WOOD

as building
materials
ECHIN, SHIELLA MAY S.
02/03/2021
Uses of wood

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• Fencing
• Used in producing furniture
• Used in creating art
• Used as insulation
• Used for heating
• Used to make most kitchen utensils
• Used to make musical instruments
• Used to make Sports equipment
• Used in shipbuilding
• Used to make children toys

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And of course, in building a home/structure!

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• Wood is one of the most used natural building materials in the world.
• can be used in most economical way without wasting any of the derivative of it.

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Types of Trees for
Timber Production

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The trees are classified into following types
based on their mode of growth.

• Exogenous
• Endogenous

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Exogenous

• Exogenous trees are outward growing trees.

• Horizontal section of such tree contains several rings which are nothing but
annual rings.
• These rings can be used to predict the age of tree.
• Most of the exogenous trees are useful for many engineering purposes.

1 .Exogenous trees are sub classified into following types:

1.1 Conifers
1.2 Deciduous

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 1.1 Conifers
• Conifers are nothing but soft wood producing trees which are also called as ever green trees.
• The timber of these trees is light colored, light in weight, low dense and poor against fire.
• Examples: Pine, Fir, redwood, spruce, deodar, cedar etc.

1.2 Deciduous
• Deciduous trees are hard wood producing trees.
• The leaves of this type of trees are generally broad in size and they fall in autumn and
grow in spring.
• Deciduous trees are most suitable for constructional purposes.
• Timber of deciduous trees is dark colored, dense, heaviest and good against fire.
• Examples: Maple, Mahogany, Oak, teak, walnut, babul etc.
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Endogenous
• Endogenous trees are inward growing trees which contains fibrous mass in their
longitudinal section.
• The timber from these trees is useful in some limited engineering purposes.
• Examples: bamboo, palm, cane etc.

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Structure of a Tree

The structure of tree can be divided in to two categories as follows:

1. Macrostructure
2. Microstructure

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1. Macrostructure

• The structure of a tree which is visible to the naked eye is called macro
structure of tree.
• Macrostructure of tree contains following components
Pith
Heart wood
Sap wood
Cambium Layer
Inner bark
Outer bark
Medullary rays

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 Pith
• The core part or innermost part of the
tree is called as pith.
• It contains cellulose tissues which are
helpful for the growth of plant during
its young age.
Heart wood
• Heart wood is the portion around the
pith which is dark in color and contain
some annual rings in it.
• It is very hard and provides rigidity to
the tree.
• Heart wood is used for several
engineering purposes because of its
strength and durability.
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FIG. 1 SHOWS MACROSTRUCTURE OF WOOD Contoso
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 Sap wood
• Sap wood contain outer annual rings.
• This indicates the recent growth of
tree and is light in color.
• It contains sap which helps in the
growth of tress.
Cambium Layer
• Cambium layer contains sap which will
turn into sap wood after some time.
• It should not exposed to atmosphere
otherwise the tree may dead.
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FIG. 1 SHOWS MACROSTRUCTURE OF WOOD Contoso
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 Inner bark
• The protecting layer of cambium layer is Outer
• The outermost layerbark
of the tree section is
known as inner bark. called outer bark or cortex.
• It contains cells of wood fiber.

Medullary rays
• The rays extending from pith to cambium
layer are known as medullary rays.
• These rays hold the annual rings of sap
wood and heart wood together.

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FIG. 1 SHOWS MACROSTRUCTURE OF WOOD Contoso
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2. Microstructure

• Micro structure of a tree can only be visible with great magnifications.

• It contains cells of different shapes and sizes.
• These cells are responsible for many actions like nutrients transport to branches
from stem, strength of tree etc.

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Processing of Timber

Processing of Timber contains following steps:

1. Felling of Trees
2. Seasoning of Timber
3. Conversion of Timber
4. Preservation of Timber

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1. Felling of Trees

• Felling of trees is nothing but cutting of trees which are suitable for engineering
purposes.
• Felling should be done when the tree is matured.
• The perfect age of trees for felling varies from 50 to 100 years.
• The best season for felling of trees is Mid-winter for plain areas and mid-summer
for hilly areas.

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2. Seasoning of Timber

• Seasoning of timber means removal of moisture content from timber.

• A newly fell tree contains water up to 50% of its dry weight.

There are two methods of seasoning are there namely:

2.1 Natural seasoning
2.2 Artificial Seasoning

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Objectives of Seasoning of Timber.

1. Reduces much of the useless weight of timber;

2. Increases its strength considerably;
3. Improves the workability of the timber;
4. Decreases the chances of development of shrinkage defects, and,
5. Increases the life of timber, i.e. makes it more durable.

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2.1 Natural seasoning is the process in which timber is seasoned by subjecting it to
the natural elements such as air or water. Natural seasoning may be water seasoning or
air seasoning.
WATER AIR
Water seasoning is the process in • In the process of air seasoning timber
logs are arranged in layers in a shed.
which timber is immersed in water The arrangement is done by
flow which helps to remove the sap maintaining some gap with the
ground. So, platform is built on
present in the timber. ground at 300mm height from
It will take 2 to 4 weeks of time and ground. The logs are arranged in such
a way that air is circulated freely
after that the timber is allowed to between logs. By the movement of
dry. Well-seasoned timber is ready air, the moisture content in timber
slowly reduces and seasoning occurs.
to use. Even though it is a slow process it will
produce well-seasoned timber.

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The advantages of natural (air) seasoning are:
• It is highly economical;
• It requires little supervision;
• It is applicable to thicker timber parts as
well as a thin section.
Disadvantages of Air Seasoning:
Among the major disadvantages, following
are more important:
• It is a very slow process;
• It keeps the valuable land and timber
blocked for longer periods (and hence in
some cases may be uneconomical).
• Moisture content cannot be brought
below a certain limit (16-17 percent).
• Seasoning is not always uniform in all
the sections of timber.
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2.2 Artificial Seasoning of Timber Natural seasoning gives good results but takes more time. So, artificial seasoning of
timber is developed nowadays. By artificial seasoning, timber is seasoned with in 4-5 days. Here also different methods of
artificial seasoning are there and they are as follows.

Seasoning by Boiling Chemical Seasoning

• Seasoning of timber is also achieved • In case of chemical seasoning,

by boiling it in water for 3 to 4 hours. timber is stored in suitable salt
After boiling timber is allowed to solution for some time. The salt
drying. For large quantity of timber solution used has the tendency to
boiling is difficult so, sometimes hot absorb water from the timber. So,
steam is passed through timber logs the moisture content is removed
in enclosed room. It also gives good
results. The boiling or steaming
and then timber is allowed to
process develops the strength and drying. It affects the strength of
elasticity of timber but economically the timber.
it is of heavier cost.
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Kiln Seasoning
• In this method timber is subjected to hot air in
air tight chamber. The hot air circulates in
between the timber logs and reduces the
moisture content. The temperature inside the
chamber is raised with the help of heating coils.
When the required temperature is obtained
moisture content and relative humidity gets
reduced and timber gets seasoned. Even though
it is costly process it will give good results
strength wise.
Electrical Seasoning
• In the method of electrical seasoning timber is
subjected to high frequency alternating currents.
The resistance of timber against electricity is
measured at every interval of time. When the
required resistance is reached seasoning,
process is stopped because resistance of timber
increases by reducing moisture content in it. It is
also called as rapid seasoning and it is
uneconomical.
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Advantages of artificial seasoning Disadvantages of artificial seasoning
(timber): (timber):

• Exact moisture content achieved, • Expensive to set up,

• More control over seasoning, • Skilled operator needed,
• Uniform circulation of Air. • Different drying schedules for various
• Quick method. species.

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3. Conversion of Timber

Conversion of timber is the process of cutting of timber into required sections.

This can be done by using power machines. Skilled persons should be required for
economic conversion of timber. The conversion can be done by four types as
follows
3.1 Ordinary sawing
3.2 Tangential sawing
3.3 Quarter awing
3.4 Radial sawing

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 Ordinary sawing Tangential sawing
• It is the most used and easy method of sawing. • In this type of sawing the cuts are tangential to
The cutting is done through the section of annual rings and they meet each other at right
timber piece at perpendicular to the annual angles. This method is suitable when the annual
rings. Wastage of timber is minimum in this case. rings are very distinct with each other.
The obtained planks are not of equal strength.
The outer planks contain sap wood and shrinks
more while the inner portion planks contain
heart wood which shrinks less.

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 Quarter sawing Radial sawing
• In quarter sawing, the cuts are made right angles • In this type of sawing, the cuts are made parallel
to each other. This is suitable when the timber to the medullary rays radially. In this method
have no distinct medullary rays. wastage of timber is maximum.

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4. Preservation of Timber
• The final stage of timber processing is preservation which is carried out to increase the
durability of timber and also to resist the attacks of fungi, insects etc. on timber.
• In general ASCU, Coal tar, Oil paints, Solignum paints etc. are used as preservatives.

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Defects in Timber.

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• Defects in timber may be defined as, any undesirable character -natural or artificial- that
lowers its strength, durability or quality.
• Defects in timber are generally distinguished as natural defects and artificial defects.

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Natural Defects in Timber.
This group includes all those defects: that are developed in a tree during its growth. Most
common natural defects are: knots, shakes, cross grain, crookedness, rind galls, burr, and curl.

1. KNOTS
• A knot marks the position of growth of a branch on the
tree. On the cut board, it is most easily marked by its
conspicuously darker appearance and harder character.
• A knot is essentially a discontinuity in the timber and
hence a place of weakness.

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Some types of knot are:

1.1 ROUNDED
1.2 KNOT CLUSTER
1.3 ELONGATED
1.4 FACE KNOT
1.5 EDGE KNOT
1.6 PIN KNOTS
1.7 LIVE AND
1.8 DEAD KNOTS.

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Knots of whatever type and shape are always to be considered as defects in timber. They
influence the quality of timber at least in two ways:

1. Firstly, they make the workability of timber quite difficult. They are harder and offer
greater resistance to planning and polishing.
2. Secondly, they reduce the tensile strength of the timber. Compressive and shear
strength are, however, not affected badly.

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Natural Defects in Timber.
This group includes all those defects: that are developed in a tree during its growth. Most
common natural defects are: knots, shakes, cross grain, crookedness, rind galls, burr, and curl.

1. KNOTS
• A knot marks the position of growth of a branch on the
tree. On the cut board, it is most easily marked by its
conspicuously darker appearance and harder character.
• A knot is essentially a discontinuity in the timber and
hence a place of weakness.

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 2. SHAKES • 2.1 Heart Shakes:
After knots, shakes are more serious
and common defects in timber. These are cracks or clefts occurring in the
heartwood, i.e., towards the inner region.
• In simple language, they are also They indicate the beginning of decay of the
called cracks or fissures. These tree. They become thinner as they extend
natural cracks may result from: outward (towards sapwood).
Shrinkage on aging of the tree;
due to movement caused by wind
action in the growing tree;
freezing of sap in the cells during its
ascent

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Star Shakes:
• They are also called radial shakes. They generally
arise in the sap wood and extend towards the
inner regions.
• Hence, these are wider in the outer regions and
become narrower as they pass inwards.
• The main cause for their development in a living
tree is severe temperature difference during
different seasons, such as excessive heat during
summer, and severe cold, leading to frost
formation in winter.
Cup Shakes:
• These are also called ring shakes. These are cracks
that develop parallel to the annual rings.
• As such, when fully developed, they may separate
portions of timber longitudinally along the rings.
But this condition is seldom seen.
• Generally, they develop along a part of a particular
annual ring. Reasons for development of cup or
ring shakes are to be sought in the unequal growth
of the timber.
• The most important effect of the shakes on the
timber is that these reduce its resistance to shear
considerably.
• As such, it is necessary to avoid the use of timber
containing shakes where severe shear stresses are
involved.
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3. CROSS GRAIN.
• As said earlier, fibers of the wood in a
normal tree are usually parallel to the
axis of growth (length of timber). This
structure is called straight grained.
• In some cases, however, these fibers are
not straight; they make an angle or slope
with the axis of the tree, the structure is
then called cross-grained.

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 4. Rindgall
• The curved swelling resulted from the
growth of sap wood layers on wound,
left by a falling branch or cut off
branch in an irregular manner is called
rindgall.
• The new growth does not unite
properly with the old wood and leaves
a carity where decaying action may
set in the form of rindgall.

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 SOURCES
• https://www.sciencedaily.com/terms/tree.htm#:~:text=Exogenous%20tree
s%2C%20which%20comprise%20the,addition%20of%20new%20material%
20inwards.
• https://allusesof.com/home-use/10-uses-of-wood/
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqSny3GF-x8
• https://civilseek.com/seasoning-of-timber/
• https://civilseek.com/defects-in-timber/
• https://tanyadecor.home.blog/2019/08/15/building-material-diseases-
defects-of-timber-requirement-of-timber-part-4/

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TO BE CONTINUED…

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Thank You!!
April Hansson
ECHN, SHIELLA MAY S.,UAP
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