitudinal grid, where each beam must be individually placed, glued and / or screwed together to form what is known as a "cassette" slab (such as Metsä's Kerto-Ripa, or Bestwood Schneider's CLT Box). This process is slow, laborious, and costly, requires a specialized facility to produce such products, and results in elements that only have structural stiffness in one direction.

[0008] Patent application WO2011028124A1 presents a sandwich type floor or roof element referred to as a floor spacer or "hollow wood layer", which is a prefabricated slab or slab-like element for mounting over large spans. The element consists of two plates and spacing units between them, and is constructed with a curve of approximately 1 mm along its longitudinal direction. The bottom plate has an adjustable curve to suit the desired span and load. The spacing units are placed in rows along the length of the part, with spacing between rows varying from 0.1 to 1.5 meters. These units, made of wood or metal, have flat, parallel surfaces facing the plates.

[0009] Similarly, patent DE202007001771 U1 discloses a timber bearing structure, designed to be used as walls, ceilings, large spans, and similar applications. It is composed of top and bottom multilayer boards made of solid wood, with vertical boards located at the ends and additional boards in the middle, so that hollow boxes are formed. These hollow boxes are insulated and joined by means of adhesive or vacuum pressing, and require several pressing steps and complex machinery capable of pressing in both directions.

[0010] As for patent DE202018101347U1, it presents a CLT-type cross-laminated timber element composed of multiple layers, including longitudinal layers and transverse layers made of wood boards. It also includes a cover plate made of compressed wood fibers with a density greater than 600 kg / m 3< , bonded to the other layers by means of an adhesive.

[0011] In terms of the composite materials available for production of strong and lightweight objects, carbon fiber or glass fiber reinforced plastics are widely used in some industries. Although such materials may be strong and lightweight, their structural performance is insufficient for the construction industry, they are not sustainable due to the high CO2 emissions generated during their production, their non-renewable origin, and their low recyclability. In addition, their high costs limit their use in the scale and volume required in the construction industry.

[0012] On the other hand, sustainable composite materials based on plant fibers such as jute, flaxseed, and hemp are available. Although they are suitable for lightweight structures, they use high percentages of resins (over 40%), tend to have unstable mechanical properties, and are poorly resistant to fire, presenting limitations similar to those of synthetic fibers such as carbon and fiberglass in terms of productivity and cost. In addition, vegetable fibers such as flaxseed are annual crops that are extremely sensitive to droughts, and therefore their availability in the quantities required for construction in a context of climate change is questionable.

[0013] Known state of the art lightweight structural products made of wood and currently available on the market - particularly for applications such as floors or slabs - such as CLT box (Bestwood Schneider) or Kerto Ripa (Metsa), use "cassette" configurations, namely plate and beam assemblies, in prismatic shapes and with orthogonal grain orientation that form a sort of box with parallel internal longitudinal ribs along the direction of the element's span. While this configuration can successfully solve structural elements, it has a series of drawbacks. The first is that they have low stiffness in the direction opposite to the element's span. This limits the maximum dimensions of the element and its support conditions. Larger elements in construction allow for reduced field assembly schedules and costs.SUMMARY

[0014] It is an object of the present invention to provide a composite structural building module, a corresponding manufacturing method, a load-bearing structural system, and to a modular building system, which may solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems in the art. The object is achieved by the features of the respective independent claims. Further embodiments are defined in the respective dependent claims.

[0015] According a first aspect of the invention, a composite structural building module is provided, said module comprising an upper board joined to a structural base made of a composite material containing oriented wood fibers and binder.

[0016] In a second aspect of the invention, a method for manufacturing the composite structural building module of the first aspect is provided. The method comprises the steps of: (a) defining the requirements to be met by the composite structural building module to be manufactured; (b) generating the design of the structural base of the composite structural building module and the orientation parameters for its oriented wood fibers, according to the requirements defined in step (a), said design and parameters being optimized for maximum stiffness and shear strength; (c) obtaining a mold according to the design and the parameters generated in step (b); (d) providing instructions to at least one machine for the deposition of fibers and binder according to the design and the parameters generated in step (b); (e) depositing at least one layer of fibers with binder in the mold; (f) pressing the fibers with the binder in the mold; (g) removing the resulting structural base from the mold; and (h) joining the structural base on its upper face to a board.

[0017] According a third aspect of the invention, a load-bearing structural system is provided, wherein said system comprises: a base consisting of at least one undulated shell comprising oriented wood fibers and binder, joined on its upper face to the underside of an upper board; an upper board located on the upper zone of the system, which receives the load, and is a board of a type selected from the group consisting of plywood, solid wood, OSB, CLT, chipboard, fiber-cement board, concrete board, WPC board, a composite board, a polymer board, a biopolymer board, a composite polymer board, and a board of the same material type as the material of the base; and joining means that join the upper board to the base; wherein at least one of the sides of the perimeter of the system is resting on and / or fixed to another structural element, and when the upper board receives a load, it transfers the forces derived from said load to the at least one undulated shell, whose design and the orientation of its fibers are deliberately determined by parameters generated using digital or analog optimization tools, in order to receive said forces and distribute them throughout the whole system mainly by means of the membrane effect, such that all the parts of the system collaborate along with the action of the joining means, maximizing the system's load-bearing capacity.

[0018] According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a modular building system is provided, wherein said system comprises: a plurality of the composite structural building modules according to the first aspect; and connecting means; wherein the composite structural building modules are structurally connected through the connecting means.

[0019] It is an object of the present invention to provide lightweight and sustainable wood-based construction elements of dimensions and load-bearing capacity on the scale required in construction and transportation industries.

[0020] The module according to the present disclosure is designed with optimization tools, which is load-bearing, of generally flat shape, comprises collaborating parts, and can serve as a wall, slab, ceiling, floor, bridge, beam, pillar, column, door, and / or an inclined plane, among others. This building module may comprise three main layers (upper board - core - bottom board) or two main layers (upper board - base). The core or base is a layer made of a pressure-formed composite material, containing binder and discrete wood fibers (e.g. wood strands or flakes) deliberately oriented according to a design generated using optimization tools, and preferably in the shape of an undulated shell, which joined to the other board or boards of the other layer or layers forms a system of parts that collaborate to bear load using low amounts of material, resulting in a composite structural building module of low weight and high performance. This type of building module is useful in the construction and assembly of large structures, for example, buildings, houses, bridges, airplanes, and ships, providing an alternative that is stronger, more durable, easier to install and more environmentally sustainable than existing solutions.

[0021] The module according to the present disclosure consists of a new type of prefabricated lightweight structural building module, which has bidirectional stiffness and strength, for use as a slab, beam, or roof in small or large spans, or as a wall, column or other building elements, useful in construction and assembly of large structures, such as buildings, houses, bridges, airplanes, and ships, offering greater strength, durability, and environmental sustainability than existing solutions. In addition, the modular character of the prefabricated lightweight structural building module here presented simplifies its installation, allowing for faster and more efficient construction processes.

[0022] The building module here presented may comprise two main layers (upper board and base) or three main layers (upper board, core, and bottom board). The core or base is a layer made of a pressure-formed composite material containing binder and discrete wood fibers (for example, wood strands or flakes) deliberately oriented according to a design generated with optimization tools, and preferably shaped like an undulated shell. Said core or base may comprise more than one undulated shell or sub-layers, and when joined to the module's other board layer(s) results in a system of collaborating parts, wherein at least one side of the module's perimeter is supported by and / or fixed to another structural element, and when the upper board receives a load, it transfers the forces derived from said load to the core or base, whose design is optimized to receive such forces and distribute them throughout the system using mainly the membrane effect, such that every part collaborates, along with the action of the connecting means, maximizing the system's load-bearing capacity while using the least possible amount of material, and achieving lightweight structural building modules capable of covering large distances between supports, generally greater than 6 meters.

[0023] As mentioned, the module can comprise a core or base layer made of a pressure-formed composite material containing wood fibers (e.g., wood strands or flakes) and binder that is bonded to an upper board, and in some embodiments also to a bottom board, which may be CLT, LVL or other types of boards. By using molded wood fibers, strands, flakes or the like, the module is a very resource efficient structural solution, as the use of wood fibers, strands, flakes or the like makes use of up to 95% of the tree (Shmulsky and Jones 2010).

[0024] In terms of materials sciences, a composite material is one formed by two or more components, such that the properties of the final material have higher performances and / or benefits than those of the individual components. Similarly, composite structures are structures comprising a combination of two or more elements, of the same or different materials, joined together so as to collaborate and exploit the properties of each component for the structural benefit of the system as a whole. Composite structures and composite materials can be designed to achieve combinations with extraordinary performance, both in stiffness, load-bearing ability, resistance under extreme temperature conditions, corrosion resistance, hardness, flexibility, electrical conductivity, and other properties.

[0025] Using shape design, optimization, and fiber architecture technologies, along with production technologies that combine developments in materials sciences and additive manufacturing, the present building module brings the logic of advanced composite materials used in the aerospace, transportation and mobility industries to the world of wood and construction, and is strong enough to be a sustainable alternative to materials such as steel, aluminum or fiber-reinforced plastics in the transportation and mobility industries, and to materials such as steel and concrete in buildings, contributing to solve three of the main problems in construction: sustainability, industrial productivity, and structural performance.

[0026] Another object is to provide an efficient and less costly solution to replace materials that are less efficient in the use of forestry resources and / or having elevated CO2 emissions, thus contributing to decrease the high carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated by various industries, with a special emphasis on the construction industry.

[0027] By significantly reducing the amount of material and weight of slabs, floors, roofs and / or walls, consumption of trees is significantly reduced and the entire building structure is lightened, resulting in a positive impact on the reduction of CO2 emissions and cost structure of the entire building, with further reductions in assembly costs, along with the costs and CO2 emissions related to transporting the construction elements for said building.

[0028] The present module and systems have several advantages over the state of the art regarding lightweight structures for sustainable construction. The first has to do with its material efficiency and the impact of this on the product's sustainability. Most structural products for sustainable construction are currently made of engineered wood. Glulam, CLT, LVL are the most commonly used materials. Glulam and CLT use sawn lumber as the main material input. The efficiency of lumber for these structures is very low: between 20 and 40% of the tree is made use of for structural purposes. Similarly, LVL requires large, well-formed trees and uses up to 70% of them. The material used in the base or core of the module, which is responsible for its material strength characteristics, is a composite material made mostly of wood flakes or fibers. This format of wood input is very efficient for the construction of structures, since as mentioned, it achieves a use of up to 95% of forestry resources. This is in addition to the fact that it allows the use of small and poorly formed trees, generally discarded for structural uses.

[0029] This multidimensional material efficiency results in a reduction in the number of trees required for the construction of building structures. It has been estimated that such a structure can reduce the number of trees required to one quarter when compared to a CLT structure with equivalent mechanical capability. This is environmentally beneficial, as it allows for an increase in the number of buildings constructed from wood without increasing the pressure on forests and plantations. In addition, the proposed product can be made with different tree species and different fiber formats or combinations of them, which makes it possible to adapt the product to the resource availability of the production environment.

[0030] Moreover, the use of this material input format is not only more efficient in the use of forest resources, but also enables efficiencies in the products made with it. Flakes and fibers have the capacity of allowing the forming of three-dimensional "free-form" elements, and the control of the fibers' orientation and location.

[0031] It is well known in engineering that the greatest structural efficiency, as in nature, is achieved with complex, non-prismatic shapes, since stresses travel in non-linear paths and complex shapes allow for the use of material only where it is needed. Similarly, wood is an anisotropic material, meaning that it is stronger in one direction than in its perpendicular direction. As a general rule, this ratio is 10 to 1. Therefore, a material architecture whose fibers are capable of being oriented in the direction of stress is the one that provides the best ratio of material usage to mechanical performance. Since the present module can be formed in both directions according to case-by-case requirements, it can offer bidirectional stiffness. Furthermore, since its shape and fiber orientation are optimized, it can achieve an optimum stiffness ratio for both main directions.

[0032] Moreover, the present module allows for the production of a lightweight, high performance building module with few elements, and involving simple assembly. Unlike lightweight cassette elements, which comprise multiple elements to achieve a strong configuration, our invention can be realized - in its most simplified version - with two elements: a board and a corrugated base. This also provides benefits in terms of assembly times.

[0033] Another interesting aspect of some preferred embodiments is that, since they are partially hollow structures, they allow for the inclusion of thermal and acoustic insulation, and fire resistance elements, as well as the insertion of ducts and pipes through them without the need to modify the structure. This is relevant in terms of costs and CO2 emissions, since it allows for the floor packages to be made thinner, thus saving additional materials in terms of insulation layers, ducts, and piping, and maximizing the usable space and / or the number of floors of the entire building.

[0034] The design of the structural base, or core, is based on the principle of an undulated shell that allows shear forces to be transferred between the boards by means of the membrane effect, which means transferring stresses across the surface of the material, using shape as the main performance driver. This leads to efficient load transfer using the minimum amount of material, while producing a rigid base or core in two directions.

[0035] The outer board or boards provide protection and contribute to the structural integrity of the composite module, while the base or core mainly provides stiffness and spacing between outer the boards, which improves the structure's strength-to-weight ratio, and aims to minimize buckling and bending of the shell (base or core).

[0036] Production process only requires positioning its constituent layers (base or core, and at least one board) in a surface and joining them, resulting in a composite structural module with structural strength in both plane orientations, and providing a significant advantage in industrial terms, as it enables for the production of larger and lighter building modules, and a significant reduction in assembly costs and lead times.

[0037] The core or base is produced by depositing binder and wood fibers in specific orientations in a mold, according to a design and parameters generated using optimization tools, and then pressing the material in the mold until the part is consolidated.

[0038] The upper and bottom boards can be any of various types of commercially available wood boards, such as CLT, LVL, OSB, plywood, boards of other materials, or boards of a composite material equal to that of the core or base material.

[0039] Further features and advantages will become apparent from the detailed description provided after the brief description of the drawings.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0040] A brief description of the drawings will be provided and then a detailed description of the drawings will be presented in order to explain some of the preferred embodiments of the invention. It is important to emphasize that these drawings only serve the purpose of supporting the description for the understanding of the invention and are not to be understood as exact representations of the parts, sections, or components of the invention in their definitive forms nor to actual or proportional scale. The invention should also not be considered limited only to what is shown in the drawings, since these represent, in an illustrative manner, the important aspects of the main embodiments of the invention here presented, and may not include elements that are of general knowledge in the state of the art. Figure 1A: Exploded view in diagonal perspective of an embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers, along with a magnified close-up view of oriented wood fibers from the base's composite material. Figure 1B: Diagonal perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figure 1A, with segmented lines showing the base beneath the upper board. Figure 2: Image of the 3D model of the design of an undulated shell used as the base or core of the building module of the present invention, after a digital optimization process. Figure 3A: Exploded view in diagonal perspective of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers, along with a magnified close-up view of oriented wood fibers from the base's composite material. Figure 3B: Diagonal perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figure 3A. Figure 3C: Lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figures 3A and 3B. Figure 3D: Front elevation view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figures 3A, 3B and 3C. Figure 4: Diagonal perspective view from below of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers, along with a magnified close-up view of a plurality of sub-layers of oriented fibers and binder comprised in the base, and a magnified close-up of their oriented fibers. Figure 5A: Diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers. Figure 5B: Diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers. Figure 6: Set of examples of some of the diverse types of regular waves that may be part of the shape of the undulation or undulations of the undulated shell that forms the base or core of the building module of the present invention. Figure 7: Set of examples of some of the diverse types of irregular waves that may be part of the shape of the undulation or undulations of the undulated shell that forms the base or core of the building module of the present invention. Figure 8A: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers. Figure 8B: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising the same elements of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 8A, and further comprising a third layer. Figure 9A: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers. Figure 9B: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising the same elements of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 9A, and further comprising a third layer. Figure 10: Front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers. Figure 11: Front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers, with its connecting means for connecting to a concrete pillar, also illustrated in the present Figure. Figure 12: Front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers. Figure 13: Front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers. Figure 14: Exploded front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers. Figure 15: Exploded front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers. Figure 16A: Exploded view in diagonal perspective of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers and two lateral boards, along with three magnified close-up views of the oriented wood fibers of the core's composite material, and of the upper and bottom boards. Figure 16B: Diagonal perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figure 16A. Figure 17A: Isometric exploded view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers and two lateral boards. Figure 17B: Isometric view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figure 17A. Figure 18A: Isometric exploded view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers and four lateral boards. Figure 18B: Isometric view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figure 18A. Figure 19A: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers and two lateral boards. Figure 19B: Lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the building module of the invention illustrated in Figure 19A. Figure 20: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers. Figure 21 A: Exploded view in frontal perspective of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers. Figure 21B: Front perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figure 21A, showing that the upper board is moving in the direction of the arrow. Figure 21C: Front perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figures 21A and 21B. Figure 22A: Diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising two layers. Figure 22B: Diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising the same elements as the embodiment illustrated in Figure 22A, further comprising a bottom board. Figure 23: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising three layers. Figure 24: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising three layers and two lateral boards. Figure 25: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising two layers. Figure 26: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising three layers. Figure 27: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising three layers. Figure 28: Diagonal perspective view from below of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising three layers. Figure 29: Isometric view of an embodiment of the building system of the present invention, where we can see three equal building modules comprising three layers, according to the present invention. Figure 30A: Trimetric exploded view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising two layers. Figure 30B: Lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the building module illustrated in Figure 30A. Figure 30C: Trimetric view of another embodiment of the building system of the present invention, where there are two building modules equal to those illustrated in Figures 30A and 30B, connected to a building module of the same type as those illustrated in Figure 29, along with a magnified close-up view of their connection. Figure 31A: Isometric view of two equal and connected building modules according to an embodiment of the present invention that comprises three layers and tongue-and-groove-type connecting means for connecting to other equal or similar building modules, along with a magnified close-up view of said connecting means. Figure 31B: Front elevation view of two building modules of the same embodiment of the building module according to the present invention illustrated in Figure 31A, separated by a white arrow indicating movement of one building module towards the other. Figure 32A: Front elevation view of an embodiment of the load-bearing structural system of the present invention consisting of two layers; upper board and base. Figure 32B: Lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the load-bearing structural system of the present invention illustrated in Figure 32A. Figure 32C: Front elevation view of an embodiment of the load-bearing structural system of the present invention consisting of three layers; upper board, core, and bottom board. Figure 32D: Lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the load-bearing structural system of the present invention illustrated in Figure 32C. Figure 33: Grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of a type of undulated shell shown in the embodiments of the present invention illustrated in Figures 1A, 1B, 16A and 16B. Figure 34: Grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of another type of undulated shell according to the present invention. Figure 35: Grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of another type of undulated shell according to the present invention. Figure 36: Grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of another type of undulated shell according to the present invention. Figure 37: Process flow diagram of a method for manufacturing a two-layer building module according to the present invention. Figure 38: Process flow diagram of a method for manufacturing a three-layer building module according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0041] For a better understanding of the present invention, we provide the following definitions, which should only be understood as an aid to explain specific elements in this technical field pertaining to our invention.

[0042] Shell: As used in connection with the present invention, the term "shell" refers to a thin, curved three-dimensional structure with a low thickness in comparison to its other dimensions, and in which the deformations are not large in comparison to the thickness. A main difference between a shell structure and a plate structure is that, in an unstressed state, the shell structure has curvature, in contrast to the plate structure which is flat. The membrane action in a shell is caused primarily by in-plane forces (in-plane stress), but there may be secondary forces resulting from flexural deformations. While a flat plate acts similarly to a beam with bending and shear stresses, shells are analogous to a cable resisting loads through tensile stresses. The shell must be capable of both tension and compression.

[0043] In the context of our invention, we may mention the orientation of an undulation or of undulations, which refers to the lengthwise orientation of one or more undulations along the surface of a given body, mainly generally flat bodies, as shells or boards.

[0044] In the context of our invention, we may use the term ·design" in different contexts. In general, "design" should be understood as any of the following definitions offered by the Oxford Learner's Dictionary; "the general arrangement of the different parts of something that is made, such as a building, book, machine, etc." "the art or process of deciding how something will look, work, etc. by drawing plans, making computer models, etc." "a drawing or plan from which something may be made" "a plan or an intention"

[0045] Particularly, when we use "design" in the context of the base or core of the present invention, the following specific variables and parameters of design are considered, amongst others: shape size contour thickness density undulations and general surface features position of its constituent parts, especially fibers and binder size and shape of its constituent parts type, amount and location of binder or binders.

[0046] Wave: In the context of the present invention the term "wave" refers to the path representing the observable shape in a section cut of an undulated object, according to the definition of "undulation" given in the previous paragraph.

[0047] Irregular wave: Refers to a wave of a shape that has no regular periodicity, whose crests and / or valleys are not all the same, and do not necessarily have the same distances and heights.

[0048] Compound wave: Refers to a wave that combines waves of different shapes, and may or may not have periodicity in such combinations.

[0049] Valley: In the context of the present invention, the term "valley" refers to a low point or surface between higher points or surfaces, the lowest part(s) of a wave or of an undulation.

[0050] Crest: In the context of the present invention, the term "crest" refers to a high point or surface between lower points or surfaces, the highest part(s) of a wave or of an undulation.

[0051] Mesh rendering: The term "mesh" or "mesh rendering" refers to a type of visualization used in digital environments to represent 3D objects, which uses a collection of points connected by lines, creating a visual and geometric approximation of the modeled object.

[0052] Free-form, free-form element: In the context of the present invention, the term "free-form" refers to designs, structures or three-dimensional elements that are not constrained by regular or conventional geometric shapes, sometimes taking more fluid, organic, curvilinear, or irregular forms.

[0053] Bidirectional stiffness: In the context of the present invention, the term "bidirectional stiffness" refers to the ability of a structural element - such as a slab - to resist loads with low deformation in two orthogonal directions.

[0054] Membrane effect, membrane action: Refers to a phenomenon that occurs in thin structures, such as plates or shells, when they are subjected to loads that produce deformations predominantly in their plane, generating a distribution of loads along the surface of the structure instead of throughout its volume. This results in bending and stresses at the surface rather than deformations throughout the structure.

[0055] Orientation: A line along which a point moves, which can be traversed in two opposite directions.

[0056] In the context of our invention, the orientation of wood fibers, flakes, strands and the like, refers to their relative position with regards to the general orientation and position of the object they are part of as a whole, as well as to the orientation of the wood fibers that constitute all wooden elements, with regards to the general orientation and position of the object they are part of as a whole, and with regards to each other flake, strand, etc...

[0057] Direction: The point or location towards which something is moving, pointing, or facing.

[0058] Peripheral surface: the frame or outermost area of a surface, as distinguished from the central surface contained within it.

[0059] Contiguous: In the context of the present invention the term "contiguous" refers to a position of one object with respect to another in which they are touching sideways, or close to touching sideways, both objects being on the same or similar level and not one on top of the other.

[0060] Mirrored: In the context of the present invention the term "mirrored" is used as a synonym for the term "specular", as related to mirrors and symmetry, where two things bear the same relationship to each other as an object bears to its image in a mirror. OSB: Oriented Strand Board. CLT: Cross Laminated Timber. WPC: Wood Plastic Composite

[0061] Regarding the preferred embodiments of our invention, it is imperative to point out that, since our invention presents a new configuration for elements, modules and building systems, as well as a new way of generating their designs, shapes and material characteristics according to the requirements and needs of each case, the preferred embodiments of our invention are multiple and will depend on the requirements of the part to be manufactured for each use case.

[0062] It is equally important to stress that in the context of the present invention patent application, all the different embodiments exemplified in the Figures, along with all the possible embodiments that can be deduced from the numerous possibilities for combining variables of structure, composition, characteristics and design of the various constituent elements of the building modules, building systems, load-bearing structural systems, and manufacturing methods claimed in the present application, are part of the invention presented, and those set forth herein are only illustrative and didactic examples.

[0063] Similarly, it is important to stress that all the design characteristics of the undulated shells, the orientation of their oriented wood fibers, and their collaborative relationship with the other constituent elements of the building modules, building systems and load-bearing structural systems claimed in the present application, being the product of optimization with optimization tools - whether digital or analog - have technical effects that result in a decrease in the amount of material used and CO2 emitted in producing said building modules and load-bearing structural systems, and at the same time in maximizing their load-bearing capacity.

[0064] The ways in which the plurality of layers of oriented fibers or flakes are structured is also variable and will also depend on the requirements of each use case and the type of design. This implies that determining the orientation and position of the fibers or flakes of an element can define an orientation in a general and not too specific way for the set of fibers, or it can define a deliberate and specific orientation and position for each of the fibers or flakes, so as to maximize the mechanical performance of the part to be manufactured, the amount of material used or other variables specifically required.

[0065] It is important to note that in all Figures containing one or more undulated shell(s), every one and all of the various embodiments of undulated shells illustrated - be they as the base of a two-layer construction element, or as the core of a three-layer construction element - comprise some type or types of oriented wood fibers and binder or binders, even though some figures do not explicitly illustrate or indicate such fibers on the surfaces of their respective undulated shells, or their respective numerals in the list of elements and numerals do not explicitly mention it.

[0066] Similarly, in all figures containing one or more undulated shells joined to an upper board and / or a bottom board, if the type of joint is not specified, then it is an adhesive joint.REFERENCE NUMBERS:

[0067] 2Any two-layer embodiment of the building module or of the load-bearing structural system 3Any three-layer embodiment of the building module or of the load-bearing structural system 43D model in "mesh" rendering of an undulated shell design in a three-dimensional Cartesian spatial coordinates system 100Upper board 101CLT upper board 1025-ply plywood upper board 103Composite upper board comprising strand-type oriented wood fibers, and binder 104Fiber-cement upper board 110Convex-shaped upper board 111Arched upper board 112Undulated upper board 200Undulated shell made of wood fibers and binder 201Undulated shell made of veneer-type oriented wood fibers of the same shape and size, and binder 202Undulated shell made of oriented wood fibers in which some fibers are of the same shapes and sizes, and others are of different shapes and sizes, and binder 203Undulated shell made of chip-type oriented wood fibers, and binder 204Undulated shell made of strand-type oriented wood fibers, and binder 205Undulated shell made of oriented wood fibers that are bamboo slivers, and binder 209Undulated shell of uneven thickness 210Base comprising two different undulated shells stacked one on top of the other 211Core comprising two identical undulated shells stacked in a mirrored manner 212Core comprising four contiguous identical undulated shells arranged in a pattern of four undulated shells by one undulated shell 213Core comprising six identical undulated shells arranged in two mirrored stacked layers, wherein there are three contiguously arranged shells in each layer 214Core comprising twenty-four contiguous undulated shells of two different types arranged in an aligned pattern of six undulated shells by four undulated shells 215Core comprising twenty-six contiguous undulated shells of the same type and of two different sizes, arranged in a misaligned pattern of four undulated shells in one direction and six and seven undulated shells in the other direction 221Undulation or undulations of medium frequency curved wave 222Undulation or undulations of low frequency curved wave 223Undulation or undulations of trapezoidal wave 224Undulation or undulations of square wave 225Undulation or undulations of triangular wave 226Undulation or undulations of sawtooth wave 227Undulation or undulations of irregular wave A 228Undulation or undulations of irregular wave B 229Undulation or undulations of irregular wave C 230Undulation or undulations of irregular wave D 231Undulation or undulations of irregular wave E 240Undulated shell of overall convex shape 241Undulated shell of overall arcuate shape 241Undulated shell of overall undulated shape 300Bottom board 3013-ply plywood bottom board 302Bottom board with dotted lines marking the aligned pattern of twenty-four undulated shells 303Bottom board with dotted lines marking the misaligned pattern of the twenty-six undulated shells 304Composite bottom board comprising strand-type oriented wood fibers, and binder 305Solid wood bottom board 310Convex bottom board 311Arched bottom board 312Undulated bottom board 320Lateral board perpendicular to the upper board 321Lateral board oblique to the upper board 400Adhesive area 401Rivets 402Bolts 403Nuts 404Tongue-type joining means of a tongue-and-groove joining system, for joining elements of the building module 405Groove-type joining means of a tongue-and-groove joining system, for joining elements of the building module 410Cylindrical-type tongue-and-groove connecting means, for connecting to other building elements 411Tongue-type connecting means of a tongue-and-groove connecting system, for connecting to other building elements 412Groove-type connecting means of a tongue-and-groove connecting system, for connecting to other building elements 413Tongue-type connecting means of a tongue-and-groove connecting system, for connecting among building modules 414Groove-type connecting means of a tongue-and-groove connecting system, for connecting among building modules 420Concrete pillar 421CLT wall 422Concrete wall 500Magnified close-up 501Oriented wood fibers of chopped veneer type, of the same shape and size 502Oriented wood fibers of which some fibers are of the same shapes and sizes, and some are of different shapes and sizes 503Chip-type oriented wood fibers 504Plurality of layers of oriented wood fibers and binder 505Strand-type oriented wood fibers 510X axis of the Cartesian coordinate system 520Y-axis of the Cartesian coordinate system 530Z-axis of the Cartesian coordinate system 540Row of six positions for undulated shells 541Row of seven positions for undulated shells 551Medium frequency curved wave 552Low frequency curved wave 553Trapezoidal waves 554Square wave 555Triangular wave 556Sawtooth wave 557Irregular wave A 558Irregular wave B 559Irregular wave C 560Irregular wave D 561Irregular wave E 600Zigzag line indicating image break 601White arrow pointing to direction of motion 603Load resting on the load-bearing structural system

[0068] Figure 1A shows an exploded view in diagonal perspective of an embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 201 of oriented wood fibers of chopped veneer-type, and binder, formed by undulations 221 of curved wave in one direction, combined with undulations 227 of irregular wave in another direction perpendicular to the first direction, along with a magnified close-up view 500 of the chopped veneer-type oriented wood fibers 501 of the base's composite material, all chopped veneer-type oriented wood fibers being of equal size shape.

[0069] Figure 1B is a diagonal perspective view of the same embodiment of the two-layer building module 2 of the invention illustrated in Figure 1A, with segmented lines showing the base - which is an undulated shell 201 of chopped veneer-type oriented wood fibers and binder, formed by undulations 221 of curved wave in one direction, combined with undulations 227 of irregular wave in another direction perpendicular to the first direction - underneath the upper board 100.

[0070] Figure 2 shows an image of the 3D model 4 of the design of an undulated shell used as a base or core for a building module according to the present invention, after a digital optimization process, in a virtual three-dimensional space within the Cartesian coordinate system, where segmented lines represent the X (510), Y (520), and Z (530) axes. Observed in this 3D model 4 of an undulated shell are undulations 221 of curved wave in one direction, combined with undulations 227 of compound wave in another direction perpendicular to the first direction.

[0071] Figure 3A shows an exploded view in diagonal perspective of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base - where the base is an undulated shell 202 formed by undulations 228 of irregular wave in one direction, combined with one undulation 223 of trapezoidal wave in another direction perpendicular to the first direction, and all the peripheral surface of said undulated shell end flats and at its highest level. Also seen in this figure is a magnified close-up view 500 of the oriented wood fibers 502 of the base's composite material, of which some fibers are of the same shapes and sizes, and others are of different shapes and sizes.

[0072] Figure 3B shows a diagonal perspective view of the same embodiment of the two-layer building module 2 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 3A, with its upper board 100 joined to the undulated shell 202 that constitutes its base.

[0073] Figure 3C presents a lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the two-layer building module 2 of the invention illustrated in Figures 3A and 3B, where its upper board 100 can be seen atop the undulated shell 202 and its trapezoidal wave undulation 223.

[0074] Figure 3D presents a front elevation view of the same embodiment of the two-layer building module 2 of the invention illustrated in Figures 3A, 3B and 3C, where its upper board 100 can be seen atop the undulated shell 202 as well as a front view of the irregular wave undulation 228 that also forms the undulated shell 202 in its other direction.

[0075] Figure 4 illustrates a diagonal perspective view from below of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 203 formed by undulations 221 of curved wave, wherein the peripheral surface on two of its four sides is raised towards the upper board 100 so as to join the latter closing said sides of the building module 2. A magnified close-up view 500 of the plurality of layers 504 of oriented fibers and binder comprised in the base, and a magnified close-up view 500 of its sliver-like oriented fibers 503 can also be seen.

[0076] Figure 5A shows a diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 2 the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 200 formed by a curved wave undulation 221, and is joined to the upper board 100 with dowels 401.

[0077] Figure 5B is a diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core, and bottom board 300 - in which the core is an undulated shell 200 formed by a undulation 221 of curved wave in one direction, and by undulations 227 of irregular wave in another direction perpendicular to the first direction, and is joined to the upper board 100 by bolts 402 and nuts 403.

[0078] Figure 6 provides a set of examples of some of the diverse types of regular waves that may be part of the shape of the undulation(s) of the undulated shell of the base or core of a building module according to the present invention. It is important to keep in mind that these waves are only examples among many other types of waves that may be used in many different embodiments of the present invention, and should not be understood as a limiting collection of examples. A medium-frequency curved wave 551, a low-frequency curved wave 552, a trapezoidal wave 553, a square wave 554, a triangular wave 555, and a sawtooth wave 556 are shown.

[0079] Similarly, Figure 7 provides a set of examples of some of the diverse types of irregular waves that may be part of the shape of the undulation(s) of the undulated shell of the base or core of the present invention. It is important to keep in mind that these waves are only examples within infinite types of possible irregular waves that may be used in various embodiments of the present invention, and should not be understood as a limiting collection of examples. Irregular waves A (557), B (558), C (559), D (560) and E (561) are shown by way of example, as they are featured in some exemplary embodiments of the present invention illustrated in some other Figures.

[0080] Figure 8A is an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 101 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 221 of medium-frequency curved wave in one direction of the base, which intersect perpendicularly with other undulations 222 of low-frequency curved wave, and the upper board 101 is a CLT board.

[0081] Figure 8B is an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising the same elements of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 8A - a CLT upper board 101 and an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 221 of medium-frequency curved wave in one direction, which intersect perpendicularly with other undulations 222 of low-frequency curved wave - and additionally consisting of a third layer which is a bottom board 300 of lesser thickness and of a different material than the CLT upper board 101.

[0082] Figure 9A shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 102 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 221 of curved wave in one direction of the base, which intersect perpendicularly with other undulations 224 of square wave, and the upper board 102 is a five-layer plywood board.

[0083] Figure 9B is an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising the same elements of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 9A - a five-layer plywood upper board 102 and an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 221 of medium-frequency curved wave in one direction, which intersect perpendicularly with other undulations 224 of square wave - and additionally comprises a third layer which is a three-layer plywood bottom board 301.

[0084] Figure 10 shows a front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base 210 - in which the base comprises two different overlapping undulated shells. The undulated shell that is joined to the upper board 100 is formed by undulations 221 of medium frequency curved wave, while the second undulated shell is formed by undulations 229 of irregular wave. Also seen in this Figure are adhesive 400 areas where the upper board 100 and the base 210 meet.

[0085] Figure 11 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core 211, and bottom board 300 - in which the core 211 consists of two equal and mirrorlike stacked undulated shells, each formed by undulations 221 of medium-frequency curved wave. It is also visible in this Figure that the present embodiment of the building module 3 further comprises cylindrical connecting means 410 of the tongue-and-groove type, for connecting with the concrete pillar 420. The white arrows 601 show the direction of movement of the module 3 towards its connecting position with the concrete pillar 420, and the zigzagging lines 600 represent an image break.

[0086] Figure 12 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core 212, and bottom board 300 - wherein the core 212 comprises four equal undulated shells arranged contiguously and forming a pattern of four undulated shells along the length of the building module 3 by one undulated shell across its width.

[0087] Figure 13 shows a front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core 213, and bottom board 300 - wherein the core 213 comprises six equal undulated shells arranged in two mirrored overlapping layers, wherein there are three shells arranged contiguously in each layer.

[0088] Figure 14 shows an exploded front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core 214, and bottom board 302 - wherein the core 214 is a set of twenty-four contiguous undulated shells of two different types, arranged in an aligned pattern of six undulated shells in one direction by four undulated shells in another direction perpendicular to the first direction, the positions of which are outlined with dotted lines on the bottom board 302.

[0089] Figure 15 shows an exploded front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core 215, and bottom board 303 - wherein the core 215 is a set of twenty-six contiguous undulated shells arranged in a misaligned pattern of six and seven undulated shells in one direction by four undulated shells in another direction perpendicular to the first direction, the positions of which are outlined with dotted lines on the bottom board 303, wherein the row 540 of six positions, and the row 541 of seven positions are pointed out.

[0090] Figure 16A is an exploded view in diagonal perspective of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers of the same material - upper board 103, core, and bottom board 304 - in which its core is an undulated shell 204 - and further comprises two lateral boards 320. Also seen in this Figure are three magnified close-up views 500 of the undulated shell's 204 oriented strand-like fibers 505, the upper board 103, and the bottom board 304.

[0091] Figure 16B is a diagonal perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 16A, showing its upper board 103, the undulated shell 204 of its core, the bottom board 304, and the two lateral boards 320 located between the short ends of the upper board 103 and the bottom board 304, and which are joined to them perpendicularly, such that the two shorter lateral faces of the building module 3 are covered.

[0092] Figure 17A shows an isometric exploded view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core, and bottom board 300 - in which the core is an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 225 of triangular wave, and further comprising two lateral boards 320 at its shorter ends.

[0093] Figure 17B is an isometric view of the same embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 17A, wherein the lateral boards 320 are joined to the upper 100 and bottom boards 300 in a position perpendicular to them, thus two of the lateral faces of the building element are covered. It is also observable that in this embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention the bottom board 300 is of greater length than the upper board 100 and the core's undulated shell 200, thus the upper board 100 and the core are located between the lateral boards 320, while the bottom board 300 is located below the lateral boards 320.

[0094] Figure 18A is an exploded isometric view of another embodiment of the building module (3) of the present invention comprising three layers - upper board (104), core, and bottom board (305) - and further comprising four lateral boards (320). In this embodiment of the building module of the present invention the core is an undulated shell (200) formed by undulations (225) of triangular wave, the upper board (104) is a fiber cement board, and the bottom board (305) is a solid wood board.

[0095] Figure 18B is an isometric view of the same embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 18A, wherein the lateral boards 320 are joined to the upper board 104 and to the bottom board 305 in a position perpendicular to them, such that all four lateral faces of the building module 3 are covered. It is also noted that in this embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention the upper board 104 and the bottom board 305 are of the same size, and the lateral boards 320 are located between them.

[0096] Figure 19A shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core, and bottom board 300 - in which the core is an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 230 of irregular wave, and further comprising two lateral boards 321 located between the upper board 100 and bottom board 300. It can be seen in this figure that the bottom board 300 has a greater width than the upper board 100, and that the lateral boards 321 are joined to the upper 100 and bottom 300 boards in a position oblique to them, such that two of the building module's 3 lateral faces are covered.

[0097] Figure 19B is a lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the building module 3 of the invention illustrated in Figure 19A, where its lateral boards 321, its upper board 100, its bottom board 300, and the undulated shell 200 of its core - formed by undulations 230 of irregular wave - can be observed.

[0098] Figure 20 shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core, and bottom board 300 - in which the core is an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 223 of trapezoidal wave, and further comprising a single lateral board 320 located between the upper board 100 and the bottom board 300 in a position perpendicular to them, so that one of the building module's 3 side faces is covered.

[0099] Figure 21A shows an exploded front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 200 which is formed by undulations 223 of trapezoidal wave, and possesses tongue-type joining means 404 for joining with the groove-type joining means 405 present in the upper board 100.

[0100] Figure 21B shows a front perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 21A, showing that the upper board 100 is sliding in the direction of the white arrow 601 by means of its groove-like joining means 405 over the tongue-like joining means 404 on the base's undulated shell 200.

[0101] Figure 21C shows a front perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention illustrated in Figures 21A and 21B, showing its upper board 100, the undulated shell 200 of its base, and its undulations 223 of trapezoidal wave.

[0102] Figure 22A is a diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - an upper board 110 of convex shape and a base which is an undulated shell 240 of an overall convex shape - such that the overall shape of the building module 2 of the present embodiment is convex.

[0103] Figure 22B is a diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising the same elements of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 22A - an upper board 110 of convex shape and a base which is an undulated shell 240 of an overall convex shape - and further comprising a bottom board 310 of convex shape, such that the overall shape of the building module 3 of the present embodiment is convex.

[0104] Figure 23 presents an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 110, core, and bottom board 300 - wherein the upper board 110 is of convex shape, the bottom board 300 is flat, and the core is an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 231 of irregular wave in one direction, combined with other irregular wave undulations 231 in another direction perpendicular to the first direction, having an overall convex upper region and a flat bottom region, such that its shape matches the upper board 110 and bottom board 300 to both of which it is joined.

[0105] Figure 24 is an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - an upper board 111 of arched shape, a core which is an undulated shell 241 of an overall arched shape, and a bottom board 311 of arched shape - along with two side boards 321 at two opposite ends of the module.

[0106] Figure 25 is an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - an upper board 111 of arched shape, and a base which is an undulated shell 209 of heterogeneous thickness and formed by undulations 231 of irregular wave, whose upper region is arched such that its shape matches the upper board to which it is joined.

[0107] Figure 26 shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 111, core, and bottom board 300 - in which the upper board 111 is of arched shape, the bottom board is flat, and the core is an undulated shell 200 whose upper region is generally arched and whose lower face is flat, such that its shape matches the upper 111 and lower 300 boards to which it is joined.

[0108] Figure 27 shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 111, core 211, and bottom board 311 - in which the upper board 111 and the bottom board 311 are equal and of arched shape, and are arranged in a mirrored arrangement, and the core 211 consists of two equal undulated shells stacked in a mirrored arrangement.

[0109] Figure 28 is a diagonal perspective view from below of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 112, core, and bottom board 312 - in which the upper board 112 and the bottom board 312 are equal and of undulated shape, and whose core is an undulated shell 241 of an overall undulated shape, such that the overall shape of the building module 3 of the present embodiment is undulated.

[0110] Figure 29 shows an isometric view of an embodiment of the building system of the present invention, wherein three equal building modules 3 of three layers each can be observed, whose core is an undulated shell with sawtooth wave undulations 226. It can also be observed that tongue-type connecting means 411 are joined to the bottom boards of the building modules 3 for connecting with the groove-type connecting means 412 of other building elements, which in this embodiment of the building system of the present invention is a CLT wall 421, to which the building modules 3 are connected. The white arrows 601 show the downward positioning movement of the building modules 3 in order to engage their tongue-type connecting means 411 with the groove-type connecting means 412 of the CLT wall 421. The zigzagging line 600 represents an image break.

[0111] Figure 30A shows an exploded trimetric view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 200. Also shown are four lateral boards 320 parallel to each other, located two at each of the two shorter ends of the building module 2, such that together they configure a connecting means at each short end of the building module 2, for connecting with other building elements.

[0112] Figure 30B is a lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the building module 2 of the invention illustrated in Figure 30A.

[0113] Figure 30C depicts a trimetric view of another embodiment of the building system of the present invention, where two building modules 2 equal to those illustrated in Figures 30A and 30B can be seen connected to another building module 3 which is the same type of building module of the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in Figure 29, in this case positioned vertically in order to function as a wall. A magnified close-up 500 elevation view to the detail of the connection between the two types of building modules illustrated in this Figure - 2 and 3 - is also shown, where part of the undulated shell 200 of the building module 2 can be seen and how its lateral boards 320 joined perpendicularly to its upper board 100 are connected with the building module 3, so as to configure a building system according to the present invention. The zigzagging line 600 represents an image break.

[0114] Figure 31A presents an isometric view of an embodiment of the building module of the present invention that has connecting means for connecting with other equal building modules, where two equal three-layer building modules 3 are observed, with their respective upper layers 100, their respective lower layers 300 and their respective cores, which are undulated shells 205 of oriented wood fibers of bamboo sliver type, and binder. One can see that the building modules 3 are connected by tongue 413 and groove 414 type connecting means, so that in the presence of a load on one of said building modules, both building modules will flex as a unit, and not independently. Also shown is a magnified close-up 500 elevation view of the connection between the two building modules with their tongue 413 and groove 414 type connecting means, their respective upper layers 100, their respective lower layers 300 and their respective undulated shells 205 of oriented wood fibers of bamboo sliver type, and binder.

[0115] Figure 31B is a front elevation view of two building modules of the same embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 31A, separated by a white arrow 601 indicating the movement of one building module towards the other to connect with it. Also present in this Figure are their respective tongue 413 and groove 414 connecting means, their upper boards 100, lower boards 300, and their cores, which are undulated shells 205 of oriented wood fibers of bamboo sliver type, and binder.

[0116] Figure 32A shows a lateral elevation view of a two-layer embodiment of the load-bearing structural system 2 of the present invention, which consists of an upper board 100 that receives a load and transfers it to a base that is an undulated shell 200, which together with the upper board 100 work as a cooperating system in order to distribute said load throughout the entire system. One can observe that the load-bearing structural system 2 has two of its ends supported on two respective concrete walls 422. A load 603 is observed resting centered on the upper board 100 of the load-bearing structural system 2, and three arrows made of dotted lines within the load 603 point downward, indicating the direction of the forces exerted by the load 603 on the load-bearing structural system 2. Smaller arrows are also present in the Figure pointing out how the initial force exerted by the load 603 is broken down and distributed through the base or undulated shell 200 and through the upper board 100, primarily relying on the membrane effect. The zigzagging line 600 represents an image break.

[0117] Figure 32B is a front elevation view of the same load-bearing structural system 2 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 32A, consisting of two layers; an upper board 100 that is supported on the concrete wall 422 and a base, where the base is an undulated shell 200 which in this case is visualized with dotted lines representing that it is behind the concrete wall 422. The zigzagging line 600 represents an image break.

[0118] Figure 32C shows a lateral elevation view of a three-layer embodiment of the load-bearing structural system 3 of the present invention, consisting of an upper board 100, a core that is an undulated shell 200, and a bottom board 300, which jointly operate as a cooperating system to distribute the load throughout the entire system. We can observe that the load-bearing structural system 3 has two of its ends supported on two concrete walls 422. Also visible is a load 603 resting centered on the upper board 100 and three arrows made of dotted lines within the load 603 pointing downward, indicating the direction of the forces exerted by the load 603 on the load-bearing structural system 3. Smaller arrows are also shown which illustrate how the initial force is broken down and distributed through the load-bearing structural system 3. The load 603 is received by the upper board 100 and is distributed through the undulated shell 200, to the upper board 100, and the bottom board 300. The undulated shell 200 also acts as a separation between the upper board 100 and the lower board 300, presenting a combination of compressive and tensile stresses, receiving back part of the stresses from the lower board 300, and in turn returning part of the stresses to the upper board 100. The 3 layers of the load-bearing structural system 3 work mainly under membrane stresses, and to a lesser extent in flexure. The zigzagging line 600 represents an image break.

[0119] Figure 32D is a front elevation view of the same load-bearing structural system 3 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 32C, consisting of three layers; an upper board 100, a core which is an undulated shell 200, and a bottom board 300, which is supported on the concrete wall 422. The zigzagging line 600 represents an image break.

[0120] Figure 33 is a grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of an exemplary undulated shell according to the embodiments of the present invention illustrated in Figures 1A, 1B, 16A and 16B.

[0121] Figure 34 is a grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of another exemplary undulated shell according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0122] Figure 35 is a grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of another exemplary undulated shell according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which undulations 230 of irregular wave in one direction combined with other undulations 227 of irregular wave in another direction can be observed.

[0123] Figure 36 is a grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of another exemplary undulated shell according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which undulations 221 of medium frequency curved wave in one direction combined with other undulations 227 of irregular wave in another direction can be observed.

[0124] Figure 37 presents a Process flow diagram of a method for the manufacture of a two-layer building module - upper board and base - according to the present invention.

[0125] Figure 38 presents a Process flow diagram of a method for the manufacture of a three-layer building module - upper board, core, and bottom board - according to the present invention.

[0126] Further examples and aspects are found in the following numbered clauses: Clause 1: A composite structural building module comprising an upper board joined to a structural base made of a composite material containing oriented wood fibers and binder. Clause 2: The composite structural building module according to clause 1, wherein shape of the base and the general orientation of the oriented wood fibers are deliberate and determined by parameters generated by using digital or analog optimization tools. Clause 3: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the oriented wood fibers are fibers of a type selected from the group consisting of whole fibers, refined fibers, fiber pieces, fiber bundles, cellulose fibers, bamboo fibers, bamboo slivers, bamboo chips, wood flakes, wood chips, wood shavings, wood strands, wood wool, wood slivers, wood splinters, wood particles, wood veneer pieces, chopped wood, wood rods, sawdust, and combinations thereof. Clause 4: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the base comprises oriented fibers of a type selected from the group consisting of: fibers of equal sizes and equal shapes; fibers of equal sizes and different shapes; fibers of different sizes and equal shapes; and / or fibers of different sizes and different shapes. Clause 5: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the base comprises a plurality of layers of oriented wood fibers and binder. Clause 6: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the base comprises at least one undulated shell and wherein said one undulated shell comprises at least one undulation formed by a wave type selected from the group consisting of sine waves, square waves, trapezoidal waves, triangular waves, sawtooth waves, irregular waves, compound waves, and combinations thereof. Clause 7: The composite structural building module according to clause 6, wherein the at least one undulation is arranged in at least one direction. Clause 8: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the base comprises at least two undulated shells and wherein said least two undulated shells are arranged in a manner selected from the group consisting of shells stacked on top of each other on two or more layers, shells arranged contiguously within the same layer, and shells arranged contiguously within the same layer with other shells stacked on top on two or more layers. Clause 9: The composite structural building module according to clause 8, wherein the at least two undulated shells are further arranged in a manner selected from the group consisting of aligned with each other, misaligned with each other, and / or combinations thereof. Clause 10: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, further comprising at least one lateral board joined to the upper board in a perpendicular or oblique position, such that at least one of the lateral faces of the building module is covered. Clause 11: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein its upper board is a board of a type selected from the group consisting of plywood, solid wood, OSB, CLT, chipboard, fiber-cement board, concrete board, WPC board, a composite board, a polymer board, a biopolymer board, a composite polymer board, and a board of the same material type as the material of the base. Clause 12: The composite structural building module according to any one of clauses 6 to 11, wherein at least one section of the peripheral surface of the at least one undulated shell is a flat, continuous surface, and has a height equal to or greater than the height of the undulated shell's highest crests, such that said at least one section of the peripheral surface is the joining surface between the at least one undulated shell and the upper board. Clause 13: The composite structural building module according to any one of clauses 6 to 12, wherein at least one of the crests and / or valleys of the at least one undulated shell comprised in the base has a flat surface parallel to the surface of the upper board. Clause 14: The composite structural building module according to any one of clauses 6 to 13, wherein the base is joined to the upper board at the crests of all or some of the at least one undulation of its at least one undulated shell. Clause 15: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the shape of its upper board is a shape selected from the group consisting of concave shape, convex shape, arched shape, flat shape, undulated shape, irregular shape, and combinations thereof. Clause 16: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the thickness of the base is uneven. Clause 17: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, further comprising connecting means for connecting to at least one element selected from the group consisting of walls, beams, pillars, columns, slabs, floor slabs, floors, ceilings, roofs, and other composite structural building modules. Clause 18: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the specific shape of the base and the specific shape, position and orientation of each of its oriented wood fibers are deliberate and determined by parameters generated using digital or analog optimization tools. Clause 19: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, further comprising a bottom board joined to the underside of the base, the base constituting a core of a three-layer composite structural building module. Clause 20: The composite structural building module according to any one of clauses 6 to 19, wherein the arrangement and type of the undulations of the undulated shell or shells comprised in the base or core provide gaps between the undulated shell and the upper and / or bottom boards, such that ducts, cables and the like can be routed from one side of the building module to at least one other side of the building module. Clause 21: A method for manufacturing the composite structural building module of clause 1, the method comprising the steps of: defining the requirements to be met by the composite structural building module to be manufactured; generating the design of the structural base of the composite structural building module and the orientation parameters for its oriented wood fibers, according to the requirements defined in step (a), said design and parameters being optimized for maximum stiffness and shear strength; obtaining a mold according to the design and the parameters generated in step (b); providing instructions to at least one machine for the deposition of fibers and binder according to the design and the parameters generated in step (b); depositing at least one layer of fibers with binder in the mold; pressing the fibers with the binder in the mold; removing the resulting structural base from the mold; and joining the structural base on its upper face to a board. Clause 22: The method of clause 21, further comprising the following step: joining the base on its underside to another board. Clause 23: The method of any one of clauses 21 or 22, wherein the mold comprises at least two parts. Clause 24: The method of any one of clauses 21, 22, or 23, wherein step (b) comprises using digital or analog optimization tools. Clause 25: A load-bearing structural system comprising: a base consisting of at least one undulated shell comprising oriented wood fibers and binder, joined on its upper face to the underside of an upper board; an upper board located on the upper zone of the system, which receives the load, and is a board of a type selected from the group consisting of plywood, solid wood, OSB, CLT, chipboard, fiber-cement board, concrete board, WPC board, a composite board, a polymer board, a biopolymer board, a composite polymer board, and a board of the same material type as the material of the base; and joining means that join the upper board to the base; wherein at least one of the sides of the perimeter of the system is resting on and / or fixed to another structural element, and when the upper board receives a load, it transfers the forces derived from said load to the at least one undulated shell, whose design and the orientation of its fibers are deliberately determined by parameters generated using digital or analog optimization tools, in order to receive said forces and distribute them throughout the whole system mainly by means of the membrane effect, such that all the parts of the system collaborate along with the action of the joining means, maximizing the system's load-bearing capacity. Clause 26: The load-bearing structural system of clause 25, wherein the oriented wood fibers are fibers of a type selected from the group consisting of whole fibers, refined fibers, fiber pieces, fiber bundles, cellulose fibers, bamboo fibers, bamboo slivers, bamboo chips, wood flakes, wood chips, wood shavings, wood strands, wood wool, wood slivers, wood splinters, wood particles, wood veneer pieces, chopped wood, wood rods, sawdust, and combinations thereof. Clause 27: The load-bearing structural system of any one of clauses 25 or 26, further comprising at least one lateral board joined to the upper board in a perpendicular or oblique position, such that at least one of the system's lateral faces is covered. Clause 28: The load-bearing structural system of any one of clauses 25, 26, or 27, wherein the specific shape of the at least one undulated shell and the specific shape, position, and orientation of each of the oriented wood fibers are deliberate and determined by parameters previously generated using digital or analog optimization tools. Clause 29: The load-bearing structural system of any one of clauses 25, 26, 27, or 28, further comprising a second board of a type selected from the group consisting of plywood, solid wood, OSB, CLT, chipboard, fiber-cement board, concrete board, WPC board, a composite board, a polymer board, a biopolymer board, a composite polymer board, and a board of the same material type as the material of the base, located in the lower area of the load-bearing structural system and joined to the underside of the at least one corrugated shell of its base, so that the at least one undulated shell keeps the two boards separated from each other and also distributes part of said forces to said second board, which in turn also distributes part of said forces to the system as a whole. Clause 30: A modular building system comprising: a plurality of the composite structural building modules of any one of clauses 1 to 20; and connecting means; wherein the composite structural building modules are structurally connected through the connecting means. Clause 31: The modular building system of clause 30, wherein the composite structural building modules serve as walls, slabs, ceilings, floors, bridges, beams, pillars, columns, doors, and / or inclined planes. Clause 32: The modular building system of any one of clauses 30 or 31, wherein the composite structural building modules connect to other building elements made of other materials and / or to pre-existing constructions.

Examples

Embodiment Construction

[0041]For a better understanding of the present invention, we provide the following definitions, which should only be understood as an aid to explain specific elements in this technical field pertaining to our invention.

[0042]Shell: As used in connection with the present invention, the term "shell" refers to a thin, curved three-dimensional structure with a low thickness in comparison to its other dimensions, and in which the deformations are not large in comparison to the thickness. A main difference between a shell structure and a plate structure is that, in an unstressed state, the shell structure has curvature, in contrast to the plate structure which is flat. The membrane action in a shell is caused primarily by in-plane forces (in-plane stress), but there may be secondary forces resulting from flexural deformations. While a flat plate acts similarly to a beam with bending and shear stresses, shells are analogous to a cable resisting loads through tensile stresses. The shell mu...

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present invention pertains to the fields of construction, architecture and engineering, particularly to a composite structural building module and a corresponding method for manufacturing said composite structural building module. Also, the present invention refers to a load-bearing structural system and to a modular building system.BACKGROUND

[0002] In the field of construction and manufacturing of load-bearing structural elements capable of withstanding mechanical stresses, such as walls, slabs, or floors, reducing component weight and the amount of material used have become priorities, both for economic and sustainability reasons.

[0003] Various industries, especially construction and transportation, are adopting new technologies and lightweight composite materials in order to achieve necessary structural characteristics and meet their environmental goals, such as reducing CO2 emissions, raw material use, and energy consumption. In this context, composite materials and wood have become increasingly popular due to their high mechanical strength, suitability for digital fabrication, and low environmental impact.

[0004] The construction industry currently faces two fundamental challenges: 1) significantly reducing its environmental impact and 2) improving its productivity. Globally, construction is responsible for 40% of CO2 emissions and 40% of raw material consumption. This is due to the massive use of non-renewable materials with high CO2 emissions, such as concrete and steel, as well as their inefficient use. On the other hand, productivity in construction has remained stagnant for decades due to low levels of prefabrication and lack of integration in its production chain.

[0005] In this context, wood has re-emerged as a building material of great relevance for the future, due to its renewable nature, its suitability for prefabrication and its ability to capture CO2. However, climate change threatens some of the forest species most commonly used in construction, signaling a future with scarce and expensive wood. Moreover, the predominant structural timber technologies are inefficient in their use of forest resources: CLT (Cross Laminated Timber) uses only 20-40% of the tree and LVL (Laminated Veneer Lumber) uses less than 70%, and requires large, well-formed trees. All this poses a scenario of rising timber prices and the prospect of shortages that threaten the transition to sustainable construction (Pramreiter et al. 2023).

[0006] Various structural timber construction elements - or structural elements with timber parts - for use in building construction as walls, floors, or ceilings, among others, are known in the art. In the construction industry layered solid wood panels which consist of several layers arranged flat on top of each other in crosswise orientations are known as cross-laminated timber panels (CLT), and are mainly used in wall, roof, or ceiling structures.

[0007] Other lighter solutions for timber floors, ceilings or walls use "ribs" or beams to separate top and bottom planks. Some of these lightweight timber slabs are made up of a longitudinal grid, where each beam must be individually placed, glued and / or screwed together to form what is known as a "cassette" slab (such as Metsä's Kerto-Ripa, or Bestwood Schneider's CLT Box). This process is slow, laborious, and costly, requires a specialized facility to produce such products, and results in elements that only have structural stiffness in one direction.

[0008] Patent application WO2011028124A1 presents a sandwich type floor or roof element referred to as a floor spacer or "hollow wood layer", which is a prefabricated slab or slab-like element for mounting over large spans. The element consists of two plates and spacing units between them, and is constructed with a curve of approximately 1 mm along its longitudinal direction. The bottom plate has an adjustable curve to suit the desired span and load. The spacing units are placed in rows along the length of the part, with spacing between rows varying from 0.1 to 1.5 meters. These units, made of wood or metal, have flat, parallel surfaces facing the plates.

[0009] Similarly, patent DE202007001771 U1 discloses a timber bearing structure, designed to be used as walls, ceilings, large spans, and similar applications. It is composed of top and bottom multilayer boards made of solid wood, with vertical boards located at the ends and additional boards in the middle, so that hollow boxes are formed. These hollow boxes are insulated and joined by means of adhesive or vacuum pressing, and require several pressing steps and complex machinery capable of pressing in both directions.

[0010] As for patent DE202018101347U1, it presents a CLT-type cross-laminated timber element composed of multiple layers, including longitudinal layers and transverse layers made of wood boards. It also includes a cover plate made of compressed wood fibers with a density greater than 600 kg / m 3< , bonded to the other layers by means of an adhesive.

[0011] In terms of the composite materials available for production of strong and lightweight objects, carbon fiber or glass fiber reinforced plastics are widely used in some industries. Although such materials may be strong and lightweight, their structural performance is insufficient for the construction industry, they are not sustainable due to the high CO2 emissions generated during their production, their non-renewable origin, and their low recyclability. In addition, their high costs limit their use in the scale and volume required in the construction industry.

[0012] On the other hand, sustainable composite materials based on plant fibers such as jute, flaxseed, and hemp are available. Although they are suitable for lightweight structures, they use high percentages of resins (over 40%), tend to have unstable mechanical properties, and are poorly resistant to fire, presenting limitations similar to those of synthetic fibers such as carbon and fiberglass in terms of productivity and cost. In addition, vegetable fibers such as flaxseed are annual crops that are extremely sensitive to droughts, and therefore their availability in the quantities required for construction in a context of climate change is questionable.

[0013] Known state of the art lightweight structural products made of wood and currently available on the market - particularly for applications such as floors or slabs - such as CLT box (Bestwood Schneider) or Kerto Ripa (Metsa), use "cassette" configurations, namely plate and beam assemblies, in prismatic shapes and with orthogonal grain orientation that form a sort of box with parallel internal longitudinal ribs along the direction of the element's span. While this configuration can successfully solve structural elements, it has a series of drawbacks. The first is that they have low stiffness in the direction opposite to the element's span. This limits the maximum dimensions of the element and its support conditions. Larger elements in construction allow for reduced field assembly schedules and costs.SUMMARY

[0014] It is an object of the present invention to provide a composite structural building module, a corresponding manufacturing method, a load-bearing structural system, and to a modular building system, which may solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems in the art. The object is achieved by the features of the respective independent claims. Further embodiments are defined in the respective dependent claims.

[0015] According a first aspect of the invention, a composite structural building module is provided, said module comprising an upper board joined to a structural base made of a composite material containing oriented wood fibers and binder.

[0016] In a second aspect of the invention, a method for manufacturing the composite structural building module of the first aspect is provided. The method comprises the steps of: (a) defining the requirements to be met by the composite structural building module to be manufactured; (b) generating the design of the structural base of the composite structural building module and the orientation parameters for its oriented wood fibers, according to the requirements defined in step (a), said design and parameters being optimized for maximum stiffness and shear strength; (c) obtaining a mold according to the design and the parameters generated in step (b); (d) providing instructions to at least one machine for the deposition of fibers and binder according to the design and the parameters generated in step (b); (e) depositing at least one layer of fibers with binder in the mold; (f) pressing the fibers with the binder in the mold; (g) removing the resulting structural base from the mold; and (h) joining the structural base on its upper face to a board.

[0017] According a third aspect of the invention, a load-bearing structural system is provided, wherein said system comprises: a base consisting of at least one undulated shell comprising oriented wood fibers and binder, joined on its upper face to the underside of an upper board; an upper board located on the upper zone of the system, which receives the load, and is a board of a type selected from the group consisting of plywood, solid wood, OSB, CLT, chipboard, fiber-cement board, concrete board, WPC board, a composite board, a polymer board, a biopolymer board, a composite polymer board, and a board of the same material type as the material of the base; and joining means that join the upper board to the base; wherein at least one of the sides of the perimeter of the system is resting on and / or fixed to another structural element, and when the upper board receives a load, it transfers the forces derived from said load to the at least one undulated shell, whose design and the orientation of its fibers are deliberately determined by parameters generated using digital or analog optimization tools, in order to receive said forces and distribute them throughout the whole system mainly by means of the membrane effect, such that all the parts of the system collaborate along with the action of the joining means, maximizing the system's load-bearing capacity.

[0018] According to a fourth aspect of the invention, a modular building system is provided, wherein said system comprises: a plurality of the composite structural building modules according to the first aspect; and connecting means; wherein the composite structural building modules are structurally connected through the connecting means.

[0019] It is an object of the present invention to provide lightweight and sustainable wood-based construction elements of dimensions and load-bearing capacity on the scale required in construction and transportation industries.

[0020] The module according to the present disclosure is designed with optimization tools, which is load-bearing, of generally flat shape, comprises collaborating parts, and can serve as a wall, slab, ceiling, floor, bridge, beam, pillar, column, door, and / or an inclined plane, among others. This building module may comprise three main layers (upper board - core - bottom board) or two main layers (upper board - base). The core or base is a layer made of a pressure-formed composite material, containing binder and discrete wood fibers (e.g. wood strands or flakes) deliberately oriented according to a design generated using optimization tools, and preferably in the shape of an undulated shell, which joined to the other board or boards of the other layer or layers forms a system of parts that collaborate to bear load using low amounts of material, resulting in a composite structural building module of low weight and high performance. This type of building module is useful in the construction and assembly of large structures, for example, buildings, houses, bridges, airplanes, and ships, providing an alternative that is stronger, more durable, easier to install and more environmentally sustainable than existing solutions.

[0021] The module according to the present disclosure consists of a new type of prefabricated lightweight structural building module, which has bidirectional stiffness and strength, for use as a slab, beam, or roof in small or large spans, or as a wall, column or other building elements, useful in construction and assembly of large structures, such as buildings, houses, bridges, airplanes, and ships, offering greater strength, durability, and environmental sustainability than existing solutions. In addition, the modular character of the prefabricated lightweight structural building module here presented simplifies its installation, allowing for faster and more efficient construction processes.

[0022] The building module here presented may comprise two main layers (upper board and base) or three main layers (upper board, core, and bottom board). The core or base is a layer made of a pressure-formed composite material containing binder and discrete wood fibers (for example, wood strands or flakes) deliberately oriented according to a design generated with optimization tools, and preferably shaped like an undulated shell. Said core or base may comprise more than one undulated shell or sub-layers, and when joined to the module's other board layer(s) results in a system of collaborating parts, wherein at least one side of the module's perimeter is supported by and / or fixed to another structural element, and when the upper board receives a load, it transfers the forces derived from said load to the core or base, whose design is optimized to receive such forces and distribute them throughout the system using mainly the membrane effect, such that every part collaborates, along with the action of the connecting means, maximizing the system's load-bearing capacity while using the least possible amount of material, and achieving lightweight structural building modules capable of covering large distances between supports, generally greater than 6 meters.

[0023] As mentioned, the module can comprise a core or base layer made of a pressure-formed composite material containing wood fibers (e.g., wood strands or flakes) and binder that is bonded to an upper board, and in some embodiments also to a bottom board, which may be CLT, LVL or other types of boards. By using molded wood fibers, strands, flakes or the like, the module is a very resource efficient structural solution, as the use of wood fibers, strands, flakes or the like makes use of up to 95% of the tree (Shmulsky and Jones 2010).

[0024] In terms of materials sciences, a composite material is one formed by two or more components, such that the properties of the final material have higher performances and / or benefits than those of the individual components. Similarly, composite structures are structures comprising a combination of two or more elements, of the same or different materials, joined together so as to collaborate and exploit the properties of each component for the structural benefit of the system as a whole. Composite structures and composite materials can be designed to achieve combinations with extraordinary performance, both in stiffness, load-bearing ability, resistance under extreme temperature conditions, corrosion resistance, hardness, flexibility, electrical conductivity, and other properties.

[0025] Using shape design, optimization, and fiber architecture technologies, along with production technologies that combine developments in materials sciences and additive manufacturing, the present building module brings the logic of advanced composite materials used in the aerospace, transportation and mobility industries to the world of wood and construction, and is strong enough to be a sustainable alternative to materials such as steel, aluminum or fiber-reinforced plastics in the transportation and mobility industries, and to materials such as steel and concrete in buildings, contributing to solve three of the main problems in construction: sustainability, industrial productivity, and structural performance.

[0026] Another object is to provide an efficient and less costly solution to replace materials that are less efficient in the use of forestry resources and / or having elevated CO2 emissions, thus contributing to decrease the high carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions generated by various industries, with a special emphasis on the construction industry.

[0027] By significantly reducing the amount of material and weight of slabs, floors, roofs and / or walls, consumption of trees is significantly reduced and the entire building structure is lightened, resulting in a positive impact on the reduction of CO2 emissions and cost structure of the entire building, with further reductions in assembly costs, along with the costs and CO2 emissions related to transporting the construction elements for said building.

[0028] The present module and systems have several advantages over the state of the art regarding lightweight structures for sustainable construction. The first has to do with its material efficiency and the impact of this on the product's sustainability. Most structural products for sustainable construction are currently made of engineered wood. Glulam, CLT, LVL are the most commonly used materials. Glulam and CLT use sawn lumber as the main material input. The efficiency of lumber for these structures is very low: between 20 and 40% of the tree is made use of for structural purposes. Similarly, LVL requires large, well-formed trees and uses up to 70% of them. The material used in the base or core of the module, which is responsible for its material strength characteristics, is a composite material made mostly of wood flakes or fibers. This format of wood input is very efficient for the construction of structures, since as mentioned, it achieves a use of up to 95% of forestry resources. This is in addition to the fact that it allows the use of small and poorly formed trees, generally discarded for structural uses.

[0029] This multidimensional material efficiency results in a reduction in the number of trees required for the construction of building structures. It has been estimated that such a structure can reduce the number of trees required to one quarter when compared to a CLT structure with equivalent mechanical capability. This is environmentally beneficial, as it allows for an increase in the number of buildings constructed from wood without increasing the pressure on forests and plantations. In addition, the proposed product can be made with different tree species and different fiber formats or combinations of them, which makes it possible to adapt the product to the resource availability of the production environment.

[0030] Moreover, the use of this material input format is not only more efficient in the use of forest resources, but also enables efficiencies in the products made with it. Flakes and fibers have the capacity of allowing the forming of three-dimensional "free-form" elements, and the control of the fibers' orientation and location.

[0031] It is well known in engineering that the greatest structural efficiency, as in nature, is achieved with complex, non-prismatic shapes, since stresses travel in non-linear paths and complex shapes allow for the use of material only where it is needed. Similarly, wood is an anisotropic material, meaning that it is stronger in one direction than in its perpendicular direction. As a general rule, this ratio is 10 to 1. Therefore, a material architecture whose fibers are capable of being oriented in the direction of stress is the one that provides the best ratio of material usage to mechanical performance. Since the present module can be formed in both directions according to case-by-case requirements, it can offer bidirectional stiffness. Furthermore, since its shape and fiber orientation are optimized, it can achieve an optimum stiffness ratio for both main directions.

[0032] Moreover, the present module allows for the production of a lightweight, high performance building module with few elements, and involving simple assembly. Unlike lightweight cassette elements, which comprise multiple elements to achieve a strong configuration, our invention can be realized - in its most simplified version - with two elements: a board and a corrugated base. This also provides benefits in terms of assembly times.

[0033] Another interesting aspect of some preferred embodiments is that, since they are partially hollow structures, they allow for the inclusion of thermal and acoustic insulation, and fire resistance elements, as well as the insertion of ducts and pipes through them without the need to modify the structure. This is relevant in terms of costs and CO2 emissions, since it allows for the floor packages to be made thinner, thus saving additional materials in terms of insulation layers, ducts, and piping, and maximizing the usable space and / or the number of floors of the entire building.

[0034] The design of the structural base, or core, is based on the principle of an undulated shell that allows shear forces to be transferred between the boards by means of the membrane effect, which means transferring stresses across the surface of the material, using shape as the main performance driver. This leads to efficient load transfer using the minimum amount of material, while producing a rigid base or core in two directions.

[0035] The outer board or boards provide protection and contribute to the structural integrity of the composite module, while the base or core mainly provides stiffness and spacing between outer the boards, which improves the structure's strength-to-weight ratio, and aims to minimize buckling and bending of the shell (base or core).

[0036] Production process only requires positioning its constituent layers (base or core, and at least one board) in a surface and joining them, resulting in a composite structural module with structural strength in both plane orientations, and providing a significant advantage in industrial terms, as it enables for the production of larger and lighter building modules, and a significant reduction in assembly costs and lead times.

[0037] The core or base is produced by depositing binder and wood fibers in specific orientations in a mold, according to a design and parameters generated using optimization tools, and then pressing the material in the mold until the part is consolidated.

[0038] The upper and bottom boards can be any of various types of commercially available wood boards, such as CLT, LVL, OSB, plywood, boards of other materials, or boards of a composite material equal to that of the core or base material.

[0039] Further features and advantages will become apparent from the detailed description provided after the brief description of the drawings.BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0040] A brief description of the drawings will be provided and then a detailed description of the drawings will be presented in order to explain some of the preferred embodiments of the invention. It is important to emphasize that these drawings only serve the purpose of supporting the description for the understanding of the invention and are not to be understood as exact representations of the parts, sections, or components of the invention in their definitive forms nor to actual or proportional scale. The invention should also not be considered limited only to what is shown in the drawings, since these represent, in an illustrative manner, the important aspects of the main embodiments of the invention here presented, and may not include elements that are of general knowledge in the state of the art. Figure 1A: Exploded view in diagonal perspective of an embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers, along with a magnified close-up view of oriented wood fibers from the base's composite material. Figure 1B: Diagonal perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figure 1A, with segmented lines showing the base beneath the upper board. Figure 2: Image of the 3D model of the design of an undulated shell used as the base or core of the building module of the present invention, after a digital optimization process. Figure 3A: Exploded view in diagonal perspective of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers, along with a magnified close-up view of oriented wood fibers from the base's composite material. Figure 3B: Diagonal perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figure 3A. Figure 3C: Lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figures 3A and 3B. Figure 3D: Front elevation view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figures 3A, 3B and 3C. Figure 4: Diagonal perspective view from below of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers, along with a magnified close-up view of a plurality of sub-layers of oriented fibers and binder comprised in the base, and a magnified close-up of their oriented fibers. Figure 5A: Diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers. Figure 5B: Diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers. Figure 6: Set of examples of some of the diverse types of regular waves that may be part of the shape of the undulation or undulations of the undulated shell that forms the base or core of the building module of the present invention. Figure 7: Set of examples of some of the diverse types of irregular waves that may be part of the shape of the undulation or undulations of the undulated shell that forms the base or core of the building module of the present invention. Figure 8A: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers. Figure 8B: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising the same elements of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 8A, and further comprising a third layer. Figure 9A: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers. Figure 9B: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising the same elements of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 9A, and further comprising a third layer. Figure 10: Front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers. Figure 11: Front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers, with its connecting means for connecting to a concrete pillar, also illustrated in the present Figure. Figure 12: Front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers. Figure 13: Front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers. Figure 14: Exploded front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers. Figure 15: Exploded front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers. Figure 16A: Exploded view in diagonal perspective of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers and two lateral boards, along with three magnified close-up views of the oriented wood fibers of the core's composite material, and of the upper and bottom boards. Figure 16B: Diagonal perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figure 16A. Figure 17A: Isometric exploded view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers and two lateral boards. Figure 17B: Isometric view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figure 17A. Figure 18A: Isometric exploded view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers and four lateral boards. Figure 18B: Isometric view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figure 18A. Figure 19A: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers and two lateral boards. Figure 19B: Lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the building module of the invention illustrated in Figure 19A. Figure 20: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising three layers. Figure 21 A: Exploded view in frontal perspective of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention, comprising two layers. Figure 21B: Front perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figure 21A, showing that the upper board is moving in the direction of the arrow. Figure 21C: Front perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module of the present invention illustrated in Figures 21A and 21B. Figure 22A: Diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising two layers. Figure 22B: Diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising the same elements as the embodiment illustrated in Figure 22A, further comprising a bottom board. Figure 23: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising three layers. Figure 24: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising three layers and two lateral boards. Figure 25: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising two layers. Figure 26: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising three layers. Figure 27: Isometric view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising three layers. Figure 28: Diagonal perspective view from below of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising three layers. Figure 29: Isometric view of an embodiment of the building system of the present invention, where we can see three equal building modules comprising three layers, according to the present invention. Figure 30A: Trimetric exploded view of another embodiment of the building module of the present invention comprising two layers. Figure 30B: Lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the building module illustrated in Figure 30A. Figure 30C: Trimetric view of another embodiment of the building system of the present invention, where there are two building modules equal to those illustrated in Figures 30A and 30B, connected to a building module of the same type as those illustrated in Figure 29, along with a magnified close-up view of their connection. Figure 31A: Isometric view of two equal and connected building modules according to an embodiment of the present invention that comprises three layers and tongue-and-groove-type connecting means for connecting to other equal or similar building modules, along with a magnified close-up view of said connecting means. Figure 31B: Front elevation view of two building modules of the same embodiment of the building module according to the present invention illustrated in Figure 31A, separated by a white arrow indicating movement of one building module towards the other. Figure 32A: Front elevation view of an embodiment of the load-bearing structural system of the present invention consisting of two layers; upper board and base. Figure 32B: Lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the load-bearing structural system of the present invention illustrated in Figure 32A. Figure 32C: Front elevation view of an embodiment of the load-bearing structural system of the present invention consisting of three layers; upper board, core, and bottom board. Figure 32D: Lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the load-bearing structural system of the present invention illustrated in Figure 32C. Figure 33: Grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of a type of undulated shell shown in the embodiments of the present invention illustrated in Figures 1A, 1B, 16A and 16B. Figure 34: Grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of another type of undulated shell according to the present invention. Figure 35: Grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of another type of undulated shell according to the present invention. Figure 36: Grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of another type of undulated shell according to the present invention. Figure 37: Process flow diagram of a method for manufacturing a two-layer building module according to the present invention. Figure 38: Process flow diagram of a method for manufacturing a three-layer building module according to the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0041] For a better understanding of the present invention, we provide the following definitions, which should only be understood as an aid to explain specific elements in this technical field pertaining to our invention.

[0042] Shell: As used in connection with the present invention, the term "shell" refers to a thin, curved three-dimensional structure with a low thickness in comparison to its other dimensions, and in which the deformations are not large in comparison to the thickness. A main difference between a shell structure and a plate structure is that, in an unstressed state, the shell structure has curvature, in contrast to the plate structure which is flat. The membrane action in a shell is caused primarily by in-plane forces (in-plane stress), but there may be secondary forces resulting from flexural deformations. While a flat plate acts similarly to a beam with bending and shear stresses, shells are analogous to a cable resisting loads through tensile stresses. The shell must be capable of both tension and compression.

[0043] In the context of our invention, we may mention the orientation of an undulation or of undulations, which refers to the lengthwise orientation of one or more undulations along the surface of a given body, mainly generally flat bodies, as shells or boards.

[0044] In the context of our invention, we may use the term ·design" in different contexts. In general, "design" should be understood as any of the following definitions offered by the Oxford Learner's Dictionary; "the general arrangement of the different parts of something that is made, such as a building, book, machine, etc." "the art or process of deciding how something will look, work, etc. by drawing plans, making computer models, etc." "a drawing or plan from which something may be made" "a plan or an intention"

[0045] Particularly, when we use "design" in the context of the base or core of the present invention, the following specific variables and parameters of design are considered, amongst others: shape size contour thickness density undulations and general surface features position of its constituent parts, especially fibers and binder size and shape of its constituent parts type, amount and location of binder or binders.

[0046] Wave: In the context of the present invention the term "wave" refers to the path representing the observable shape in a section cut of an undulated object, according to the definition of "undulation" given in the previous paragraph.

[0047] Irregular wave: Refers to a wave of a shape that has no regular periodicity, whose crests and / or valleys are not all the same, and do not necessarily have the same distances and heights.

[0048] Compound wave: Refers to a wave that combines waves of different shapes, and may or may not have periodicity in such combinations.

[0049] Valley: In the context of the present invention, the term "valley" refers to a low point or surface between higher points or surfaces, the lowest part(s) of a wave or of an undulation.

[0050] Crest: In the context of the present invention, the term "crest" refers to a high point or surface between lower points or surfaces, the highest part(s) of a wave or of an undulation.

[0051] Mesh rendering: The term "mesh" or "mesh rendering" refers to a type of visualization used in digital environments to represent 3D objects, which uses a collection of points connected by lines, creating a visual and geometric approximation of the modeled object.

[0052] Free-form, free-form element: In the context of the present invention, the term "free-form" refers to designs, structures or three-dimensional elements that are not constrained by regular or conventional geometric shapes, sometimes taking more fluid, organic, curvilinear, or irregular forms.

[0053] Bidirectional stiffness: In the context of the present invention, the term "bidirectional stiffness" refers to the ability of a structural element - such as a slab - to resist loads with low deformation in two orthogonal directions.

[0054] Membrane effect, membrane action: Refers to a phenomenon that occurs in thin structures, such as plates or shells, when they are subjected to loads that produce deformations predominantly in their plane, generating a distribution of loads along the surface of the structure instead of throughout its volume. This results in bending and stresses at the surface rather than deformations throughout the structure.

[0055] Orientation: A line along which a point moves, which can be traversed in two opposite directions.

[0056] In the context of our invention, the orientation of wood fibers, flakes, strands and the like, refers to their relative position with regards to the general orientation and position of the object they are part of as a whole, as well as to the orientation of the wood fibers that constitute all wooden elements, with regards to the general orientation and position of the object they are part of as a whole, and with regards to each other flake, strand, etc...

[0057] Direction: The point or location towards which something is moving, pointing, or facing.

[0058] Peripheral surface: the frame or outermost area of a surface, as distinguished from the central surface contained within it.

[0059] Contiguous: In the context of the present invention the term "contiguous" refers to a position of one object with respect to another in which they are touching sideways, or close to touching sideways, both objects being on the same or similar level and not one on top of the other.

[0060] Mirrored: In the context of the present invention the term "mirrored" is used as a synonym for the term "specular", as related to mirrors and symmetry, where two things bear the same relationship to each other as an object bears to its image in a mirror. OSB: Oriented Strand Board. CLT: Cross Laminated Timber. WPC: Wood Plastic Composite

[0061] Regarding the preferred embodiments of our invention, it is imperative to point out that, since our invention presents a new configuration for elements, modules and building systems, as well as a new way of generating their designs, shapes and material characteristics according to the requirements and needs of each case, the preferred embodiments of our invention are multiple and will depend on the requirements of the part to be manufactured for each use case.

[0062] It is equally important to stress that in the context of the present invention patent application, all the different embodiments exemplified in the Figures, along with all the possible embodiments that can be deduced from the numerous possibilities for combining variables of structure, composition, characteristics and design of the various constituent elements of the building modules, building systems, load-bearing structural systems, and manufacturing methods claimed in the present application, are part of the invention presented, and those set forth herein are only illustrative and didactic examples.

[0063] Similarly, it is important to stress that all the design characteristics of the undulated shells, the orientation of their oriented wood fibers, and their collaborative relationship with the other constituent elements of the building modules, building systems and load-bearing structural systems claimed in the present application, being the product of optimization with optimization tools - whether digital or analog - have technical effects that result in a decrease in the amount of material used and CO2 emitted in producing said building modules and load-bearing structural systems, and at the same time in maximizing their load-bearing capacity.

[0064] The ways in which the plurality of layers of oriented fibers or flakes are structured is also variable and will also depend on the requirements of each use case and the type of design. This implies that determining the orientation and position of the fibers or flakes of an element can define an orientation in a general and not too specific way for the set of fibers, or it can define a deliberate and specific orientation and position for each of the fibers or flakes, so as to maximize the mechanical performance of the part to be manufactured, the amount of material used or other variables specifically required.

[0065] It is important to note that in all Figures containing one or more undulated shell(s), every one and all of the various embodiments of undulated shells illustrated - be they as the base of a two-layer construction element, or as the core of a three-layer construction element - comprise some type or types of oriented wood fibers and binder or binders, even though some figures do not explicitly illustrate or indicate such fibers on the surfaces of their respective undulated shells, or their respective numerals in the list of elements and numerals do not explicitly mention it.

[0066] Similarly, in all figures containing one or more undulated shells joined to an upper board and / or a bottom board, if the type of joint is not specified, then it is an adhesive joint.REFERENCE NUMBERS:

[0067] 2Any two-layer embodiment of the building module or of the load-bearing structural system 3Any three-layer embodiment of the building module or of the load-bearing structural system 43D model in "mesh" rendering of an undulated shell design in a three-dimensional Cartesian spatial coordinates system 100Upper board 101CLT upper board 1025-ply plywood upper board 103Composite upper board comprising strand-type oriented wood fibers, and binder 104Fiber-cement upper board 110Convex-shaped upper board 111Arched upper board 112Undulated upper board 200Undulated shell made of wood fibers and binder 201Undulated shell made of veneer-type oriented wood fibers of the same shape and size, and binder 202Undulated shell made of oriented wood fibers in which some fibers are of the same shapes and sizes, and others are of different shapes and sizes, and binder 203Undulated shell made of chip-type oriented wood fibers, and binder 204Undulated shell made of strand-type oriented wood fibers, and binder 205Undulated shell made of oriented wood fibers that are bamboo slivers, and binder 209Undulated shell of uneven thickness 210Base comprising two different undulated shells stacked one on top of the other 211Core comprising two identical undulated shells stacked in a mirrored manner 212Core comprising four contiguous identical undulated shells arranged in a pattern of four undulated shells by one undulated shell 213Core comprising six identical undulated shells arranged in two mirrored stacked layers, wherein there are three contiguously arranged shells in each layer 214Core comprising twenty-four contiguous undulated shells of two different types arranged in an aligned pattern of six undulated shells by four undulated shells 215Core comprising twenty-six contiguous undulated shells of the same type and of two different sizes, arranged in a misaligned pattern of four undulated shells in one direction and six and seven undulated shells in the other direction 221Undulation or undulations of medium frequency curved wave 222Undulation or undulations of low frequency curved wave 223Undulation or undulations of trapezoidal wave 224Undulation or undulations of square wave 225Undulation or undulations of triangular wave 226Undulation or undulations of sawtooth wave 227Undulation or undulations of irregular wave A 228Undulation or undulations of irregular wave B 229Undulation or undulations of irregular wave C 230Undulation or undulations of irregular wave D 231Undulation or undulations of irregular wave E 240Undulated shell of overall convex shape 241Undulated shell of overall arcuate shape 241Undulated shell of overall undulated shape 300Bottom board 3013-ply plywood bottom board 302Bottom board with dotted lines marking the aligned pattern of twenty-four undulated shells 303Bottom board with dotted lines marking the misaligned pattern of the twenty-six undulated shells 304Composite bottom board comprising strand-type oriented wood fibers, and binder 305Solid wood bottom board 310Convex bottom board 311Arched bottom board 312Undulated bottom board 320Lateral board perpendicular to the upper board 321Lateral board oblique to the upper board 400Adhesive area 401Rivets 402Bolts 403Nuts 404Tongue-type joining means of a tongue-and-groove joining system, for joining elements of the building module 405Groove-type joining means of a tongue-and-groove joining system, for joining elements of the building module 410Cylindrical-type tongue-and-groove connecting means, for connecting to other building elements 411Tongue-type connecting means of a tongue-and-groove connecting system, for connecting to other building elements 412Groove-type connecting means of a tongue-and-groove connecting system, for connecting to other building elements 413Tongue-type connecting means of a tongue-and-groove connecting system, for connecting among building modules 414Groove-type connecting means of a tongue-and-groove connecting system, for connecting among building modules 420Concrete pillar 421CLT wall 422Concrete wall 500Magnified close-up 501Oriented wood fibers of chopped veneer type, of the same shape and size 502Oriented wood fibers of which some fibers are of the same shapes and sizes, and some are of different shapes and sizes 503Chip-type oriented wood fibers 504Plurality of layers of oriented wood fibers and binder 505Strand-type oriented wood fibers 510X axis of the Cartesian coordinate system 520Y-axis of the Cartesian coordinate system 530Z-axis of the Cartesian coordinate system 540Row of six positions for undulated shells 541Row of seven positions for undulated shells 551Medium frequency curved wave 552Low frequency curved wave 553Trapezoidal waves 554Square wave 555Triangular wave 556Sawtooth wave 557Irregular wave A 558Irregular wave B 559Irregular wave C 560Irregular wave D 561Irregular wave E 600Zigzag line indicating image break 601White arrow pointing to direction of motion 603Load resting on the load-bearing structural system

[0068] Figure 1A shows an exploded view in diagonal perspective of an embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 201 of oriented wood fibers of chopped veneer-type, and binder, formed by undulations 221 of curved wave in one direction, combined with undulations 227 of irregular wave in another direction perpendicular to the first direction, along with a magnified close-up view 500 of the chopped veneer-type oriented wood fibers 501 of the base's composite material, all chopped veneer-type oriented wood fibers being of equal size shape.

[0069] Figure 1B is a diagonal perspective view of the same embodiment of the two-layer building module 2 of the invention illustrated in Figure 1A, with segmented lines showing the base - which is an undulated shell 201 of chopped veneer-type oriented wood fibers and binder, formed by undulations 221 of curved wave in one direction, combined with undulations 227 of irregular wave in another direction perpendicular to the first direction - underneath the upper board 100.

[0070] Figure 2 shows an image of the 3D model 4 of the design of an undulated shell used as a base or core for a building module according to the present invention, after a digital optimization process, in a virtual three-dimensional space within the Cartesian coordinate system, where segmented lines represent the X (510), Y (520), and Z (530) axes. Observed in this 3D model 4 of an undulated shell are undulations 221 of curved wave in one direction, combined with undulations 227 of compound wave in another direction perpendicular to the first direction.

[0071] Figure 3A shows an exploded view in diagonal perspective of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base - where the base is an undulated shell 202 formed by undulations 228 of irregular wave in one direction, combined with one undulation 223 of trapezoidal wave in another direction perpendicular to the first direction, and all the peripheral surface of said undulated shell end flats and at its highest level. Also seen in this figure is a magnified close-up view 500 of the oriented wood fibers 502 of the base's composite material, of which some fibers are of the same shapes and sizes, and others are of different shapes and sizes.

[0072] Figure 3B shows a diagonal perspective view of the same embodiment of the two-layer building module 2 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 3A, with its upper board 100 joined to the undulated shell 202 that constitutes its base.

[0073] Figure 3C presents a lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the two-layer building module 2 of the invention illustrated in Figures 3A and 3B, where its upper board 100 can be seen atop the undulated shell 202 and its trapezoidal wave undulation 223.

[0074] Figure 3D presents a front elevation view of the same embodiment of the two-layer building module 2 of the invention illustrated in Figures 3A, 3B and 3C, where its upper board 100 can be seen atop the undulated shell 202 as well as a front view of the irregular wave undulation 228 that also forms the undulated shell 202 in its other direction.

[0075] Figure 4 illustrates a diagonal perspective view from below of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 203 formed by undulations 221 of curved wave, wherein the peripheral surface on two of its four sides is raised towards the upper board 100 so as to join the latter closing said sides of the building module 2. A magnified close-up view 500 of the plurality of layers 504 of oriented fibers and binder comprised in the base, and a magnified close-up view 500 of its sliver-like oriented fibers 503 can also be seen.

[0076] Figure 5A shows a diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 2 the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 200 formed by a curved wave undulation 221, and is joined to the upper board 100 with dowels 401.

[0077] Figure 5B is a diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core, and bottom board 300 - in which the core is an undulated shell 200 formed by a undulation 221 of curved wave in one direction, and by undulations 227 of irregular wave in another direction perpendicular to the first direction, and is joined to the upper board 100 by bolts 402 and nuts 403.

[0078] Figure 6 provides a set of examples of some of the diverse types of regular waves that may be part of the shape of the undulation(s) of the undulated shell of the base or core of a building module according to the present invention. It is important to keep in mind that these waves are only examples among many other types of waves that may be used in many different embodiments of the present invention, and should not be understood as a limiting collection of examples. A medium-frequency curved wave 551, a low-frequency curved wave 552, a trapezoidal wave 553, a square wave 554, a triangular wave 555, and a sawtooth wave 556 are shown.

[0079] Similarly, Figure 7 provides a set of examples of some of the diverse types of irregular waves that may be part of the shape of the undulation(s) of the undulated shell of the base or core of the present invention. It is important to keep in mind that these waves are only examples within infinite types of possible irregular waves that may be used in various embodiments of the present invention, and should not be understood as a limiting collection of examples. Irregular waves A (557), B (558), C (559), D (560) and E (561) are shown by way of example, as they are featured in some exemplary embodiments of the present invention illustrated in some other Figures.

[0080] Figure 8A is an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 101 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 221 of medium-frequency curved wave in one direction of the base, which intersect perpendicularly with other undulations 222 of low-frequency curved wave, and the upper board 101 is a CLT board.

[0081] Figure 8B is an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising the same elements of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 8A - a CLT upper board 101 and an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 221 of medium-frequency curved wave in one direction, which intersect perpendicularly with other undulations 222 of low-frequency curved wave - and additionally consisting of a third layer which is a bottom board 300 of lesser thickness and of a different material than the CLT upper board 101.

[0082] Figure 9A shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 102 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 221 of curved wave in one direction of the base, which intersect perpendicularly with other undulations 224 of square wave, and the upper board 102 is a five-layer plywood board.

[0083] Figure 9B is an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising the same elements of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 9A - a five-layer plywood upper board 102 and an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 221 of medium-frequency curved wave in one direction, which intersect perpendicularly with other undulations 224 of square wave - and additionally comprises a third layer which is a three-layer plywood bottom board 301.

[0084] Figure 10 shows a front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base 210 - in which the base comprises two different overlapping undulated shells. The undulated shell that is joined to the upper board 100 is formed by undulations 221 of medium frequency curved wave, while the second undulated shell is formed by undulations 229 of irregular wave. Also seen in this Figure are adhesive 400 areas where the upper board 100 and the base 210 meet.

[0085] Figure 11 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core 211, and bottom board 300 - in which the core 211 consists of two equal and mirrorlike stacked undulated shells, each formed by undulations 221 of medium-frequency curved wave. It is also visible in this Figure that the present embodiment of the building module 3 further comprises cylindrical connecting means 410 of the tongue-and-groove type, for connecting with the concrete pillar 420. The white arrows 601 show the direction of movement of the module 3 towards its connecting position with the concrete pillar 420, and the zigzagging lines 600 represent an image break.

[0086] Figure 12 is a front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core 212, and bottom board 300 - wherein the core 212 comprises four equal undulated shells arranged contiguously and forming a pattern of four undulated shells along the length of the building module 3 by one undulated shell across its width.

[0087] Figure 13 shows a front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core 213, and bottom board 300 - wherein the core 213 comprises six equal undulated shells arranged in two mirrored overlapping layers, wherein there are three shells arranged contiguously in each layer.

[0088] Figure 14 shows an exploded front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core 214, and bottom board 302 - wherein the core 214 is a set of twenty-four contiguous undulated shells of two different types, arranged in an aligned pattern of six undulated shells in one direction by four undulated shells in another direction perpendicular to the first direction, the positions of which are outlined with dotted lines on the bottom board 302.

[0089] Figure 15 shows an exploded front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core 215, and bottom board 303 - wherein the core 215 is a set of twenty-six contiguous undulated shells arranged in a misaligned pattern of six and seven undulated shells in one direction by four undulated shells in another direction perpendicular to the first direction, the positions of which are outlined with dotted lines on the bottom board 303, wherein the row 540 of six positions, and the row 541 of seven positions are pointed out.

[0090] Figure 16A is an exploded view in diagonal perspective of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers of the same material - upper board 103, core, and bottom board 304 - in which its core is an undulated shell 204 - and further comprises two lateral boards 320. Also seen in this Figure are three magnified close-up views 500 of the undulated shell's 204 oriented strand-like fibers 505, the upper board 103, and the bottom board 304.

[0091] Figure 16B is a diagonal perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 16A, showing its upper board 103, the undulated shell 204 of its core, the bottom board 304, and the two lateral boards 320 located between the short ends of the upper board 103 and the bottom board 304, and which are joined to them perpendicularly, such that the two shorter lateral faces of the building module 3 are covered.

[0092] Figure 17A shows an isometric exploded view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core, and bottom board 300 - in which the core is an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 225 of triangular wave, and further comprising two lateral boards 320 at its shorter ends.

[0093] Figure 17B is an isometric view of the same embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 17A, wherein the lateral boards 320 are joined to the upper 100 and bottom boards 300 in a position perpendicular to them, thus two of the lateral faces of the building element are covered. It is also observable that in this embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention the bottom board 300 is of greater length than the upper board 100 and the core's undulated shell 200, thus the upper board 100 and the core are located between the lateral boards 320, while the bottom board 300 is located below the lateral boards 320.

[0094] Figure 18A is an exploded isometric view of another embodiment of the building module (3) of the present invention comprising three layers - upper board (104), core, and bottom board (305) - and further comprising four lateral boards (320). In this embodiment of the building module of the present invention the core is an undulated shell (200) formed by undulations (225) of triangular wave, the upper board (104) is a fiber cement board, and the bottom board (305) is a solid wood board.

[0095] Figure 18B is an isometric view of the same embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 18A, wherein the lateral boards 320 are joined to the upper board 104 and to the bottom board 305 in a position perpendicular to them, such that all four lateral faces of the building module 3 are covered. It is also noted that in this embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention the upper board 104 and the bottom board 305 are of the same size, and the lateral boards 320 are located between them.

[0096] Figure 19A shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core, and bottom board 300 - in which the core is an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 230 of irregular wave, and further comprising two lateral boards 321 located between the upper board 100 and bottom board 300. It can be seen in this figure that the bottom board 300 has a greater width than the upper board 100, and that the lateral boards 321 are joined to the upper 100 and bottom 300 boards in a position oblique to them, such that two of the building module's 3 lateral faces are covered.

[0097] Figure 19B is a lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the building module 3 of the invention illustrated in Figure 19A, where its lateral boards 321, its upper board 100, its bottom board 300, and the undulated shell 200 of its core - formed by undulations 230 of irregular wave - can be observed.

[0098] Figure 20 shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 100, core, and bottom board 300 - in which the core is an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 223 of trapezoidal wave, and further comprising a single lateral board 320 located between the upper board 100 and the bottom board 300 in a position perpendicular to them, so that one of the building module's 3 side faces is covered.

[0099] Figure 21A shows an exploded front perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 200 which is formed by undulations 223 of trapezoidal wave, and possesses tongue-type joining means 404 for joining with the groove-type joining means 405 present in the upper board 100.

[0100] Figure 21B shows a front perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 21A, showing that the upper board 100 is sliding in the direction of the white arrow 601 by means of its groove-like joining means 405 over the tongue-like joining means 404 on the base's undulated shell 200.

[0101] Figure 21C shows a front perspective view of the same embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention illustrated in Figures 21A and 21B, showing its upper board 100, the undulated shell 200 of its base, and its undulations 223 of trapezoidal wave.

[0102] Figure 22A is a diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - an upper board 110 of convex shape and a base which is an undulated shell 240 of an overall convex shape - such that the overall shape of the building module 2 of the present embodiment is convex.

[0103] Figure 22B is a diagonal perspective view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising the same elements of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 22A - an upper board 110 of convex shape and a base which is an undulated shell 240 of an overall convex shape - and further comprising a bottom board 310 of convex shape, such that the overall shape of the building module 3 of the present embodiment is convex.

[0104] Figure 23 presents an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 110, core, and bottom board 300 - wherein the upper board 110 is of convex shape, the bottom board 300 is flat, and the core is an undulated shell 200 formed by undulations 231 of irregular wave in one direction, combined with other irregular wave undulations 231 in another direction perpendicular to the first direction, having an overall convex upper region and a flat bottom region, such that its shape matches the upper board 110 and bottom board 300 to both of which it is joined.

[0105] Figure 24 is an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - an upper board 111 of arched shape, a core which is an undulated shell 241 of an overall arched shape, and a bottom board 311 of arched shape - along with two side boards 321 at two opposite ends of the module.

[0106] Figure 25 is an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - an upper board 111 of arched shape, and a base which is an undulated shell 209 of heterogeneous thickness and formed by undulations 231 of irregular wave, whose upper region is arched such that its shape matches the upper board to which it is joined.

[0107] Figure 26 shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 111, core, and bottom board 300 - in which the upper board 111 is of arched shape, the bottom board is flat, and the core is an undulated shell 200 whose upper region is generally arched and whose lower face is flat, such that its shape matches the upper 111 and lower 300 boards to which it is joined.

[0108] Figure 27 shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 111, core 211, and bottom board 311 - in which the upper board 111 and the bottom board 311 are equal and of arched shape, and are arranged in a mirrored arrangement, and the core 211 consists of two equal undulated shells stacked in a mirrored arrangement.

[0109] Figure 28 is a diagonal perspective view from below of another embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention, comprising three layers - upper board 112, core, and bottom board 312 - in which the upper board 112 and the bottom board 312 are equal and of undulated shape, and whose core is an undulated shell 241 of an overall undulated shape, such that the overall shape of the building module 3 of the present embodiment is undulated.

[0110] Figure 29 shows an isometric view of an embodiment of the building system of the present invention, wherein three equal building modules 3 of three layers each can be observed, whose core is an undulated shell with sawtooth wave undulations 226. It can also be observed that tongue-type connecting means 411 are joined to the bottom boards of the building modules 3 for connecting with the groove-type connecting means 412 of other building elements, which in this embodiment of the building system of the present invention is a CLT wall 421, to which the building modules 3 are connected. The white arrows 601 show the downward positioning movement of the building modules 3 in order to engage their tongue-type connecting means 411 with the groove-type connecting means 412 of the CLT wall 421. The zigzagging line 600 represents an image break.

[0111] Figure 30A shows an exploded trimetric view of another embodiment of the building module 2 of the present invention, comprising two layers - upper board 100 and base - wherein the base is an undulated shell 200. Also shown are four lateral boards 320 parallel to each other, located two at each of the two shorter ends of the building module 2, such that together they configure a connecting means at each short end of the building module 2, for connecting with other building elements.

[0112] Figure 30B is a lateral elevation view of the same embodiment of the building module 2 of the invention illustrated in Figure 30A.

[0113] Figure 30C depicts a trimetric view of another embodiment of the building system of the present invention, where two building modules 2 equal to those illustrated in Figures 30A and 30B can be seen connected to another building module 3 which is the same type of building module of the embodiment of the present invention illustrated in Figure 29, in this case positioned vertically in order to function as a wall. A magnified close-up 500 elevation view to the detail of the connection between the two types of building modules illustrated in this Figure - 2 and 3 - is also shown, where part of the undulated shell 200 of the building module 2 can be seen and how its lateral boards 320 joined perpendicularly to its upper board 100 are connected with the building module 3, so as to configure a building system according to the present invention. The zigzagging line 600 represents an image break.

[0114] Figure 31A presents an isometric view of an embodiment of the building module of the present invention that has connecting means for connecting with other equal building modules, where two equal three-layer building modules 3 are observed, with their respective upper layers 100, their respective lower layers 300 and their respective cores, which are undulated shells 205 of oriented wood fibers of bamboo sliver type, and binder. One can see that the building modules 3 are connected by tongue 413 and groove 414 type connecting means, so that in the presence of a load on one of said building modules, both building modules will flex as a unit, and not independently. Also shown is a magnified close-up 500 elevation view of the connection between the two building modules with their tongue 413 and groove 414 type connecting means, their respective upper layers 100, their respective lower layers 300 and their respective undulated shells 205 of oriented wood fibers of bamboo sliver type, and binder.

[0115] Figure 31B is a front elevation view of two building modules of the same embodiment of the building module 3 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 31A, separated by a white arrow 601 indicating the movement of one building module towards the other to connect with it. Also present in this Figure are their respective tongue 413 and groove 414 connecting means, their upper boards 100, lower boards 300, and their cores, which are undulated shells 205 of oriented wood fibers of bamboo sliver type, and binder.

[0116] Figure 32A shows a lateral elevation view of a two-layer embodiment of the load-bearing structural system 2 of the present invention, which consists of an upper board 100 that receives a load and transfers it to a base that is an undulated shell 200, which together with the upper board 100 work as a cooperating system in order to distribute said load throughout the entire system. One can observe that the load-bearing structural system 2 has two of its ends supported on two respective concrete walls 422. A load 603 is observed resting centered on the upper board 100 of the load-bearing structural system 2, and three arrows made of dotted lines within the load 603 point downward, indicating the direction of the forces exerted by the load 603 on the load-bearing structural system 2. Smaller arrows are also present in the Figure pointing out how the initial force exerted by the load 603 is broken down and distributed through the base or undulated shell 200 and through the upper board 100, primarily relying on the membrane effect. The zigzagging line 600 represents an image break.

[0117] Figure 32B is a front elevation view of the same load-bearing structural system 2 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 32A, consisting of two layers; an upper board 100 that is supported on the concrete wall 422 and a base, where the base is an undulated shell 200 which in this case is visualized with dotted lines representing that it is behind the concrete wall 422. The zigzagging line 600 represents an image break.

[0118] Figure 32C shows a lateral elevation view of a three-layer embodiment of the load-bearing structural system 3 of the present invention, consisting of an upper board 100, a core that is an undulated shell 200, and a bottom board 300, which jointly operate as a cooperating system to distribute the load throughout the entire system. We can observe that the load-bearing structural system 3 has two of its ends supported on two concrete walls 422. Also visible is a load 603 resting centered on the upper board 100 and three arrows made of dotted lines within the load 603 pointing downward, indicating the direction of the forces exerted by the load 603 on the load-bearing structural system 3. Smaller arrows are also shown which illustrate how the initial force is broken down and distributed through the load-bearing structural system 3. The load 603 is received by the upper board 100 and is distributed through the undulated shell 200, to the upper board 100, and the bottom board 300. The undulated shell 200 also acts as a separation between the upper board 100 and the lower board 300, presenting a combination of compressive and tensile stresses, receiving back part of the stresses from the lower board 300, and in turn returning part of the stresses to the upper board 100. The 3 layers of the load-bearing structural system 3 work mainly under membrane stresses, and to a lesser extent in flexure. The zigzagging line 600 represents an image break.

[0119] Figure 32D is a front elevation view of the same load-bearing structural system 3 of the present invention illustrated in Figure 32C, consisting of three layers; an upper board 100, a core which is an undulated shell 200, and a bottom board 300, which is supported on the concrete wall 422. The zigzagging line 600 represents an image break.

[0120] Figure 33 is a grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of an exemplary undulated shell according to the embodiments of the present invention illustrated in Figures 1A, 1B, 16A and 16B.

[0121] Figure 34 is a grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of another exemplary undulated shell according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[0122] Figure 35 is a grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of another exemplary undulated shell according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which undulations 230 of irregular wave in one direction combined with other undulations 227 of irregular wave in another direction can be observed.

[0123] Figure 36 is a grayscale shaded diagonal perspective view of another exemplary undulated shell according to another embodiment of the present invention, in which undulations 221 of medium frequency curved wave in one direction combined with other undulations 227 of irregular wave in another direction can be observed.

[0124] Figure 37 presents a Process flow diagram of a method for the manufacture of a two-layer building module - upper board and base - according to the present invention.

[0125] Figure 38 presents a Process flow diagram of a method for the manufacture of a three-layer building module - upper board, core, and bottom board - according to the present invention.

[0126] Further examples and aspects are found in the following numbered clauses: Clause 1: A composite structural building module comprising an upper board joined to a structural base made of a composite material containing oriented wood fibers and binder. Clause 2: The composite structural building module according to clause 1, wherein shape of the base and the general orientation of the oriented wood fibers are deliberate and determined by parameters generated by using digital or analog optimization tools. Clause 3: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the oriented wood fibers are fibers of a type selected from the group consisting of whole fibers, refined fibers, fiber pieces, fiber bundles, cellulose fibers, bamboo fibers, bamboo slivers, bamboo chips, wood flakes, wood chips, wood shavings, wood strands, wood wool, wood slivers, wood splinters, wood particles, wood veneer pieces, chopped wood, wood rods, sawdust, and combinations thereof. Clause 4: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the base comprises oriented fibers of a type selected from the group consisting of: fibers of equal sizes and equal shapes; fibers of equal sizes and different shapes; fibers of different sizes and equal shapes; and / or fibers of different sizes and different shapes. Clause 5: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the base comprises a plurality of layers of oriented wood fibers and binder. Clause 6: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the base comprises at least one undulated shell and wherein said one undulated shell comprises at least one undulation formed by a wave type selected from the group consisting of sine waves, square waves, trapezoidal waves, triangular waves, sawtooth waves, irregular waves, compound waves, and combinations thereof. Clause 7: The composite structural building module according to clause 6, wherein the at least one undulation is arranged in at least one direction. Clause 8: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the base comprises at least two undulated shells and wherein said least two undulated shells are arranged in a manner selected from the group consisting of shells stacked on top of each other on two or more layers, shells arranged contiguously within the same layer, and shells arranged contiguously within the same layer with other shells stacked on top on two or more layers. Clause 9: The composite structural building module according to clause 8, wherein the at least two undulated shells are further arranged in a manner selected from the group consisting of aligned with each other, misaligned with each other, and / or combinations thereof. Clause 10: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, further comprising at least one lateral board joined to the upper board in a perpendicular or oblique position, such that at least one of the lateral faces of the building module is covered. Clause 11: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein its upper board is a board of a type selected from the group consisting of plywood, solid wood, OSB, CLT, chipboard, fiber-cement board, concrete board, WPC board, a composite board, a polymer board, a biopolymer board, a composite polymer board, and a board of the same material type as the material of the base. Clause 12: The composite structural building module according to any one of clauses 6 to 11, wherein at least one section of the peripheral surface of the at least one undulated shell is a flat, continuous surface, and has a height equal to or greater than the height of the undulated shell's highest crests, such that said at least one section of the peripheral surface is the joining surface between the at least one undulated shell and the upper board. Clause 13: The composite structural building module according to any one of clauses 6 to 12, wherein at least one of the crests and / or valleys of the at least one undulated shell comprised in the base has a flat surface parallel to the surface of the upper board. Clause 14: The composite structural building module according to any one of clauses 6 to 13, wherein the base is joined to the upper board at the crests of all or some of the at least one undulation of its at least one undulated shell. Clause 15: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the shape of its upper board is a shape selected from the group consisting of concave shape, convex shape, arched shape, flat shape, undulated shape, irregular shape, and combinations thereof. Clause 16: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the thickness of the base is uneven. Clause 17: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, further comprising connecting means for connecting to at least one element selected from the group consisting of walls, beams, pillars, columns, slabs, floor slabs, floors, ceilings, roofs, and other composite structural building modules. Clause 18: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, wherein the specific shape of the base and the specific shape, position and orientation of each of its oriented wood fibers are deliberate and determined by parameters generated using digital or analog optimization tools. Clause 19: The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding clauses, further comprising a bottom board joined to the underside of the base, the base constituting a core of a three-layer composite structural building module. Clause 20: The composite structural building module according to any one of clauses 6 to 19, wherein the arrangement and type of the undulations of the undulated shell or shells comprised in the base or core provide gaps between the undulated shell and the upper and / or bottom boards, such that ducts, cables and the like can be routed from one side of the building module to at least one other side of the building module. Clause 21: A method for manufacturing the composite structural building module of clause 1, the method comprising the steps of: defining the requirements to be met by the composite structural building module to be manufactured; generating the design of the structural base of the composite structural building module and the orientation parameters for its oriented wood fibers, according to the requirements defined in step (a), said design and parameters being optimized for maximum stiffness and shear strength; obtaining a mold according to the design and the parameters generated in step (b); providing instructions to at least one machine for the deposition of fibers and binder according to the design and the parameters generated in step (b); depositing at least one layer of fibers with binder in the mold; pressing the fibers with the binder in the mold; removing the resulting structural base from the mold; and joining the structural base on its upper face to a board. Clause 22: The method of clause 21, further comprising the following step: joining the base on its underside to another board. Clause 23: The method of any one of clauses 21 or 22, wherein the mold comprises at least two parts. Clause 24: The method of any one of clauses 21, 22, or 23, wherein step (b) comprises using digital or analog optimization tools. Clause 25: A load-bearing structural system comprising: a base consisting of at least one undulated shell comprising oriented wood fibers and binder, joined on its upper face to the underside of an upper board; an upper board located on the upper zone of the system, which receives the load, and is a board of a type selected from the group consisting of plywood, solid wood, OSB, CLT, chipboard, fiber-cement board, concrete board, WPC board, a composite board, a polymer board, a biopolymer board, a composite polymer board, and a board of the same material type as the material of the base; and joining means that join the upper board to the base; wherein at least one of the sides of the perimeter of the system is resting on and / or fixed to another structural element, and when the upper board receives a load, it transfers the forces derived from said load to the at least one undulated shell, whose design and the orientation of its fibers are deliberately determined by parameters generated using digital or analog optimization tools, in order to receive said forces and distribute them throughout the whole system mainly by means of the membrane effect, such that all the parts of the system collaborate along with the action of the joining means, maximizing the system's load-bearing capacity. Clause 26: The load-bearing structural system of clause 25, wherein the oriented wood fibers are fibers of a type selected from the group consisting of whole fibers, refined fibers, fiber pieces, fiber bundles, cellulose fibers, bamboo fibers, bamboo slivers, bamboo chips, wood flakes, wood chips, wood shavings, wood strands, wood wool, wood slivers, wood splinters, wood particles, wood veneer pieces, chopped wood, wood rods, sawdust, and combinations thereof. Clause 27: The load-bearing structural system of any one of clauses 25 or 26, further comprising at least one lateral board joined to the upper board in a perpendicular or oblique position, such that at least one of the system's lateral faces is covered. Clause 28: The load-bearing structural system of any one of clauses 25, 26, or 27, wherein the specific shape of the at least one undulated shell and the specific shape, position, and orientation of each of the oriented wood fibers are deliberate and determined by parameters previously generated using digital or analog optimization tools. Clause 29: The load-bearing structural system of any one of clauses 25, 26, 27, or 28, further comprising a second board of a type selected from the group consisting of plywood, solid wood, OSB, CLT, chipboard, fiber-cement board, concrete board, WPC board, a composite board, a polymer board, a biopolymer board, a composite polymer board, and a board of the same material type as the material of the base, located in the lower area of the load-bearing structural system and joined to the underside of the at least one corrugated shell of its base, so that the at least one undulated shell keeps the two boards separated from each other and also distributes part of said forces to said second board, which in turn also distributes part of said forces to the system as a whole. Clause 30: A modular building system comprising: a plurality of the composite structural building modules of any one of clauses 1 to 20; and connecting means; wherein the composite structural building modules are structurally connected through the connecting means. Clause 31: The modular building system of clause 30, wherein the composite structural building modules serve as walls, slabs, ceilings, floors, bridges, beams, pillars, columns, doors, and / or inclined planes. Clause 32: The modular building system of any one of clauses 30 or 31, wherein the composite structural building modules connect to other building elements made of other materials and / or to pre-existing constructions.

Examples

Embodiment Construction

[0041]For a better understanding of the present invention, we provide the following definitions, which should only be understood as an aid to explain specific elements in this technical field pertaining to our invention.

[0042]Shell: As used in connection with the present invention, the term "shell" refers to a thin, curved three-dimensional structure with a low thickness in comparison to its other dimensions, and in which the deformations are not large in comparison to the thickness. A main difference between a shell structure and a plate structure is that, in an unstressed state, the shell structure has curvature, in contrast to the plate structure which is flat. The membrane action in a shell is caused primarily by in-plane forces (in-plane stress), but there may be secondary forces resulting from flexural deformations. While a flat plate acts similarly to a beam with bending and shear stresses, shells are analogous to a cable resisting loads through tensile stresses. The shell mu...

Claims

1. A composite structural building module comprising an upper board joined to a structural base made of a composite material containing oriented wood fibers and binder.

2. The composite structural building module according to claim 1, wherein shape of the base and the general orientation of the oriented wood fibers are deliberate and determined by parameters generated by using digital or analog optimization tools.

3. The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the oriented wood fibers are fibers of a type selected from the group consisting of whole fibers, refined fibers, fiber pieces, fiber bundles, cellulose fibers, bamboo fibers, bamboo slivers, bamboo chips, wood flakes, wood chips, wood shavings, wood strands, wood wool, wood slivers, wood splinters, wood particles, wood veneer pieces, chopped wood, wood rods, sawdust, and combinations thereof.

4. The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the base comprises oriented fibers of a type selected from the group consisting of: a. fibers of equal sizes and equal shapes; b. fibers of equal sizes and different shapes; c. fibers of different sizes and equal shapes; and / or d. fibers of different sizes and different shapes.

5. The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the base comprises a plurality of layers of oriented wood fibers and binder.

6. The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the base comprises at least one undulated shell and wherein said one undulated shell comprises at least one undulation formed by a wave type selected from the group consisting of sine waves, square waves, trapezoidal waves, triangular waves, sawtooth waves, irregular waves, compound waves, and combinations thereof.

7. The composite structural building module according to claim 6, wherein the at least one undulation is arranged in at least one direction.

8. The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the base comprises at least two undulated shells and wherein said least two undulated shells are arranged in a manner selected from the group consisting of shells stacked on top of each other on two or more layers, shells arranged contiguously within the same layer, and shells arranged contiguously within the same layer with other shells stacked on top on two or more layers.

9. The composite structural building module according to claim 8, wherein the at least two undulated shells are further arranged in a manner selected from the group consisting of aligned with each other, misaligned with each other, and / or combinations thereof.

10. The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising at least one lateral board joined to the upper board in a perpendicular or oblique position, such that at least one of the lateral faces of the building module is covered.

11. The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein its upper board is a board of a type selected from the group consisting of plywood, solid wood, OSB, CLT, chipboard, fiber-cement board, concrete board, WPC board, a composite board, a polymer board, a biopolymer board, a composite polymer board, and a board of the same material type as the material of the base.

12. The composite structural building module according to any one of claims 6 to 11, wherein at least one section of the peripheral surface of the at least one undulated shell is a flat, continuous surface, and has a height equal to or greater than the height of the undulated shell's highest crests, such that said at least one section of the peripheral surface is the joining surface between the at least one undulated shell and the upper board.

13. The composite structural building module according to any one of claims 6 to 12, wherein at least one of the crests and / or valleys of the at least one undulated shell comprised in the base has a flat surface parallel to the surface of the upper board.

14. The composite structural building module according to any one of claims 6 to 13, wherein the base is joined to the upper board at the crests of all or some of the at least one undulation of its at least one undulated shell.

15. The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the shape of its upper board is a shape selected from the group consisting of concave shape, convex shape, arched shape, flat shape, undulated shape, irregular shape, and combinations thereof.

16. The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the thickness of the base is uneven.

17. The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising connecting means for connecting to at least one element selected from the group consisting of walls, beams, pillars, columns, slabs, floor slabs, floors, ceilings, roofs, and other composite structural building modules.

18. The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the specific shape of the base and the specific shape, position and orientation of each of its oriented wood fibers are deliberate and determined by parameters generated using digital or analog optimization tools.

19. The composite structural building module according to any one of the preceding claims, further comprising a bottom board joined to the underside of the base, the base constituting a core of a three-layer composite structural building module.

20. The composite structural building module according to any one of claims 6 to 19, wherein the arrangement and type of the undulations of the undulated shell or shells comprised in the base or core provide gaps between the undulated shell and the upper and / or bottom boards, such that ducts, cables and the like can be routed from one side of the building module to at least one other side of the building module.

21. A method for manufacturing the composite structural building module of claim 1, the method comprising the steps of: (a) defining the requirements to be met by the composite structural building module to be manufactured; (b) generating the design of the structural base of the composite structural building module and the orientation parameters for its oriented wood fibers, according to the requirements defined in step (a), said design and parameters being optimized for maximum stiffness and shear strength; (c) obtaining a mold according to the design and the parameters generated in step (b); (d) providing instructions to at least one machine for the deposition of fibers and binder according to the design and the parameters generated in step (b); (e) depositing at least one layer of fibers with binder in the mold; (f) pressing the fibers with the binder in the mold; (g) removing the resulting structural base from the mold; and (h) joining the structural base on its upper face to a board.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising the following step: (i) joining the base on its underside to another board.

23. The method of any one of claims 21 or 22, wherein the mold comprises at least two parts.

24. The method of any one of claims 21, 22, or 23, wherein step (b) comprises using digital or analog optimization tools.

25. A load-bearing structural system comprising: a base consisting of at least one undulated shell comprising oriented wood fibers and binder, joined on its upper face to the underside of an upper board; an upper board located on the upper zone of the system, which receives the load, and is a board of a type selected from the group consisting of plywood, solid wood, OSB, CLT, chipboard, fiber-cement board, concrete board, WPC board, a composite board, a polymer board, a biopolymer board, a composite polymer board, and a board of the same material type as the material of the base; and joining means that join the upper board to the base; wherein at least one of the sides of the perimeter of the system is resting on and / or fixed to another structural element, and when the upper board receives a load, it transfers the forces derived from said load to the at least one undulated shell, whose design and the orientation of its fibers are deliberately determined by parameters generated using digital or analog optimization tools, in order to receive said forces and distribute them throughout the whole system mainly by means of the membrane effect, such that all the parts of the system collaborate along with the action of the joining means, maximizing the system's load-bearing capacity.

26. The load-bearing structural system of claim 25, wherein the oriented wood fibers are fibers of a type selected from the group consisting of whole fibers, refined fibers, fiber pieces, fiber bundles, cellulose fibers, bamboo fibers, bamboo slivers, bamboo chips, wood flakes, wood chips, wood shavings, wood strands, wood wool, wood slivers, wood splinters, wood particles, wood veneer pieces, chopped wood, wood rods, sawdust, and combinations thereof.

27. The load-bearing structural system of any one of claims 25 or 26, further comprising at least one lateral board joined to the upper board in a perpendicular or oblique position, such that at least one of the system's lateral faces is covered.

28. The load-bearing structural system of any one of claims 25, 26, or 27, wherein the specific shape of the at least one undulated shell and the specific shape, position, and orientation of each of the oriented wood fibers are deliberate and determined by parameters previously generated using digital or analog optimization tools.

29. The load-bearing structural system of any one of claims 25, 26, 27, or 28, further comprising a second board of a type selected from the group consisting of plywood, solid wood, OSB, CLT, chipboard, fiber-cement board, concrete board, WPC board, a composite board, a polymer board, a biopolymer board, a composite polymer board, and a board of the same material type as the material of the base, located in the lower area of the load-bearing structural system and joined to the underside of the at least one corrugated shell of its base, so that the at least one undulated shell keeps the two boards separated from each other and also distributes part of said forces to said second board, which in turn also distributes part of said forces to the system as a whole.

30. A modular building system comprising: a plurality of the composite structural building modules of any one of claims 1 to 20; and connecting means; wherein the composite structural building modules are structurally connected through the connecting means.

31. The modular building system of claim 30, wherein the composite structural building modules serve as walls, slabs, ceilings, floors, bridges, beams, pillars, columns, doors, and / or inclined planes.

32. The modular building system of any one of claims 30 or 31, wherein the composite structural building modules connect to other building elements made of other materials and / or to pre-existing constructions.

Images