2.

1 Introduction of Timber Structure

Prepared by:
Dr. Norshariza Mohamad Bhkari
COURSE OUTCOME

CO 1 : Apply engineering knowledge of

basic fundamentals design of steel and
timber structures.

CO 2 : Design the basic structural

components of steel and timber using
relevant codes of practices.

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PROGRAMME OUTCOME

PO 2 : Identify, formulate, research literature and

analyse complex civil engineering problems
reaching substantiated conclusions using first
principles of mathematics, natural sciences and
engineering sciences.

PO 5 : Create, select and apply appropriate

techniques, resources, and modern engineering
and IT tools, including prediction and modeling,
to complex civil engineering problems, with an
understanding of the limitations.

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 Structural and Materials Division
LEARNING
Faculty of Civil OUTCOMES
Engineering
Universiti Teknologi MARA Pahang

At the end of this lesson, students should be able

to:
 Understand basic concepts of timber and
timber physical properties.
 Describe types of defects contributing to the
strength reducing characteristic of timber.

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INTRODUCTION
Timber as Structural Material

 Wood, been used for building since the

dawn of man, is blessed with a variety of
characteristics which afford it great
versatility
 Used for structural work, it also functions
well as insulation against temperature and
noise, it is also ecological friendly.
 As interior décor, its usage are practically
unlimited and above all its warmth, texture
and touch are its known traits.
INTRODUCTION
Timber as Structural Material

 Timber is unique in its structure and mode

of growth.
 Results in characteristics and properties
are distinct and more complex than other
structural materials.
 Can be used for variety of structural forms
as beams, columns, trusses, girder, piles,
deck members, railway sleepers and
formwork.

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INTRODUCTION
Timber as Structural Material

 Some of characteristics which influence design

and are specific to timber are:
• The moisture content. More than 19% is
consider as wet/green timber. Less than 19%
is consider as dry timber.
• The difference in strength when loads are
applied parallel and perpendicular to the grain
direction.
Timber grain

(a) Load applied parallel to grain

and (b) Load applied
7 perpendicular to grain
INTRODUCTION
Timber as Structural Material

• The duration of the application of the load. Increase in

time will decrease the timber strength.

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INTRODUCTION
Timber as Structural Material

• The method adopted for strength grading of the

timber (i.e. visual grading, machine grading)

Visual grading Machine grading

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INTRODUCTION
Timber as Structural Material

 It is relatively high durable when properly ‘ treated and

built’.

 It has:
• Light weight (especially for softwood or lower density
timber).
• Excellent insulating properties.
• Good fire resistance (especially for hardwood timber)
• Aesthetic appeal.

 However, timber is very sensitive to environmental

conditions e.g. timber is very sensitive to the moisture
content which it gives a direct effect on the strength and
stiffness, swelling or shrinkage of the timber.
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INTRODUCTION
The Structure of Timber

 The sources of structural timber are

coming from the mature trees of any
species.
 Essential for the engineer to have a
knowledge of the nature and growth
patterns of tree.
 Basically, there are three subsystems:
• Roots
• Trunk
• Crown
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INTRODUCTION
Timber as Structural Material

CROWN
As large as possible a
catchments area covered by
leaves. These produce chemical
reactions that form sugar and
cellulose which cause the
growth of the tree.

TRUNK
Provides rigidity, mechanical
strength and height to maintain
the crown. Also transports
moisture and minerals up to the
crown and sap down from the
ROOTS crown.
By spreading through the soil as
well as acting as a foundation.
Enable the growing tree to
withstand wind forces. They
absorb moisture containing
minerals from the soil and
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transfer it via trunk to the crown.
INTRODUCTION
Timber as Structural Material

 The trunk is the most important for engineers.

 The cross section of a trunk:

 Wood is composed of long thin tabular cells.

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INTRODUCTION
Timber as Structural Material

 The cell walls are made up of cellulose and the cells are
bound together by a substance known as lignin.
 In temperature countries, a tree produces a new layer of
wood just under the bark in the early part of every
growing season. This process will produce a visible
concentric rings known as annular rings, annual rings
or growth rings.
 In tropical countries where trees grow throughout the
year, a tree produces wood cells that are essentially
uniform. The age of a tree may be determined by
counting its growth rings.

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INTRODUCTION
Timber as Structural Material

 The annual band of cross-section nearest to the bark is

called sapwood. It acts as a medium of transportation
for sap from the roots to the leaves.
 The central core of the wood which is inside the
sapwood is heartwood. It functions mainly to give
mechanical support or stiffness to the trunk.

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INTRODUCTION
Types of Timber

Hardwood Timber Softwood Timber

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INTRODUCTION
Types of Timber

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INTRODUCTION
Defects in Timber

 Wood have a lot of defects due to the growing

period and during the conversion and seasoning
process.

 These defects may cause reduction to its

strength or impairing its appearance.

 Defects may be classified as:

• Natural defects
• Chemical defects
• Conversion defects

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• Seasoning defects
INTRODUCTION
Defects in Timber

1. Natural Defects
Occurs during the growing period.
 Cracks and fissures
Occurs in various parts of the tree and the indication of
decaying process.

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INTRODUCTION
Defects in Timber

 Knots
Common features of a wood where this is the portion of
a branch embedded by the natural growth of the tree.

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INTRODUCTION
Defects in Timber

 Grain defects
Refers to the direction of the fibre arrangement in wood.
May occurs in the form of twisted-grain, cross-grain, flat-
grain and spiral-grain.

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INTRODUCTION
Defects in Timber

 Fungal decay
Occur in growing mature timber or even in recently
converted timber. It is good practice to reject such
timber.

 Annual ring width

This can be critical in respect of strength in that excess
width of such rings can reduce the density of the timber.

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INTRODUCTION
Defects in Timber

2. Chemical Defects
Occurs in particular instances when timber is used in unsuitable
positions or in association with other materials. Timbers such as Oak
and Western Red Cedar contain tannic acid and other chemicals
which corrode metals. Gums and resins can inhabit the working
properties of timber and interfere with the ability to take adhesives.

3. Conversion Defects
Due to misleading in the milling techniques in attempting to use every
possible piece of timber converted from the trunk. A wane is the
example of the conversion defects.

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INTRODUCTION
Defects in Timber
4. Seasoning Defects
 Related to the movements that occurs in a timber due to changes in
moisture content.
 Excessive or uneven drying, expose to wind and rain, may produce
defects or distortions in timber.
 All such defects have an effect on structural strength as well as on
fixiting, stability, durability and finished appearance.

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INTRODUCTION
Physical Properties of Timber

 Timber’s strength is dependent on many factors which act in

dependently or in conjunction with others which is:

• Moisture content
• Density
• Slope of grain
• Timber defects
• Timber grading
• Position in tree
• Condition of growth

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INTRODUCTION
Physical Properties of Timber

1. Moisture Content

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INTRODUCTION
Physical Properties of Timber

The controlling drying of timber is known as seasoning.

 Air seasoning
The timber is stacked and layered with air-spaced in open sided
sheds to promote natural drying. This method is relatively
inexpensive with very little loss in the quality of timber if carried out
correctly. It has disadvantage that the timber and the space which
it occupies are unavailable for long periods.

 Kiln drying
Timber is dried out in a heated, ventilated and humidified oven.
This requires specialist equipment and is more expensive in terms
of energy input. The technique does offer a more controlled
environment in which to achieve the require reduction in moisture
cotent and is much quicker.

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INTRODUCTION
Physical Properties of Timber

 The green stresses or unseasoned timbers being used in a

structure and subjected to full design load before they have
chance to dry.
 They also apply to timber being kept wet by being submerged
in water.
 All large sized timbers (exceeding 100mm thickness) should
normally make use of the green stresses in design unless a
designer is sure that the timbers are fully below 19%
moisture content at the time of installation and kept dry in
service.
 The dry stresses which are gven in the tables are higher than
the green stresses.

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INTRODUCTION
Physical Properties of Timber

2. Density
 Major factor determining its strength.
 Specific gravity or relatively density is a measure of timber’s
solid substance.
 Expressed as the ratio of the oven-dry weight to the weight of
an equal volume of water.
 Since water volume varies with the moisture content of the
timber, the specific gravity of timber is expressed at a certain
moisture content.
 Basic SG of commercial timber ranges from 0.29-0.81.

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INTRODUCTION
Physical Properties of Timber

3. Slope of Grain
 Grain is the longitudinal direction of the main elements of
timbers.
 If the angle of deviation increases, the strength will
decreases.
 For timber having sloping grain of as little as 1/18,the
bending strength is reduced by 15%

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INTRODUCTION
Physical Properties of Timber

4. Timber Grading
 In order to have a way of selling or buying the timber product
to various parts of the world, the timber have to undergone
the grading system for structural applications for determining
the permissible stresses to a series of grades.
 Two types of grading:
• Visual grading
• Machine grading

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INTRODUCTION
Physical Properties of Timber

5. Timber Defects
 As describe earlier, defects in timber whether natural or
caused during conversion or seasoning will have an effect on
structural strength as well as on fixing, stability, durability and
finished appearance of timber.

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INTRODUCTION
Physical Properties of Timber

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INTRODUCTION
Design Stress of Timber

 Basic stress
The stress that can safely be permanent sustained by timber containing
no strength reducing characteristics.
 Grade stress
The stress which can be safely be permanent sustained by timber of a
particular grade.
 Green stress
A stress to timber having a MC>19%.
 Dry stress
A stress to timber having a MC<19%.
 Permissible stress
The stresses which can safely be sustained by a structure component
under the particular condition of service and loading

Permissible stress = Grade stress x appropriate modification factor

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INTRODUCTION
Design Stress of Timber

In deriving the basic stress. The following factors are considered:

 Variation of strength
• Timber has a considerable variation from one species to another
species and even within a specified species.
• Timber is not been controlled by human and it is a biological material.
• However, the mean of the strength and the standard deviation can be
computed from statistics.
• In statistic, for a probability of 1 in 100, the minimum value is estimated:

 Duration of loading
• Strength of wood decreases significantly as the duration of the load
increases.
• The ultimate stress obtained by laboratory testing will have to be
reduced accordingly to obtain the basic stress.

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INTRODUCTION
Design Stress of Timber

 Size and Shape of Member

• As the beam increases its depth, the strength will be decreased in
terms of modulus of rupture.
• Since the actual structural sizes are large than the small clear
specimen, a factor has to be be used to required the basic stress.

 Safety Factor
• To accomodate factor such as overloading, assumption during design
and design inaccurancies together with errors in workmanship.

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 THANK YOU
SEE YOU IN THE NEXT CLASS!