Beruflich Dokumente
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BUILDING
MATERIALS
TOPIC 3-TIMBER
Introduction
The hundreds of available timber species vary widely in their properties and
appearance
Within one species, there is often a wide variation between trees growing in different
climatic conditions and on different soils and between parts of a tree
This variability presents problems in economic conversion and utilisation
In recent years, improved techniques have been developed for laminating, jointing and
framing, seasoning and for protection against fungi, insects and fire
HARDWOODS
Opepe 750
Yew: American pitch pine
Light red seraya/ meranti 500
Yellow pine: sequoia
Western red cedar
250
Night Day
O2
Bole
or
Trunk
Figure 2.1 The tree
Growth ring
Bark
Pith
Bast
Heartwood Cambium
(growth
layer)
Sapwood
Figure 2.1 The tree
Figure 2.1 The tree
Food moves
downwards in bast
and transversely in
rays
Salts rise in
sapwood
Anatomy of timber (2)
For a particular species, the wider the growth ring, the less dense and strong is
the timber
These rings consist of minute tubular or fibrous cells tightly cemented
together and each ring has two parts – the early wood (springwood) and the
late wood (summerwood)
Summerwood grows more slowly and is often denser, darker and narrower
than springwood
As most trees mature, for each new ring which is added forming a band of
sapwood, reserve materials such as starch are extracted from an inner ring and
a heartwood core is formed
Anatomy of timber (3)
Split
Repair to split
Fissures
Resin pocket
• Beetles are small insects and they cause rapid decay of timber by
converting them into fine powder. Usually, the outer shell of
timber remains intact and hence the timber looks sound from
outside until it fails completely.
Insect damage
Occasional exit holes of pinhole borers are not generally regarded as
defects in structural timber
They are acceptable in joinery which is to be painted or which is out of
sight
Wood eating
termite
Wood boring
insect
insect damage
Insect damage
Pinhole
borer, beetle
Thermal insulation
•Timber is a good insulator
•Conductivity, k, is 0.144 W/mK (compare with cast concrete, dense, 1.40 and
lightweight, 0.38)
•Transmittance, U, for 102 mm thickness is about 1.19 W/m2K for timber weighing
481 kg/m3 with 20% moisture
Properties of timbers (3)
Thermal movement
The thermal coefficient is 30 – 60 x10-6K-1 across the fibres and about one tenth as
much parallel to the fibres
Expansion joints are not normally required even in large structures
Properties of timbers (4)
Behaviour in fire
•Moisture in timber absorbs some heat but it is easily ignited at about 220 to 300o
C
•Treatment with flame-retardant chemicals by impregnation or by surface coatings
reduce the rate of spread of flame but the timber still carbonises as if untreated
•Being organic, timber burning produces highly toxic carbon monoxide and large
quantity of smoke
Properties of timbers (5)
Chemical resistance
•A high cellulose and lignin (organic substance forming part of the woody fibres)
content and a low hemi-cellulose (hemicelluloses is a branched polymer while
cellulose is unbranched) content, low permeability, straight grain and small
moisture movement contribute to good chemical resistance
•Compared to metals, wood has good resistance to alkalis and weak acids
•Sources of alkalis include casein and phenol formaldehyde glues while sources of
acids include surplus hardeners in synthetic resin glues
Properties of timbers (6)
Strength
•Timber has a high strength : weight ratio both in tension and compression and
is elastic
•It is able to sustain greater loads for a short while than it can over long
periods
•Strength increases with density particularly within a species
•Strength reduces as moisture content rises
•Most strength properties of timber containing more than 28 – 30% moisture
are only about 2/3 of those in timber at 12% moisture content
Properties of timbers (7)
Strength (cont.)
•A 1oC temperature rise reduces strength by about 0.3 %
•Along the grain, tensile strength may be as much as 30 times that across the
grain and 2 to 3 times the compressive strength
Properties of timbers (8)
Movements
•As timber dries from green condition, shrinkage starts when the cell walls
begin to dry
•Variation in size in response to variations in moisture content, which in turn,
result from changes in atmospheric humidity, or from direct wetting are
known as moisture movements
•Typically, shrinkage from fibre saturation point (27% moisture content) to
over dry (0%) is 10% for tangentially sawn members and 5% for radially sawn
members
Figure 2.5 Movements in drying •Longitudinal movement usually
negligible
•Average radial movement is about
half the tangential movement
Longitudinal
movement
Figure 2.5 Movements in drying
Figure 2.5 Movements in drying
Properties of timbers (9)
Distortions
•Refer to Figure 2.5 and Figure 2.6 (Everett)
•A small change of shape (i.e. distortion) is often more objectionable than
relatively large movements in all directions
•Distortions include cupping, diamonding, spring, bow & twist
•Apart from application of external forces, distortion can occur because timber
does not shrink equally in all directions when it dries
Figure 2.6 Seasoning defects
1. Impregnation
Impregnation of timber with a solution of resin is at present limited to proprietary
flooring and small objects such as table knife handles
Minimization of changes in moisture content (3)
2. Surface coatings
Effectiveness in reducing the rate of intake or loss of water varies widely as shown
in Table 2.7 (Everett)
Table 2.7 Moisture absorption of beech sapwood specimens after treatment with surface
coatings and impregnants
Untreated 28.4
Air seasoning
Refer to Figure 2.7 (Everett) (not on slide)
Timber is protected from rain and from the ground and stacked so that air can circulate
freely around all surfaces
A moisture content of 17 to 23% is attainable with little risk of the process being too
rapid
In favourable summer conditions, thin softwoods can be air-seasoned in weeks while
hardwood may require a year or more
Air seasoning - possible arrangement for drying stacks
(note concrete or stone footing under stack)
Air seasoning
Methods of seasoning (3)
Kiln seasoning
Refer to Figure 2.7 (Everett) (not on slide)
Figure 2.7 shows that artificial means of seasoning must be used to achieve the
moisture contents needed for joinery and furniture in modern buildings
Timber can be kiln-seasoned from the ‘green’ condition but kiln seasoning may follow
air seasoning
25 mm hardwoods can be seasoned in days to months according to species
Kiln seasoning
Convection dryer
1 - ventilation opening
2 - heater
3 - water spray jet
Kiln seasoning
Condensation dryer
Comparing air and kiln seasoning
Air seasoning
Advantages Disadvantages
•Process relatively inexpensive •Require large land area
•Seasoning is slow
•Quality control somewhat
lacking
Advantages Disadvantages
•Compact machinery requires •High installation first cost
less land area •High operating and
•Seasoning is fast maintenance cost
•Quality could be controlled
Methods of seasoning (4)
‘Water seasoning’
It is a misnomer for the process by which logs are kept under water to
preserve them from attack by insects & fungi
Hardwoods are sometimes immersed in running water to wash out the sap
which is attractive to beetles
Preservation of timber (1)
Preservation deals with the treatment of timber with toxic chemicals to protect it from
attack by both fungi and insects
Preservatives may be required to be non-toxic to plants and animals, odourless, free
from detrimental effects on adhesives, paints and polishes and generally they must not
‘bleed’ or be washed out by rain
Wood preservatives and timber protection products
Timber treatment plant
Brush-applied wood preservatives or dip treatments are not suitable for the long-term protection
of timber used for decking and other outdoor landscaping applications and should not be used.
Timber preservation services
Preservation of timber (2)
Preservatives types
TO (Tar-oil types)
TO 1 – coal tar creosote for pressure impregnation
TO 2 – coal tar creosote for brush application
WB (Water-borne types)
WB 1 – copper-chrome
WB 2 – copper-chrome-arsenic, etc