CE516: TIMBER DESIGN

Chapter 1
TIMBER AS A STRUCTURAL MATERIAL

1.0 INTRODUCTION

Timber has always been one of the more plentiful natural resources available and consequently is one
of the oldest known material used in construction. It is a material that is used for a variety of structural
forms such as beams, columns, trusses, girders and is also used in building systems such as piles, deck
members, railway foundations and for temporary forms in concrete.

2.0 THE STRUCTURE OF TIMBER

Mature trees of whatever type are the source of structural timber and it is important that users of
timber should have a knowledge of the nature and growth patterns of trees in order to understand
its behavior under a variety of circumstances.

As engineers we are mainly concerned with the trunk of the tree. Consider a cross-section of trunk
as shown;

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3.0 DEFECTS IN TIMBER

Owing to the fact that wood is a material which is naturally occurring, there are many defects which
are introduced during the growing period and during the conversion and seasoning process. Any of
these defects can cause trouble in timber in use either by reducing its strength or impairing its
appearance.

Defects may be classified as: natural defects, chemical defects, conversion defects and seasoning
defects.

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 Chapter 2

DESIGN OF FLEXURAL MEMBERS (BEAMS)

1.0 BENDING AND SHEARING STRESS

Notations:

𝑀 = 𝑚𝑎𝑥𝑖𝑚𝑢𝑚 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑠

𝑏 = 𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ 𝑎𝑡 𝑐𝑟𝑖𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑙 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟

𝑓𝑣 = 𝑠ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠

BENDING STRESS:
𝑴𝒄
𝒇𝒃 = 𝑰
→ 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝐵𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎
𝟔𝑴
𝒇𝒃 = 𝒃𝒅𝟐 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒 & 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

SHEARING STRESS:

𝑽𝑸
𝒇𝒗 = 𝑰𝒃
→ 𝐺𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙 𝑆ℎ𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑆𝑡𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑚𝑢𝑙𝑎
𝟑𝑽
𝒇𝒗 = 𝟐𝒃𝒅 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑠𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑒 & 𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝟑𝑽
𝒇𝒗 = 𝟐𝑨 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
𝟒𝑽
𝒇𝒗 = 𝟑𝑨 → 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑐𝑖𝑟𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑟 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛

DRESSED DIMENSIONS - reduced the nominal size/commercial size section by:

for 𝑑𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 < 150𝑚𝑚 → 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑏𝑦 10𝑚𝑚

NOMINAL SIZE - term used to identify the timber section’s dimension if not placed yet.
It is also called the commercial size.

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2.0 BEAMS LATERALLY SUPPORTED & LATERALLY UNSUPPORTED

𝐿
 𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑆𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 → 𝑏 ≤ 20

𝒇𝒃 𝒂𝒍𝒍 = 𝒇𝒃 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂

𝐿
 𝐿𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑦 𝑈𝑛𝑠𝑢𝑝𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 → 𝑏 > 20

𝑳
𝒇𝒃 𝒂𝒍𝒍 = 𝒇𝒃 𝒅𝒂𝒕𝒂 ∙ (𝟏 − )
𝟏𝟎𝟎𝒃

Example Problem:

1. A timber beam having a simple span of 4𝑚 carries a total load including its own weight of
10𝑘𝑁/𝑚. It has a width of 200𝑚𝑚 and a depth of 260𝑚𝑚, used dressed dimension by reducing
its dimensions by 10𝑚𝑚. The wooden section is made up of 80% grade Apitong

𝑀𝑜𝑑𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑠 𝑜𝑓 𝐸𝑙𝑎𝑠𝑡𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝐸 = 7310𝑀𝑃𝑎

a. Which of the following gives the maximum flexural stress of the beam.
b. Which of the following gives he maximum shearing stress of the beam.
c. Which of the following gives the maximum deflection of the beam.

2. A rectangular wooden beam has a span of 6𝑚 and carries a total uniform load of 25𝑘𝑁/𝑚
including its own weight. The beam is made up of 80% stress grade Apitong.

𝐴𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑤𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 = 16.5𝑀𝑃𝑎

a. Which of the following gives the smallest dimension of the beam that will not exceed the
allowable bending stress.
b. Which of the following gives the smallest dimension of the beam that will not exceed the
allowable shearing stress.
c. Which of the following gives the smallest dimension of the beam that will not exceed the
allowable deflection.

3. Determine the maximum capacity 𝜔 in 𝑘𝑁⁄𝑚 of a 150𝑚𝑚 𝑥 300𝑚𝑚 molave of 63% stress
grade. The beam is simply supported with 3.60𝑚 span. 𝛿𝑎𝑙𝑙 = 𝐿⁄270

4. A timber joist 40𝑚𝑚 𝑥 190𝑚𝑚 (dressed dimensions) spaced at 0.3𝑚 on centers, carries a floor
load of 2.4 𝑘𝑃𝑎 including floor finish. The joist is supported by the girder at 3𝑚. 𝐸𝐼 is constant
throughout the span.

a. Compute the maximum flexural stress

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5. Design a beam 3.60𝑚 length subjected to a uniformly distributed load of 2 𝑘𝑁⁄𝑚 and a
concentrated load at third points of 5𝑘𝑁. Use molave with 63% stress grade considering dressed
dimension, determine the most economical section. Assume 𝑏 = 0.5𝑑

6. Design the beam to be used in a bridge for rerouting in an ongoing bridge construction with the
given truck loading. Unit weight of wood is 7.20 𝑘𝑁/𝑚3 and nominal dimensions will be used.
Using Guijo with 80% stress grade and 𝑏 = 0.75𝑑. 𝐿 = 5𝑚

0.5 𝑘𝑁 1 𝑘𝑁 2 𝑘𝑁 2 𝑘𝑁 0.8 𝑘𝑁

0.5 𝑚 1.0 𝑚 1.2 𝑚 1.0 𝑚

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