ECS458

TIMBER DESIGN
INTRODUCTION

 LEARNING OUTCOMES
 SYLLABUS
 LESSON PLAN
Learning outcomes
At the end of the lecture student will be able
to;

– Design timber beam, column,

– Understand the properties of timber its
variations as structural members
SYNOPSIS

 This course deals with the design

of timber structures that is beam,
column,
 GENERAL
OVERVIEW
Timber or concrete?
 "I live in a part of the country that is
surrounded by an area prone to
earthquake and landslides. Is there
anything that can be done to protect
my home?"
Earthquake

After innovation of
building materials
Landslides at Bukit
Antarabangsa
Rescue mission
Alaskan
earthquake

Kobe earthquake

Japan
earthquake
 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.
Timber is better material for
construction
Load versus Deflection

10

8
Load (kN)

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
-2

Deflection (mm)
bintagor kedondong keruing

 But what is the problem in using timber

in Malaysia?
 Reasons for lack in Timber
usage and social stigma
 Wooden products being
perceived as expensive,
having high maintenance
requirements and poor
performance in service
 Due to timber resources
The way it was

The way it is now….

Type of forest
1. Plantation forest – few
species- management
2. Tropical forest –mix
species – replanting???
European countries,
USA, Aust , New
Zealand
Tropical forest: Malaysia
Quality and supply is inconsistent
 Timber is subject to attacks by insects,
reduce the life span of the building
and provide a hazard for the
occupants
Durability --Treated Timber
An
environmentally
friendly
product resistant
to termites

CCA-Treated Borate Treated

Effective against insects, rot

and fungi
Environmentally friendly
Full penetration
Colorless, odorless
Fire retardant
Current scenario in
timber construction
 Usage as the principle material in the
construction industry is very limited and far
from satisfactory
Problem:

 Building by law
 Insurance

Performance -- Fire
 Large quantity are mostly limited to
temporary structures such as formwork and
structures of minor importance such as roof
truss.
 Timber being used in a manner not in
accordance to good timber practice i.e not
utilizing proper treatment, seasoning and
good design/detailing practice
Material choices and construction technique

Timber roof
trusses

DEWAN UIA KUANTAN.

RUNTUH SEBELUM PENYERAHAN PROJEK
Steel roof
trusses
The
outcome of
timber
industries

Tarzan suffers the Too many deforestation

consequences of deforestation without replanting
 Since Malaysian timbers has variability
in strengths,
 limited species recognized as structural
members,

Therefore timbers need to be engineered

to gain acceptance in the industry.
Engineered
Engineered Wood
Wood Products
Products

Forintek
Canada
Corp.
Engineered
Engineered Wood
Wood Products
Products

Forintek
Canada
Corp.
EXAMPLES:2-4-Storey Vertically and
Horizontally Separated Units

In other
country
In Malaysia
 Can one day in Malaysia we able to
see these structures?
Japan expo
centre Germany large
pool

Canada train station

Library in
Australia
 Need engineers and architects,
builders, contractors, housing
agencies, timber industries etc to
promote the use of timber as
structural members.
 INTRODUCTION
 The inherent variability of a material such as timber,
which is unique in its structure and mode of growth,
results in characteristics and properties which are
distinct and more complex than those of other
common structural materials such as concrete, steel
and brickwork. Some of the characteristics which
influence design and specific to timber are:
 The moisture content
 The difference in strength when loads are applied
parallel and perpendicular to grain direction
 The duration of the application of the load
 The method adopted for the strength grading of the
timber.
Terms for timber
 Timber – are described as the normal
sawn structural members. Generally,
timber will contain of macroscopic
defects (cracks, knots etc) of different
shapes, sizes and orientation
 Wood – refer to small, clear
specimens, which are free of any
macroscopic defects. So wood is the
basic materials obtain from trees
 The structure of timber
A tree has three subsystems:
roots trunk and crown;
 Roots-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 transfer it via the trunk
to the crown
Tree
 Cont..
 Trunk provides rigidity, mechanical
strength and height to maintain the crown.
Also transport moisture and minerals up to
the crown and sap down from the crown
 Crown provides as large as possible a
catchments area covered by leaves. This
produce chemical reactions that form
sugar and cellulose which cause the
growth of the tree
As engineer we are mainly concern
with the trunk of the tree.

The cross-
section of a
trunk
 Composition of wood
 Long thin tabular cells made up of cellulose and
bound together by substance called lignin.
 Cells oriented in the direction of the axis of the
trunk except for cells called rays run radially
across the trunk.
 A tree produces new layer of wood under the
bark in the early part of every growing seasons
and the layer is called annular rings, annual rings
or growth rings. The age of a tree may be
determined by counting its growth ring
 In temperate countries, a tree produces a new layer at early part
of growth seasons and ceases at the end of growth seasons or
during winter months (eccentric rings)
 In tropical countries, trees growth throughout the year- more
uniform wood cells
 Annular ring is divided into two layers: inner layer made up
relatively large cavities called springwood and outer layer of
thick walls and small cavities called summerwood.
The timber itself can be
differentiated into sapwood and
heartwood
Sapwood
 The annular band of cross- sapwood
section nearest to the bark
 The living part of the trunk,
where xylem cells are still
living heartwood
 Sapwood is lighter in color
compared to heartwood and is
25 – 170 mm wide depending
on species e.g of sapwood trees:
 Sapwood acts a medium of
Jelutong, Rubberwood
transportation for sap from and Ramin
roots to the leaves
 Cont..
Heartwood
 The central core of the wood which is inside the
sapwood is heartwood.
 The physiological dead part of the xylem

 Cells are lignified and presence of extractives.

 Heartwood functions mainly to give mechanical

support or stiffness to the trunk

Sapwood has lower natural resistance to attacks

by fungi and insect and accepts preservative
more easily than heartwood
 Types of wood
Hardwoods and softwoods
 The terms ‘softwood’ and ‘hardwood’ do not indicate softness or
hardness of particular timbers. In fact, some hardwoods are softer
and lighter than softwoods. The main differences between
hardwoods and softwoods are botanical, and relate to the way the
tree grows and the timber is laid down:
 leaves – Hardwoods have broad leaves and lose their leaves at
the end of growing seasons, while softwoods are conifers and
have more needle-like leaves and generally evergreen 
 colour – Hardwoods often have darker coloured wood, while
softwoods are invariably light in colour.  (Note that there are a
number of species of hardwoods with light coloured woods.)
 density – Most hardwoods have thicker cell walls than softwoods.
Hardwoods often have higher densities than softwoods.  Again this
is not a definitive test, but it does reflect most of the Australian
and Malaysian species.
Characteristics of
softwood
 Quick growth rate, trees
can be felled after 30 years
resulting in low density
timber with relatively low
strength.
 Generally poor durability
qualities unless treated with
preservatives
 Due to speed of felling,
they are readily available
and comparatively cheap-i.e
rubber trees.
Characteristics of
hardwood
 Slow growth rate, takes
time to mature – over 100
years results in higher
density and strength.
 Generally good durability
less dependency on
preservatives
 More expensive than
softwood
 Microstructure of
softwood and hardwoods

tracheids
 Microstructure of softwood
 Softwood derives its strength from
a matrix of cellulose and
hemicellulose molecules bound
together with lignin.
 Consists of single cells called
tracheids, which are like straws in
plan
 Tracheids function as conduction
and support
 The remainder are parenchyma,
ray, resin and pith cells that
primarily store and transit food.
 Rays run in radial direction and
allow the convection of liquids to
where they are needed
•The tracheids' vertical orientation with the trees' trunk explains the
bending strength of wood "parallel with the grain direction" and its
susceptibility to splitting "perpendicular to the grain direction."
•Per unit of weight, softwood is stronger than steel.
 Microstructure of
hardwood
 More complex than softwood.
 With additional thick walled cells
called fibres providing the
structural support and thin walled
cells called vessels providing
medium for food conduction
 Also consists of distributed
parenchyma cells, and ray cells
wide enough in some species to
be seen easily with the naked eye.

•The fibre's vertical orientation with the trunk explains the high
bending strength of hardwoods "parallel with the grain direction"
and its susceptibility to splitting "perpendicular to the grain
direction."
 Physical Properties of
timber
 Moisture content – behaviour of timber unlike other material
significantly influenced by the existence and variation of its
moisture. The moisture content as determined by oven drying of
a test piece

w = 100 (m1 – m2)/m2

Where:
m1 is the mass of the test piece before drying (in g)
m2 is the mass of the test piece after drying (in g)

 Moisture contained in “green” timber is held both within the cells

(free water) and within the cell walls (bound water)
 The condition in which all free water has been removed but the
cell walls are still saturated is known as the fibre saturation point
(FSP)
 At levels of moisture above FSP, the
physical and mechanical properties remain
constants.
 Variations of moisture below FSP cause
considerable changes to properties such as
weight, strength, elasticity and shrinkage
and durability.
 Equilibrium MC at room temperature in
timber/wood can be achieved by seasoning
it after being cut from tree.
Seasoning- is the control
drying.
Methods:
 Air seasoning

in which the timber is stacked and

layered with air-space in open sided
sheds to promote natural drying
Relatively inexpensive with very little loss
in the quality of timber
Disadvantage- space is unavailable for
long period and limited control in the
space between the layers and the stacks.
 •Kiln drying
 Timber is dried out in a heated,
ventilated and humidified oven.
 Requires specialist equipment and
more expensive in terms of energy
input
 Offer control environment to
achieve the required reduction in
moisture content much quicker.
 Timber defects
 Defects in timber
whether natural or
caused during
conversion or
seasoning, will have
an effect on structural
strength as well as
fixing, stability,
durability and finished
appearance of timber
Types of defects
 Natural defects – occurs during growing
period
 Chemical defects- occurs 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.
 Conversion defects – due to unsound
practice in the use of milling techniques or
to undue economy in attempting to use
every possible piece of timber converted
from trunk
 Seasoning defects –related to the
movement occurs in timber due to change
in moisture
Seasoning Defects in
timber
 Caused by differential drying out due to
uneven exposure to drying agents such as
wind, sun and applied heat can results in a
number of defects

Distortion due to
differential directional
shrinkage
Seasoning defects
Natural defects
 Sawing (conversion) timber

In a mill timber is converted from a trunk into suitable

commercial sizes and typical sawing patterns are as
follows:
Typical sawing patterns
Natural and conversion
defects
Other properties

 Density – best single indicator of the properties of

timber and major factor determining its strength.
Specific gravity or relative density is a measure of
timber’s solid substance. Basic specific gravity of
timber is expressed at certain moisture content
and generally ranges from 0.29 to 0.81.
 Grain- often used in reference to annual rings and
to indicate the direction of fibers. Timber grain
angle can be estimated by visual inspection or
using Scriber (MS554). grain is the longitudinal
direction of the main elements of timber, these
main elements being fibres or tracheids and
vessels in the case of hardwood.
 Scriber-to determine
slope of grain

Slope of grain has important effect on the strength of

timber. A reduction of 4% in strength can result from a
slope of 1 in 25, increasing to an 11% loss for slope of 1
in 15.
Slope of the
grain
 Depends on the way
timber is cut
Slope of grain
Cont..
Variation due to :
 Poor cutting

 Irregular growth of
timber
 The effect is lesser if
axially loading but
poor in bending
resistance
 y T
1
R
2

 L
x
2

(a) (b)

 Axes directions (a) Principle direction and

rotation angle in Cartesian coordination for
uniaxial anisotropic timber (b) The direction of
principle axes for general anisotropic timber
Other factors

 Position in tree and condition of

growth - high density near the butt
and near the pith and low near the top
and away from pith. Timber structure
from trees depends on soil type, tree
spacing, sunlight, temp