1. LECTURE NO. 20 (Handout) TIMBER
Objectives:
To explain the engineering properties and usages of timber

2. INTRODUCTION
The "wood" used for building, carpentry or various other engineering purposes is termed as "timber".
Wood is used extensively for buildings, bridges, utility poles, piles, floor, trusses, roofs
Wood is used in the following forms:
Natural form, and
Engineered wood products (laminates, plywood, strand board, etc)
Low cost, availability, ease of use, and renewable
Wood is natural, renewable product from trees. There are more than 600 species of trees in the U.S alone

3. INTRODUCTION Trees are classified into two types based on growth
Exogenous: Growth from center out by adding concentric layer of wood
Endogenous: Growth with intertwined fibers, such as bamboo
Predominant physical features of tree stem
Bark
Cambium
Wood (sap wood and heartwood)
Pith
Sapwood functions as storehouse for starches and as a pipeline to transport sap
Heartwood are cells that are chemically and physically altered by mineral deposit. It provides structural strength for the tree
Annual rings or tree rings are the concentric layers in the stem of exogenous trees
Each annual ring is composed of earlywood and latewood. Earlywood grows during spring time and has large cell openings (cavities). Latewood grows during summer and consists of dense, dark, and thick cells wall, which produce a stronger wood than earlywood

4. ANISOTROPIC NATURE OF WOOD
Wood is an anisotropic material because it has different properties in various directions
Three-axis orientation in wood are
Longitudinal or parallel to the grain
Radical or across the growth rings (perpendicular to the grain)
Tangential or tangent to the growth rings
An isotropic nature affects physical and mechanical properties of wood such as shrinkage, stiffness, and strength
The wood cells have a rectangular cross section. The center of the tubes is hollow. The tube structure resists stresses parallel to its length, but it will deform when loaded on its side
Tubes are 100/1 (length to diameter)

5. CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF WOOD
Cellulose: 50% by weight
Lignin:
23-33% in softwoods, 16-26% in hardwoods
It is the glue for the cells. It controls the shear strength.
Hemicellulose:
15-20% of softwood and 20-30% of hardwood.
Polymeric units made from sugar molecules. Xylone in hardwoods, mannose in softwood.
Extractives:
5-30% of the wood substance
Include poly-phenolics, coloring material, oils and fats, resins, waxes, gums, starches.
Soluble in water, alcohol, acetone, and benzene
Ash-forming materials:
0.1to 3.0% of the wood material
Include calcium, potassium, phosphate, and silica

6. WATER IN WOOD Types of water in wood: Fiber Saturation Point (FSP):
Bound water: held within the cell wall by absorption forces
Free water exists as either condensed water or water vapor
Fiber Saturation Point (FSP):
The level at which the cell walls are completely saturated, but no free water exists in the cell cavities
FSP varies among tree species, typically range in 21-32%
Physical and mechanical properties are dependent on the FSP
Shrinkage:
If the moisture content is higher than the FSP, the wood is dimensionally stable
Shrinkage may result with the moisture content less than the FSP
Occurs when moisture is lost from cell walls
Swelling occurs when moisture is gained in the cell walls
Shrinkage in the radial direction is generally one-half the change in the tangential direction
Shrinkage in the longitudinal direction is usually minimal, ranging from 0.1 to 0.2% for a change in the moisture content from FSP to oven dry

7. WOOD PRODUCTION PROCESSES
Wood is produced through following processes:
Harvesting
Sawing into desired shapes and sizes
Seasoning
Surfacing
Preservation

8. WOOD PRODUCTION PROCESSES: Harvesting of wood
Logs of wood are harvested during the fall or winter due to fire hazards and also cutting the trees at the end of their non-tree plant lives in the forest

9. WOOD PRODUCTION PROCESSES: Sawing of wood into desired shapes and sizes
Harvested logs are transported to sawmill where they are cut into following useful dimensional shapes:
Lumber
mm (2 - 5 inch) thick, sawing and surfacing on all four sides remove 5-10 mm from the dimensions
Sizes include 24, 26, 28, 210, 212, 44 referring to rough cut dimensions in inches, actual sizes are less
Lengths range from 8 to 24 ft
Uses include studs, sill, and top plates, joists, beams, rafters, trusses, and decking
Heavy timber
Rough sawn dimensions of 46, 66, 88 reduced by 10 mm per side due to surfacing.
Uses include heavy-frame construction, landscaping, railroad ties, and marine construction
Round stock
Poles and posts used for building, marine pilings, and utility poles

10. WOOD PRODUCTION PROCESSES: Seasoning of wood
Seasoning is the process of removing moisture from a harvested wood
Green wood contains 30 to 200% moisture by oven-dried weight, this is lowered to 7% for dry areas or up to 14% in damp areas, leaving a saw mill, wood is at 15% moisture
Air drying (inexpensive and slow)
Stack boards with air space between them to allow drying
After 3 to 4 months, it reaches the local humidity level
Often requires further dying to reach acceptable levels
Kiln drying (scientific and expensive)
Boards dried at F for 4-10 days
Rapid drying may result in cracks and deformed lumber, and post-process wood is thirsty, so it must be covered and cared for properly

11. WOOD PRODUCTION PROCESSES: Surfacing of wood
Planning (surfacing) to produce a smooth surface
Post-drying surfacing yields higher quality lumber because it removes small defects developed during the drying
In case of pre-surfacing, the dimensions are slightly increases to compensate for shrinkage during seasoning

12. WOOD PRODUCTION PROCESSES: Wood preservation
The wood needs to be preserved against the degradation caused by various organisms such as: fungi, bacteria, insects, and marine organisms.
The quality of preservation depends on the following:
The type of preservative
The degree of penetration by preservative
The amount of the chemical retained in the wood
Types of preservatives
Paints
Petroleum-based solutions
These are very effective but environmentally sensitive.
Used where a high degree of environmental exposure exists and human contact is not a concern such as utility poles, railroad ties, retaining walls
Waterborne preservatives (salts)
Ammoniacal copper arsenate
Chromated copper arsenate
Ammoniocal copper zinc arsenate
Advantages: Cleanliness and ability to be painted
Disadvantages: Their removal by leaching when exposed to moist conditions over long periods of time. Environmentally sensitive.
Used for wood structure such as residual decks and fences

13. WOOD PRODUCTION PROCESSES: Wood preservation---contd.
Preservative application techniques
Superficial treatment
Techniques include coatings applied by painting, spraying, or immersion
Fluid penetration process
Occurs by capillary action and is a function of surface tension, angle of contact,
time, temperature, and pressure
Pressure-treated wood has greater resistance to degradation than surface-treated wood because the preservative is forced into the entire structure of the wood

14. ENGINEERED WOOD PRODUCTS
Following engineered wood products are manufactured by bonding wood strands, veneers, lumber, or fibers.
Glued - laminated timber (glulam)
Structural composite lumber (same dimensions as sawn wood dimensional lumber)
Structural strand panels (plywood, orientated strand board, and composite panels)
Wood I-Joists
Quality and serviceability depend on:
Gluing properties and wood preparation
Type of adhesive
Quality control in the gluing process
Adhesives used for gluing:
Natural (casein, vegetable protein, and blood protein glues)
Synthetic (phenol, urea, resorcinol, polyvinyl, and epoxy resins)

15. ENGINEERED WOOD PRODUCTS Glued-laminated timbers
Douglas-fir and southern pine are the most common
Advantages:
Ease of manufacturing large members
Can design large members whose cross-sections vary along their length
Can use low grade wood for less stressed areas
Minimal seasoning defects
Factors that affect strength:
Cross-grain
Knots
Effect of end joining

16. ENGINEERED WOOD PRODUCTS Plywood
Thin sheets of wood (plies) that are glued in layers
Production of Plywood:
Logs are saturated. Six hours before processing are moved into boiling water.
Bark is removed and logs are cut into eight-foot sections
A continuous sheet of veneer is peeled from the log
Veneer is seasoned and dried
Assemble, glue, and press veneer
Classification based on:
Type of wood used
Number of plies
Grade of plies
Type of adhesive
Properties of Plies:
Adjacent sheets have grain that runs perpendicular to each other
The middle plies in even - plied panels have the same grain orientation
Plies are 1.6 mm to 7.9 mm thick
Plywood panels are 3.2 to 29 mm thick

17. ENGINEERED WOOD PRODUCTS Particle Board and Strand Board
Manufactured by gluing together "scraps" produces
Particle board is made from sawdust-sized particles
Strand board is made from flat chips
These products are replacing plywood in many applications because it is cheaper

18. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD: Moisture content (MC)
MC is the weight of water as a percentage of the oven-dry weight of the wood
Oven-dried is attained in an oven at 100ºC to 150ºC until the wood attains a constant weight
Physical properties, such as weight, shrinkage and strength depend on the moisture content of wood

19. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD: Specific gravity (G)
Specific gravity of wood is determined in the oven-dry condition, as:
G is a good indicator of mechanical properties
G depends on cell size, cell-wall thickness, and the number and type of cells.
G for cell material is 1.5

20. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD: Density or unit weight ()
Following equation is recommended to calculate density of wood at any moisture content:
Where: G is the specific gravity in oven-dry condition and MC is the moisture content in percent.
The dry density of wood can range from 160 kg/m3 (10 lb/ft3) to 1000 kg/m3 (65 lb/ft3) depending on tree species
The range of the majority is kg/m3 (20 to 45 lb/ft3

21. PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD: Thermal conductivity, Thermal diffusivity and Electrical resistivity
It is the rate of heat flow
Thermal conductivity for wood is a fraction of most metals and 3 to 4 times greater than most common insulating material
It depends on grain orientation, moisture content, specific gravity, extractive content, and irregularities
Heat flow parallel to grain is 2.0 to 2.8 times greater than in the radial direction
As the moisture content increases from 0 to 40%, the thermal conductivity increases by about 30%
It has linear correlation with specific gravity meaning heavier wood conduct heat faster
Thermal Diffusivity:
It is a measure of the rate at which a material absorbs heat from its surroundings
For wood, it is much smaller than that of other common building materials
Thermal diffusivity value of wood averages mm/s ( inch/s)
Electrical Resistivity:
Air-dry wood is a good electrical insulator
Resistivity decreases by a factor of three for each percentage increase in moisture content
Wood has the resistivity of water when it reaches the fiber saturation point (FSP)

22. Coefficient of Thermal Expansion:
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD: Specific heat and Coefficient of thermal expansion
Specific Heat:
It is the ratio of the quantity of heat required to raise the temperature of a material 1 degree to that required for raising the temperature of an equal mass of water by 1 degree
For wood, it is dependent on moisture and temperature
Species and density have little or no effect on specific heat
Coefficient of Thermal Expansion:
It is a measure of dimensional changes caused by a temperature variance
Longitudinal (parallel to grain) coefficient values range from to mm/m/°C ( to inch/inch/°F)
Coefficients are 5 to 10 times greater across the grain
Moist wood that is heated, expands due to thermal expansion and shrinks due to moisture loss (below FSP) which usually results in a net shrinkage

23. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD: Strength
Vary widely depending on the tree species and direction of the grain relative to the direction of the force
Compressive and tensile strengths in the direction parallel to grain are found to be several times more than that in the direction perpendicular to grain
Columns, posts, and members of a truss subjected to axial loads are the examples of loads parallel to grain.
A vertical member supported to a horizontal member is an example of load perpendicular to grain
The compressive strength in the direction parallel to the grain is around more than 10 times the strength perpendicular to the grain
The tensile strength in the direction parallel to the grain is about more than 30 times the strength perpendicular to the grain
The tensile strength parallel to the grain is larger than the compressive strength in the same direction

24. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD: Modulus of elasticity, Creep, and Damping capacity
Wood starts off having a linear stress-strain curve, then a small non-linear curve occurs before it fails
Important factors are:
Tree species,
Variation in moisture content, and
Specific gravity
Wood is an isotropic material (different stress-strain relations exist for different directions)
Creep:
Wood continuously deforms and creeps under sustained loads
Damping Capacity:
Reduction in amplitude of vibration over time due to internal friction within material and resistance to support system
Higher moisture content means a proportional increase in damping up to FSP
Wood structures dampen vibrations more quickly than metal structures
Damping capacity of wood parallel to grain is 10 times that of structural metals

25. MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD

26. SOME COMMON DEFECTS IN WOOD