Unit-1 B.

Tech-III Sem BMC

LECTURE -6
TIMBER
Introduction
Timber denotes wood, which is suitable for building or carpentry or various other
engineeringpurposes like for construction of doors, windows, roofs, partitions,
beams, posts, cupboards, shelvesetc.

Uses of timber:
i. Used in the form of piles, posts, beams, lintels, door/window frames and
leaves, roof membersetc.

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ii. Used for flooring, ceiling, panelling and construction of partition walls.
iii. Used for form work for concrete, for the timbering of trenches, centring for
arch work,scaffolding, transmission poles and fencing.
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iv. Used in wagon and coach building, marine installations and bridges.
v. Used in making furniture of agriculture implements, sports goods, musical
instruments, wellcurbs, mortar bodies, carts and carriages, railway sleeps,
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packing cases etc.

Classification of Trees:
Depending upon their mode of growth trees may be divided in the following two
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categories:

(i) Endogenous trees – These trees grow inwards and fibrous mass is seen in their
longitudinalsections. Timber from these trees has very limited engineering
applications.
Ex: bamboo, cane, palm etc
(ii) Exogenous trees: These increases in bulk by growing outwards and used for
engineeringpurposes. Exogenous trees are further sub divided into two groups:
a) Conifers
b) Deciduous

Conifers or evergreen trees: These trees having pointed, needle like or scale like
leaves and yield soft wood.

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Notes by:Biki kumar Das (Assistant Professor , Civil Dept. MITRC)
 Unit-1 B.Tech-III Sem BMC

Deciduous trees: The trees having flat broad leaves and leaves of those trees fall
in autumn and new ones appear in spring season. Timber for engineering purpose
is mostly derived from deciduous trees. These trees yield hard wood.
Ex: ash, beach, oak, sal, teak, shishum and wallnut

Comparison of Softwood and Hard wood

S. . Item Soft Wood Hard Wood

No.
1. Annual Rings Distinct Indistinct
2. Colour Light Dark
3. Fire Poor More

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Resistance
4. Modullary Indistinct Distinct
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5. Structure Resinous And Split Easily Non-Resinous & Close
Grained
6. Weight Light Heavy
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7. Strength Strong for Direct Pull & Equally Strong for Resisting
Weak for Resisting Thrust Tension, Compression &
or Shear Shear
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Structure of tree:
From the visibility aspect, the structure of a tree can be divided into two
categories
1. Macro structure
2. Micro structure

I. Macro structure: The structure of wood visible to the naked eye or at a small
magnification iscalled macro structure. Fig shows the macro structure of
exogenous tree.

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Notes by:Biki kumar Das (Assistant Professor , Civil Dept. MITRC)
 Unit-1 B.Tech-III Sem BMC

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i.
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Pith: The innermost central portion or core of the tree is called pith or medulla.
Itconsists of cellular tissue which nourishes the plant in its young age, but when
itbecomes old it dies up with decay and the sap of the wood is carried by the
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fibresaround the pith.
ii. Heart wood: The inner annual rings surrounding the pith is known as heart
wood. It isdark in colour which indicates the dead portion of the tree that does
not takes active partin its growth but imparts rigidity & strength to tree &
makes it durable.
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iii. Sap wood: The cuter annual rings between heart wood and cambium layer is
known assap wood. It is light in colour & weight which indicates that it takes
active part in thegrowth of tree by allowing the movement of sap through it.
iv. Cambium layer: Thin layer of sap between sapwood and inner bark is known
ascambium layer. It is the portion of tree which is not being converted into
sapwoodhence it decide the future growth of tree. If for any reason bark of the
tree is exposed,cells in cambium layer seizes to be active resulting in death of
tree.
v. Inner bark: The inner skin or layer covering the cambium layer is known as
inner bark.
vi. Outer Bark: The protective covering provided around the cambium layer is as
bark.

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Notes by:Biki kumar Das (Assistant Professor , Civil Dept. MITRC)
 Unit-1 B.Tech-III Sem BMC

vii. Medullary rays: The thin radial fibres extending from pith to cambium layer are
knownas medullary rays. The purpose of these rays is to hold the annual rings
of sapwood &heartwood in position.

II. Micro structure: The structure of wood apparent only at great

magnifications is called microstructure. Under micro scope, it becomes
evident that the wood consists of living and lead cellsof various sizes and
shapes.

Processing of Timber:

It is carried out in four distinct operations:

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1. Felling of trees
2. Seasoning of timber
3. Conversion of timber R
4. Preservation of timber

Felling of Trees:
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 The process of cutting down the trees to obtain the timber is referred as felling
of trees.
 Cutting of trees should be done when it attains sufficient maturity as if under
matured tree iscut sapwood be in excess resulting in weak & soft timber and if
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over matured tree is cut timberobtained is brittle and decayed.

 Normal age of cutting of trees varies between 50 to 100 years.
 Cutting of trees must be done when sap is at rest. Hence felling of tree is
avoided in autumnsand springs, when the movement of sap is vigorous.
 In hilly areas felling of trees is done in mid summers as in winters there is
excess of rainfalland in plain regions felling is done in winters as in summers
loss of moisture leads to shrinkageand warping of timber.

Seasoning of Timber:
 Newly cut tree almost consist of 50% of water by its dry weight.
 This water is present in the form of moisture and sap.

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Notes by:Biki kumar Das (Assistant Professor , Civil Dept. MITRC)
 Unit-1 B.Tech-III Sem BMC

 Before utilising the timber for any engineering purposes water from it is to be
removed and thisprocess of removing water from the timber is referred as
seasoning.
 It must be done under controlled condition so as to carry-out the equal drying
which is notensured in other conditions, results in unequal shrinkage.
 Moisture in timber is generally present either in cell cavities (free water) or in
cell walls (boundwater) of the timber.
 When the timber is exposed to atmosphere for drying water from cell cavities is
removed firstfollowed by the bound water that in actual causes the shrinkage
of timber.
 The stage at which entire free water is removed from timber is known as fibre
saturation point.
 It can be done either naturally or artificially.
 As time required in natural seasoning is comparatively more and there is no

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control over dryingso artificial seasoning is preferred.

Seasoning of timber is done for following purposes:

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 To allow the timber to burn readily if used as fuel.
 To allow decrease in weight to reduce transportation cost.
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 To impart strength, hardness, rigidity to it.

 To maintain its shape & size.
 To increase the resistance against decay for the action of fungi, termites.
 To make it more workable to be used in engineering purpose.
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 To increase the resistance against cracking, warping and shrinkage.

 To make it suitable for application of paints, preservatives and varnishes.

Artificial seasoning of timber can be carried out by following:

Boiling:

 It is one of the quickest method available for seasoning of timber in which it

is cut in planksof suitable size and immersed in boiling water for 3-4 hrs.
 It is then dried naturally by subjecting it to the atmosphere where the rate
of removal ofwater through it is increased substantially.
 Instead of boiling the planks can also steamed under pressure to carry-out
the removal ofwater through it.

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Notes by:Biki kumar Das (Assistant Professor , Civil Dept. MITRC)
 Unit-1 B.Tech-III Sem BMC

Electrical Seasoning:

 It is the process in which high frequency alternating current pass through

the timber sectionwhich is to dried as it is the bad conductor of electricity.
It resist the movement of currentin it due to which heat is generated
throughout the timber section that is utilized for removalof water through
it.

3. Chemical Seasoning:

 It is also referred as salt seasoning.

 In this timber is immersed in solution of soluble salts which are adsorbed in
it, that in turnincreases the rate evaporation from timber. Ex: Calcium

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sulphate, zinc chloride etc.
 In this method of seasoning equal drying is observed throughout the
section, hence itreduces the tendency of warping and cracking.
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4. Kiln Seasoning:
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 In this process seasoning is carried out in an air tight chamber as follows:
 Timber of suitable shape and size is arranged inside the chamber and
sufficient space is leftin between them for the circulation of air.
 A fully saturated sample of air at the temp of 35-38°C is forced inside the
chamber.
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 As the air circulates around the timber its temp increases but evaporation is
not carried out.
 After sufficient time temp of the air is now increased along with
subsequent reduction in itsrelative humidity which inturn carries out the
removal of moisture uniformly throughout theentire section.

5. Water Seasoning:

 In this process timber is cut into pieces of suitable shape and sizes and is
completelyimmersed in running water in such a way that larger portion of
the section is placedupstream.
 These sections are taken out from the water after a period of 2-4 hrs and
dried naturally(when the sections are immersed in water sapwood is

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Notes by:Biki kumar Das (Assistant Professor , Civil Dept. MITRC)
 Unit-1 B.Tech-III Sem BMC

removed from it by the weatheringaction of water and moisture replacing

the sap is removed easily by natural drying).

Conversion of Timber:

 The process of giving desired shape and size to the timber section is
referred as processing oftimber.
It can be done by following methods:
1. Ordinary Sawing:
 In this method soccer’s are made tangential to the annual rings.
 It is most general, economical, & easiest method of sawing.
 The timber section obtained by this method is liable to twist & warp due to
unequal
 shrinkage in sapwood & heartwood.

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 The wastage of timber is minimum hence this method is found to be
economical than other
 methods of sawing. R
2. Quarter Sawing:

 In this method cuts are made at right angles to each other.

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 This is generally adopted for the sections having indistinct medullary rays.
 Sections obtained by this method are liable to bend in transverse direction.

3. Tangential Sawing:
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 In this method cuts are made tangential to the annual rings which meet each
other at right
 angles.
 This is adopted for the sections having indistinct medullary rays.
 These sections are weakest among all as in this case medullary rays are also cut
which
 holds the annual rings together in position.

4. Radial Sawing:

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Notes by:Biki kumar Das (Assistant Professor , Civil Dept. MITRC)
 Unit-1 B.Tech-III Sem BMC

 In this method cuts are made parallel to medullary rays in radial direction
that imparts
 decorative affect to it.
 These sections are strongest among all but wastage in this case is
comparatively more.

Preservation of Timber:
 Preservation of timber is carried out in order to increase its life, make it
more durable & moreresistant against the attack of insects, fungi & termite.
It can be carried out in following ways:

1. As-Cu Treatment:

 In this timber surface is coated with the solution prepared by the addition of

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ArsenicPentoxide, Copper Sulphate, Potassium Dichromate & Sodium
Dichromate in water.
 This increases the resistance against the attack of white ants.
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2. Application of Chemical Salts:
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 Chemicals like copper sulphate, zinc chloride, mercurychloride & sodium

fluoride increases the durability of timber section by making it moreresistant
against cracking, shrinkage & warping.

3. Coal Tar:
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 In this surface is coated with hot tar which make it resistant against the fire.
 The process of application is known as taring.
 Application of tar causes unpleasant smell and its aesthetic importance.

4. Application of Creosote Oil:

 It is obtained from the distillation of tar.

 It almost doubles the life of timber.
 Method of application is known as creosoting, in which logs of timber is placed
in an airtight chamber and creosote oil at the pressure of 0.7-1 MPa and temp
of 50 °C is pumpedinto the chamber, that results in uniform application &
penetration of the oil over thesurface of the timber section.

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Notes by:Biki kumar Das (Assistant Professor , Civil Dept. MITRC)
 Unit-1 B.Tech-III Sem BMC

References :

1. Building material and construction by B.C Punmia , Laxmi Publication

2. Building material and construction by Rangwala , Charotar Publcation

3. Building materials by S.K Duggal , New Age International (P) Limited

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Notes by:Biki kumar Das (Assistant Professor , Civil Dept. MITRC)