STUDIO – Structural Form & Materials
Understanding Timber
What type of trees are
these?
• Deciduous trees
(Angiosperms) grow
wider and have leaves
• They are found in
areas with moderate
climate.
• They do shed their
leaves seasonally
• These trees grow
slowly and forms
hardwood
• Oaks, Beeches,
Maples, Birch etc
• Coniferous trees
(Gymnosperms) grows
taller and have
needles
• They are found in
areas cold climate.
• They do not shed their
needles seasonally
• These trees grow
faster and produces
softwood.
• Pine, Spruce, Douglas
firs
• These classifications are not related to the hardness or the softness of the materials, being
based primarily on the presence of pores (hardwoods) or their absence (softwoods) in the
cellular structure of the timber.
• Hardwoods have specialised structures called vessels for conducting sap upward. Vessels
are a series of relatively large cells with open ends, set one above the other and
continuing as open passages for long distances.
• On the end grain or a cross section of the log under the microscope, vessels appear as
holes and are known as pores.
• Because all hardwoods possess vessels, they are sometimes called porous woods
(softwoods are therefore called nonporous woods).
Characteristics Softwood Hardwood
Softwood is collected from conifer trees
Hardwood is obtained from deciduous trees (loses
Source which are evergreen having needle-shaped
leaves in autumn). They are basically angiosperms.
leaves. these are generally gymnosperms.
In case of hardwood, the fibers are quite close and
Fibre Less dense, strait fiber is found.
dense.
Weight Lightweight than hardwood. Heavyweight than softwood.
Colour Softwood is light in color. Normally these are dark colored woods.
Resistance to fire poorer than hardwood, burn at a high rate. better than softwood. Burn at a very slow rate.
If they are modified or treated then these
Naturally resistant to weather having a less
Weather resistance may become resistant to weather having
environmental impact.
an environmental impact.
Hardwoods are highly durable and last for several
Duration Less durable wood.
decades.
Ring structure Distinct annual rings are found. The annual rings are not distinct.
Medullary rays Indistinct medullary rays. Distinct medullary rays.
Soft wood trees grow faster than
Growth rate The growth rate of this type of trees is slower.
hardwood trees.
Wood branching Creates more branch or shoots. Have fewer shoots.
Tensile and shear Well tensile and comparatively weaker
Good tensile and shear strength.
strength shear strength.
Cost Less expensive. More expensive.
Paper pulp, paper, solid wood products,
Generally flooring and furniture. Also used for
Uses Woodwares like homes and cabins and
papermaking.
also for furniture.
Workability Easier to carve. Difficult to carve.
• The trunk of a tree has three physical functions to perform: first, it must support the crown,
the region responsible for the production not only of food but also of seed;
• second, it must conduct the mineral solutions absorbed by the roots upwards to the crown;
• lastly, it must store manufactured food (carbohydrates) until required.
• Whereas the entire cross-
section of the trunk fulfils the
function of support, and
increasing crown diameter is
matched with increasing
diameter of the trunk,
conduction and storage are
restricted to the outer region
of the trunk.
• This zone is known as
sapwood, whereas the region
in which the cells no longer
fulfil these tasks is termed the
heartwood.
Defects in Timber
Video – Defects in Timber
Decay of Timber and Preservation
Causes of Decay Preservation
• Termite attack • Tar oil preservations
• Fungi attack • Organic Solvents
• Alternate Drying and Wetting • Water Borne Preservatives
• Ants • Pressure Treatment
Video - Decay of Timber
Video – Pressure Treatment
Video - Timber Process Video - Plywood
Typical Sawing Patterns
Video – Sawing Patterns
Physical Properties
Which are important physical properties
of a material?
Material Properties
Elastic Properties
Density
Hygroscopic Nature
Shrinkage & Movement
Stress Strain relationship
Modulus of elasticity
Strength
Factors affecting strength and MOE
Durability
Elastic Properties
• The main constituent of Timber is cellulose, which occurs as long chain molecules.
• The chemical forces binding the molecules together in these chains are much
stronger than those which holds the chain to each other.
• A consequence of this is that considerable differences in elastic properties occur
according to the grain orientation.
• Timber exhibits a marked degree of anisotropic behavior.
• The design is generally based on assumption of orthotropic behavior.
Stress Strain relationship for Timber showing
anisotropic behavior
IS-883 - DESIGN OF STRUCTURAL TIMBER IN BUILDING - CODE OF PRACTICE
Density
• The density of a piece of timber is a
function not only of the amount of
wood substance present, but also the
presence of both extractives and
moisture.
• In a few timbers extractives are
completely absent, whereas in many
they are present, but only in small
amounts and usually less than 3% of
the dry mass of the timber.
• In some exceptional cases, the
extractive content may be as high as
10% and in these cases it is necessary
to remove the extractives prior to the
determination of density.
• The presence of moisture in timber not
only increases the mass of the timber,
but it also results in the swelling of the
timber, and hence both mass and
volume are affected.
• These two parameters are determined
at zero moisture content.
• However, as density is frequently
quoted at a moisture content of 12%,
because this level is frequently
experienced in timber in use, the value
of density at zero moisture content is
corrected for 12%
Hygroscopic Nature
• Timber is hygroscopic, that is it will
absorb moisture from the atmosphere
if it is dry and correspondingly yield
moisture to the atmosphere when wet,
thereby attaining a moisture content
which is in equilibrium with the water
vapour pressure of the surrounding
atmosphere.
• Thus, for any combination of vapour
pressure and temperature of the
atmosphere there is a corresponding
moisture content of the timber such
that there will be no inward or
outward diffusion of water vapour.
• This moisture content is referred to as
the equilibrium moisture content or
e.m.c.
• Generally, it is more convenient to use
relative humidity rather than vapour
pressure.
• In the living tree, water is to be found not only in the cell cavity, but also within the cell
wall. Consequently the moisture content of green wood (newly felled) is high, usually
varying from about 60% to nearly 200% depending on the location of the timber in the
tree and the season of the year.
• However, seasonal variation is slight compared to the differences that occur within a tree
between the sapwood and heartwood regions. The degree of variation is illustrated for a
number of softwoods and hardwoods below.
• Within the softwoods the sapwood may contain twice the percentage of moisture to be
found in the corresponding heartwood, whereas in the hardwoods this difference is
appreciably smaller or even absent.
• Green timber will yield moisture to the atmosphere with consequent changes in its
dimensions. At moisture contents above 20% many timbers, especially their sapwood, are
susceptible to attack by fungi; the strength and stiffness of green wood is considerably
lower than for the same timber when dry. For all these reasons it is necessary to dry or
season timber following felling of the tree and prior to its use in service.
• During the seasoning process,
water is first removed from
within the cell cavity: this holds
true down to moisture contents
of about 27–30%.
• As the water in the cell cavities
is free, not being chemically
bonded to any part of the
timber, its removal will have no
effect on the strength or
dimensions of the timber.
• The lack of variation of the
former parameter over the
moisture content range of 110–
27% can be seen in graph.
• However, beyond 27% of
moisture content the
molecularly bound water will
be reduced and hence will
have substantial effect on
strength.
Shrinkage & Movement
• In timber it is customary to distinguish between those changes that occur when green
timber is dried to very low moisture contents (e.g. 12%), and those that arise in timber of
low moisture content due to seasonal or daily changes in the relative humidity of the
surrounding atmosphere.
• The former changes are called shrinkage, whereas the latter are known as movement.
• The reduction in dimensions of the timber, technically known as shrinkage, can be
considerable but, owing to the complex structure of the material, the degree of shrinkage
is different on the three principal axes.
• In order to avoid the shrinkage of timber after fabrication, it is essential that it is dried
down to a moisture content which is in equilibrium with the relative humidity of the
atmosphere in which the article is to be located.
• A certain latitude can be tolerated in the case of timber frames and roof trusses, but in the
production of furniture, window frames, flooring and sports goods it is essential that the
timber is seasoned to the expected equilibrium conditions, otherwise shrinkage in service will
occur with loosening of joints, crazing of paint films, and buckling and delamination of
laminates.
• Dimensional changes, can also occur in seasoned or dried wood due to changes in the
relative humidity of the atmosphere.
• Such changes certainly occur on a seasonal basis and frequently also on a daily basis. As
these changes in humidity are usually fairly small, inducing only slight changes in the
moisture content of the timber, and as a considerable delay occurs in the diffusion of
water vapour into or out of the centre of a piece of timber, it follows that these changes in
seasoned timber are considerably smaller than those for shrinkage.
• The application of various oil-based or alkyl-based finishes result in a marked reduction in
the movement of the timber substrate, certainly in the short term. Other chemical
treatments are also available
What do you mean by elastic behavior?
• Most of the building
materials shows elasto-
plastic behavior;
where beyond a
certain value of strain,
material undergo
large deformations
before failure
Stress Strain relationship
• The load-deformation relationship in timber is complex, resulting from these facts:
• Timber does not behave in a truly elastic mode, rather its behaviour is time
dependent.
• The magnitude of the strain is influenced by a wide range of factors. Some of these
are property dependent, such as density of the timber, angle of the grain relative to
direction of load application and angle of the micro fibrils within the cell wall. Others
are environmentally dependent, such as temperature and relative humidity.
• On the application of a load at time zero, an instantaneous (and reversible) deformation
occurs which represents true elastic behaviour.
• On maintaining the load to time t1 the deformation increases, though the rate of increase
is continually decreasing; this increase in deformation with time is termed creep.
• On removal of the load at time t1 an instantaneous reduction in deformation occurs which
is approximately equal in magnitude to the initial elastic deformation. With time, the
remaining deformation will decrease at an ever-decreasing rate until at time t2 no
further reduction occurs.
• The creep that has occurred during loading can be conveniently subdivided into a
reversible component, which disappears with time and which can be regarded as delayed
elastic behaviour, and an irreversible component which results from plastic or viscous flow
• Timber can be treated neither as a truly elastic material where, by Hooke’s law, Stress is
proportional to strain but independent of the rate of strain, nor as a truly viscous liquid
where, according to Newton’s law, stress is proportional to rate of strain, but independent
of strain itself.
• Where combinations of behaviour are encountered the material is said to be viscoelastic
and timber, like many high polymers, is a viscoelastic material.
Modulus of Elasticity
• Figure illustrates that this approximation is
certainly truer of the experimental evidence
in longitudinal tensile loading than in the
case of longitudinal compression. In both
modes of loading, the approximation
appears to become a reality at the lower
levels of loading.
• Thus, it has become convenient to recognise a
point of inflection on the load deflection
curve known as the limit of proportionality,
below which the relationship between load
and deformation is linear, and above which
non-linearity occurs.
• Generally, the limit of proportionality in
longitudinal tension is found to occur at
about 60% of the ultimate load to failure,
whereas in longitudinal compression the limit
is considerably lower, varying from 30% to
50% of the failure value.
• At fast rates of loading, a very
good approximation to a straight
line occurs but, as the rate of
loading decreases, the load-
deflection line assumes a curvilinear
shape (See Figure).
• Such curves can be treated as
linear by introducing a straight line
approximation, which can take the
form of either a tangent or secant.
• Traditionally for timber and wood
fibre composites, tangent lines have
been used as linear approximations
of load-deflection curves.
Strength
• Strength is a measure of the resistance to
failure. It is ability of a material to take load.
• Failure may occur in
• Tension
• Compression
• Bending
• Shear
• Generally strength in Timber includes Strength
• Parallel to grains
• Perpendicular to grains
Video – 1: Compression
failure parallel to grain
Video – 2: Compression
failure perpendicular
to grain
SHEAR
BENDING
Video -
Bending failure
Factors affecting Strength & MOE - Grain angle
Factors affecting Strength & MOE - Density
• Stiffness is related to
density of the timber, a
relationship which is
confirmed by the plot of
over 200 species of
timber contained in
Bulletin 50 of the former
Forest Products Research
Laboratory.
• A high correlation is to be
expected, because
density is a function of
the ratio of cell wall
thickness to cell diameter;
consequently, increasing
density will result in
increasing stiffness of the
cell
Factors affecting Strength & MOE – Knot area ratio
• Knots are associated with distortion
of the grain and as even slight
deviations in grain angle reduce the
strength of the timber appreciably, it
follows that knots will have a marked
influence on strength.
• The significance of knots, however,
will depend on their size and
distribution both along the length of
a piece of timber and across its
section.
• Knots in clusters are more important
than knots of a similar size which are
evenly distributed, whereas knots on
the top or bottom edge of a beam
are more significant than those in the
centre; large knots are much more
critical than small knots.
Factors affecting Strength & MOE – Mean microfibrillar angle
• The angle of the
microfibrils in the S2
layer has a most
significant effect in
determining the
strength of wood.
Figure illustrates the
marked reduction in
tensile strength that
occurs with increasing
angle of the
microfibrils; the effect
on strength closely
parallels that which
occurs with changing
grain angle.
Factors affecting Strength & MOE – Moisture Content
Factors affecting Strength & MOE – Temperature