Wood, Timber

and Timber Products

Applications of Timber

USDA
Applications of Timber

USDA
 Applications of Timber

Rafter-type roof

USDA
 Applications of Timber
Traditional Buildings
Norway

Padmanabhapuram Palace, Kerala/Tamilnadu.

17th century.
 Applications of Timber
Traditional Buildings: Composite Construction with Masonry
Bourges, France.
15th century.

Liuheta pagoda, Hangzhou, China

Present form dates to 1152.
 Applications of Timber
Commercial buildings (USA)

USDA
 Applications of Timber
Bridges
Wooden bridge, Queen’s College, Cambridge, UK.
Built originally in 1749 (oak), repaired in 1866 &
rebuilt in 1905 (teak).

Covered wooden bridge, Lucerne, Switzerland

Built originally in the 1300s, burned down in 1993,
was rebuilt.

www.quns.cam.ac.uk/Queens/Images/WinBridg.html
 Applications of Timber

Railway Bridge

NAFI
 Applications of Timber
Marine/Waterfront Structures

NAFI
Applications of Timber

NAFI
 Applications of Timber
Formwork and scaffolding
 Wood
• Wood is a naturally occurring, biological material. It is
probably the world’s oldest structural material.
• Since it is easy to produce and handle, it is a widely
used construction material.
• The annual production of wood is about 1 billion
metric tons.
• Wood has good structural properties, is aesthetically
appealing and relatively cheap. Though it is
vulnerable to fire and decay through biological attack,
it can last for a long time if properly maintained.

Young et al.
 Wood
Comparison of the properties of wood with those of some other materials

(E: Young’s modulus; ρ: density; σtensile: tensile strength; σcompressive: compressive strength, KIC: fracture toughness)

Wood is more complex than many other materials because:

• There are at least 30,000 species of trees, and this alone leads
to a tremendous variation in the properties of wood.
• Wood is a composite material, with a variety of properties at
different scales.
• It has a lot of flaws and imperfections, which can control its
structural behaviour.
• It is anisotropic because of the way in which a tree grows.

Young et al.
 Wood Species
Trees are divided into two broad classes:
• Hardwoods: Tropical, broad-leaved, deciduous (shed leaves
annually), porous (contain vessel elements). Examples: Teak,
Sal, Oak.
• Softwoods: Conifers, have needle- or scale-like evergreen
leaves, non-porous. Examples: Fir, Pine, Cedar.
No reference to actual hardness of wood !

Some Common Indian species:

• Teak: Good dimensional stability and natural durability.
Heartwood varies from yellow-brown to dark golden-brown,
eventually becomes darker upon exposure to air.
• Sal: Strong and hard wood. Dark brown in colour.
• Deodar: Light and durable. Light brown in colour.
• Rosewood: Heavy wood with high strength. Heartwood varies
in colour from golden brown to dark purplish brown with
blackish streaks.
USDA, Varghese
 Structure of Wood
Macroscopic level

Outer bark: dense

rough layer of
protection.
Inner bark: transports
sap from leaves to
growing parts of the
tree.
Cambium: layer of
tissue, one to ten cells
thick, between bark and
wood.
Sapwood: wood on the
outside, conducts
moisture from roots,
stores food.
Heartwood: inner core,
nonliving, more
resistant to decay, drier
and harder.
Rays: small amount of
cells that grow in the
horizontal direction Young et al.
 Structure of Wood
Macroscopic level

The annual rings are the most distinct

feature of a tree trunk.

As the cells of the cambium grow and

divide during the growing season, they
form a ring of cells around the trunk.

In spring, during the period of rapid

growth, these cells are larger with thin
walls, and are referred to as springwood
or earlywood.

Later in the growing season, the cells are

smaller and with thicker walls, and
therefore harder and stronger. This is
called summerwood or latewood.

USDA, Young et al.

 Structure of Wood
Macroscopic level

Green or live knot

Radial growth of the truck must accommodate
existing branches of the tree.

This is achieved by the structure known as the knot.

If the cambium of the branch is still alive when it

fuses with that of the trunk, there is continuity in
growth, and a green or live knot is formed.

If the cambium of the branch is dead, there is

Black or dead knot absence of continuity, and the trunk grows around
the dead branch and even the bark. Here, a black or
dead knot is formed. Such knots may drop out of
the plank on sawing.

Illston and Domone

 Structure of Wood
Microstructure: Cells

• Wood may be modelled crudely as a bundle of aligned tubular cellulose

cells or fibres, glued together.
• The middle lamella bonds the neighbouring cells.
• The primary wall is thin with randomly oriented microfibrils.
• The secondary wall has a thin outer layer, a thick middle layer and a thin
inner layer. These layers have microfibrils oriented in different directions.

Cellulose cell model Transmission electron micrograph

of a cell wall cross-section
Young et al.
 Structure of Wood
Microstructure: Cells

• In softwoods, 90% of the volume

consists of longitudinally
oriented cells called tracheids;
the remaining are transversely
oriented cells called
parenchyma.

• In hardwoods, the
microstructure is more complex
as they contain, in addition to
the tracheids and parenchyma,
fibres and pores.

Tracheids Internal cell walls

of earlywood
tracheids

Young et al.
 Structure of Wood
Microstructure: Cellular Arrangement - Anisotropic

3-D image of
0.5×0.5×0.8 mm
blocks

Softwood: Scots pine Hardwood: European oak

Young et al.
 Structure of Wood
Microstructure: Chemical composition
• All wood is composed of cellulose, lignin, hemicelluloses and minor
amounts of extraneous materials contained in a cellular structure.
Variations in the characteristics and volume of these components and
differences in cellular structure make the wood heavy or light, stiff or
flexible, hard or soft.
• Cellulose, the major component, constitutes approximately 50% of the
wood, by weight. It is a high-molecular-weight linear-polymer built from the
glucose monomer. During growth the cellulose molecules are arranged
into strands called fibrils (bonded by a combination of hydrogen and van
der Waals bonding), which make up the cell walls of the word fibres. Most
of the cell wall cellulose is crystalline.
• Lignin constitutes 23-33% of the softwood and 16-25% of the hardwood. It
is the cementing agent that binds the cells together. Lignin is a three-
dimensional phenylpropanol polymer.
• Hemicelluloses are branched, low-molecular-weight polymers.
• Extraneous materials in wood include oils, resins, fats, calcium, potassium
and magnesium.
USDA, Young et al.
 Properties of Wood
Orthotropic Nature
• Due to the way trees grow, wood
is highly orthotropic in nature.
• The properties are different along
the longitudinal, radial and
tangential directions.
• Nine independent constants are
needed to describe the elastic
behaviour of wood.

• The way of sawing will affect the

properties of the timber, as well
as the decorative features.

USDA, Young et al.

 Properties of Wood
Specific gravity or Relative density
• For all species of wood, the specific gravity of the cell wall
material itself is about 1.5.
• However, the specific gravity of wood varies from 0.04 (for
balsa wood) to about 1.4 (for lignum vitae).
• The differences in the relative densities between species is
related to the variations in the void space or porosity
associated with the geometry of the wood cells and their
grouping.
• Specific gravity is a good indication of the mechanical
properties.
• Within the same species, the mechanical properties vary
linearly with the specific gravity.
• Lower the specific gravity, easier it is to cut the wood with a
sharp tool.

USDA, Illston & Domone, Young et al.

 Properties of Wood
Effect of Moisture Content
• The moisture content of green wood is high, varying
from 60-200%.
• Green timber will yield moisture to the environment with
consequent changes in its dimensions.
• For every combination of relative humidity and
temperature of the environment there is an equilibrium
moisture content of the wood.
• Moist wood is more susceptible to attack by fungi.
• For all these reasons, it is desirable to dry timber before
its use.
Seasoning is the process of controlled drying to
remove sap and reduce moisture without causing
cracks and distortion.
Illston & Domone, Varghese
 Effect of Moisture Content
• Moisture in wood exists in two forms:
• Free water within cell cavities
• Bound water adsorbed in the cell
walls

• As green wood dries, the free water

evaporates first. Fiber saturation point
is reached when all the free water has
been removed but the cell walls are
still saturated. This generally occurs
at moisture contents of 25-30%.

• Further removal of water compacts

the molecular structure, leading to
additional hydrogen bonding.
Therefore, the wood shrinks and
becomes stronger. This process is
reversible. Young et al., Illston & Domone
 Effect of Moisture Content
Shrinkage
• Changes in moisture content above the fibre saturation point do
not affect the dimensional stability of wood.
• Below the fibre saturation point, the
volumetric shrinkage of wood is
approximately proportional to the
volume of water lost.
• Shrinkage is not the same in all
directions.

Young et al., USDA

 Effect of Moisture Content
Shrinkage
• The longitudinal shrinkage is normally negligible.
• However, the values of
tangential and radial shrinkage
can be in the range of 3-12%.
Tangential shrinkage is higher
than radial shrinkage.
• For example, teak undergoes
radial, tangential and volumetric
shrinkage of about 3%, 6%
and 7%, respectively.

Young et al., USDA

 Engineering Properties
Elastic Modulus
• Wood is linear elastic only over a small strain range.
• In general, the elastic modulus is highest in the longitudinal
direction (parallel-to-grain) and lowest in the tangential direction.
• Values of longitudinal elastic modulus ranges from 6 to 17 GPa.
For example, teak has a Young's modulus of about 9.4 GPa in
the green state and about 10.6 GPa for 12% moisture content.

Young et al.
 Engineering Properties
Tensile Strength
• The tensile strength parallel-to-grain is high, ranging from 70 to 150 MPa.
The corresponding failure strain is small, in the order of 1%. Failure
occurs within the secondary wall of the cells that form the fibrils, with the
breaking of primary bonds.
• The strength perpendicular-to-grain is smaller, in the order of 2 to 9 MPa.
Failure occurs through the separation of the microfibrils and breaking of
secondary bonds. The strains can be high due to the distortion of the
cells.
• In bending, the modulus of rupture along the grain is in the range of 40 to
100 MPa. Failure generally begins with crushing in the compressive zone
and ends with tensile rupture of the bottom fibres. Teak has a modulus of
rupture of about 80 MPa in the green state and 100 MPa with a moisture
content of 12%.
Young et al.
 Engineering Properties
Compressive Strength
• The compressive strength parallel-to-grain is only about
half of the tensile strength, in the range of 25 to 60 MPa.
Teak has a parallel-to-grain compressive strength of
about 40 MPa in the green state and about 60 MPa with
a 12% moisture content.
• In the longitudinal direction, failure occurs by the kinking
of the microfibrils and buckling of the cell walls.
• When compressed perpendicular to grain, the cells
begin collapse at a
stress of 3-10 MPa.
After that the
deformation continues
until complete collapse
and a consequent
increase in load.
Young et al.
 Engineering Properties
Shear Strength
• The shear strength of wood depends significantly on whether primary or
secondary bonds are broken during failure. Therefore, the direction of the
failure plane with respect to the grains determines the strength.

• Shear parallel-to-grain is common, and involves the breaking of

secondary bonds. The corresponding strength is in the range of 5 to
15 MPa. The value for teak is about 9 MPa in the green state and about
13 MPa with a moisture content of 12%.

Young et al.
 Engineering Properties

Variability
• The properties of wood vary considerably due its nature.

• The coefficient of variation of the tensile strength is in the order of 25%.

That of other properties can range from 10 to 35%.

• Due to the high variability, the safe (or characteristic) strength used in
structural design is much lower than the mean strength.
 Effect of Temperature
• The mechanical properties of wood
generally decrease when heated and
increase when cooled. This effect is
reversible.
• At high temperatures, there is a
permanent deterioration of wood.
permanent effect on
modulus of rupture
reversible effect
of temperature
on modulus of
elasticity,
modulus of
rupture and
compressive
strength at
different
moisture
contents

USDA
 Creep

• Creep deformations are

significant in wood.

• Creep increases with

temperature and
moisture content.

USDA
 Thermal Properties
Thermal conductivity
• The conductivity of structural softwood timber at 12% moisture
content is in the range of 0.1 to 1.4 W/(m-K), compared with 216
for aluminum, 45 for steel, 0.9 for concrete, 1 for glass, 0.7 for
plaster, and 0.036 for mineral wool.
• Conductivity increases with moisture content, temperature or
specific gravity.
• Since the thermal conductivity and heat capacity of wood are
low, it does not absorb or release heat quickly. Due to this wood
does not feel hot or cold to the touch as some other materials.

USDA
 Thermal Properties
Thermal expansion
• The parallel-to-grain values of the expansion coefficient vary in
the range of 30~45 × 10-6 /K.
• Thermal expansion coefficients across the grain are proportional
to specific gravity. They range from 5 to 10 times the parallel-to-
grain coefficient.

USDA
 Decay due to Fungi
• Wood that is always dry does not decay.
• When wood is constantly submerged in water, the deterioration
is slow since only some bacteria and fungi can attack under
water.
• Deterioration is more rapid in hot and wet climates than in cool
or dry climates.
• Early stages of decay are difficult to detect before significant
weight loss occurs.
• When weight loss reaches 5-10%, the mechanical properties are
reduced by 20-80%.

USDA
 Insect Attack
• Wood is consumed by termites,
some beetles and wood wasps.

• Timber used in salt water can be

attacked by marine borers, such as
the shipworm and the gribble.

USDA, Illston & Domone

 Fire
• Timber is a combustible material. However, the maintenance of
strength with temperature and time is better than steel.

• As the surface temperature increases beyond 100 ºC, volatile

gases are emitted. In excess of 250 ºC, there is sufficient build
up of these gases for timber to ignite in the presence of a flame.
In the absence of a flame, the temperature has to rise beyond
500 ºC for self-ignition to occur.

• Chemical bonds break and the microstructure degrades in the

temperature range of 175-350 ºC. The degradation of cellulose
results in the production of volatile gases and a reduction in the
degree of polymerisation.

Illston & Domone

 Fire
• Due to pyrolisis there is
darkening of the timber and
emission of volatile gases.
Then, the reaction becomes
exothermic and charring
occurs.
• The volatiles cool the char and
block incoming convective
heat.
• The surface is cracked and
Formation of the char protects
material is lost gradually.
the unburnt timber.
Failure occurs only when the
unburnt section cannot sustain
the applied load.
Illston & Domone
 Processing of Timber

• Sawing of logs into suitable pieces of timber is

called conversion.
• Conversion losses vary from 30-50%.
• After sawing, the timber is graded depending on
type, grain direction, knots, sapwood, worm holes,
etc.
• In the USA and other countries, timber for
construction is stress-graded based on strength,
stiffness and uniformity of size.
• Non-destructive tests may be used to verify the
mechanical integrity.

Varghese, USDA
Applications of Timber

USDA
Applications of Timber

USDA
 Applications of Timber

Rafter-type roof

USDA
 Applications of Timber
Traditional Buildings
Norway

Padmanabhapuram Palace, Kerala/Tamilnadu.

17th century.
 Applications of Timber
Traditional Buildings: Composite Construction with Masonry
Bourges, France.
15th century.

Liuheta pagoda, Hangzhou, China

Present form dates to 1152.
 Applications of Timber
Commercial buildings (USA)

USDA
 Applications of Timber
Bridges
Wooden bridge, Queen’s College, Cambridge, UK.
Built originally in 1749 (oak), repaired in 1866 &
rebuilt in 1905 (teak).

Covered wooden bridge, Lucerne, Switzerland

Built originally in the 1300s, burned down in 1993,
was rebuilt.

www.quns.cam.ac.uk/Queens/Images/WinBridg.html
 Applications of Timber

Railway Bridge

NAFI
 Applications of Timber
Marine/Waterfront Structures

NAFI
Applications of Timber

NAFI
 Applications of Timber
Formwork and scaffolding
 Wood-Based Composites
Glued-Laminated Timber (Glulam)
• Timber manufactured by gluing together a large
number of relatively short pieces of timber.
• Glulam timber can be upto 40 m in length and over 2 m
deep. They can be straight or curved.
• The pieces are glued together such that the grain
directions are generally parallel.
• More expensive than sawn timber.
• Advantages:
• Size capabilities
• Architectural effects
• Seasoning advantages (pieces seasoned individually)
• Varying cross-sections
• Varying grades
Young et al., USDA
Applications of Glulam

USDA
Applications of Glulam

USDA
 Wood-Based Composites
Plywood

Panels or sheets made from

wood by gluing together thin
veneers in layers. The layers
are placed such that the grains
of the successive plies are at
right angles to each other.

Manu Santhanam
 Wood-Based Composites
Plywood

Advantages:
• Can be produced in large sheets.
• Split-resistant
• Have same properties in both directions of sheet.
• Effect of knots are limited to one ply.
• Shrinkage and swelling are minimised.

Varghese, USDA
 Wood-Based Composites
Particle Board
• Chips are soaked in water, dried, mixed with resin and
pressed together to form boards.
• Typical particle boards have three layers: the faces
consist of fine particles and the inner layer consists of
coarser material.

Other Composites
• Fibreboard
• Strandboard
• Cement bonded particle board
• Wood fiber – Thermoplastic composites

Illston & Domone, Varghese, USDA

 References
• Construction Materials: Their nature and behaviour,
J.M. Illston and P.L.J. Domone, Spon Press, 2001.
• The Science and Technology of Civil Engineering
Materials, J.F. Young, S. Mindess, R.J. Gray and
A. Bentur, Prentice Hall, 1998.
• Building Materials, P.C. Varghese, Prentice-Hall India,
2005.
• Wood Handbook: Wood as an engineering material, US
Dept. of Agriculture, Report FPL-GTR-113,
www.fpl.fs.fed.us/documnts/fplgtr/fplgtr113/fplgtr113.htm,
1999.
• Timber – Design for durability, National Association of
Forest Industries, Australian Government, 2003,
http://www.timber.org.au/resources/timber - design for
durability.pdf
• Timber Decks, National Association of Forest Industries,
Australian Government, 2004,
www.timber.org.au/resources/datafileSS4.pdf