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Materials and Construction - I: Lecture No. 02 Dated: 20/02/2020

This document provides an overview of timber as a building material. It discusses the classification of trees and timber, the structure and characteristics of good quality timber. It also covers the seasoning, defects, diseases, and preservation of timber. Specific timber defects discussed include checks, shakes, knots, and warping. Diseases like dry rot and wet rot caused by fungi are also explained. The document concludes by discussing bamboo as a building material, its geographical distribution, properties like tensile strength, shrinkage, fire resistance and elasticity.

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awais anjum
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37 views

Materials and Construction - I: Lecture No. 02 Dated: 20/02/2020

This document provides an overview of timber as a building material. It discusses the classification of trees and timber, the structure and characteristics of good quality timber. It also covers the seasoning, defects, diseases, and preservation of timber. Specific timber defects discussed include checks, shakes, knots, and warping. Diseases like dry rot and wet rot caused by fungi are also explained. The document concludes by discussing bamboo as a building material, its geographical distribution, properties like tensile strength, shrinkage, fire resistance and elasticity.

Uploaded by

awais anjum
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION – I

LECTURE NO. 02
Dated: 20/02/2020
TOPICS TO BE COVERED
– Introduction: Timber as a Building material
– Classification of trees
– Classification of Timber
– Structure of timber advantages and disadvantages
– Characteristics of good quality of timber
– Seasoning of timber
– Defects in timber
– Diseases and Decay of Timber
– Preservation of Timber
– Bamboo (Structures & Importance)
– Principles of timber construction (flooring, walls,
roofs etc.)
DEFECTS IN TIMBER:
Defects can occur in timber at various stages, principally during the growing
period and during the conversion and seasoning process. The defects in the
wood are due to irregularities in the character of grains. Defects affect the
quality, reduce the quantity of useful wood, reduce the strength, spoil the
appearance and favor its decay.

DEFECTS DUE TO ABNORMAL GROWTH:


Following are some of the important defects commonly found in wood due to
abnormal growth or rupture of tissues due to natural forces.
CHECKS is a longitudinal crack which is usually normal to the annual rings. These
adversely affect the durability of timber because they readily admit moisture and
air.
SHAKES are longitudinal separations in the wood between the annual rings. The
separations make the wood undesirable when appearance is important.
Boths the shakes and checks if present near the neutral plane of a beam they
may materially weaken its resistance to horizontal shear.
Heart Shake occurs due to shrinkage of heart wood, when tree is
overmatured. Cracks start from pith and run towards sap wood. These are wider
at centre and diminish outwards.
Cup Shake appears as curved split which partly or wholly separates annual
rings from one another. It is caused due to excessive frost action on the sap
present in the tree, especially when the tree is young.
Star Shake are radial splits or cracks wide at circumference and diminishing
towards the centre of the tree. This defect may arise from severe frost and fierce
heat of sun.

Rindgall is characterised by swelling caused by the growth of layers of sapwood


over wounds after the branch has been cut off in an irregular manner. The newly
developed layers do not unite properly with the old rot, thereby leaving cavities,
from where decay starts.
Knots The knots interrupt the basic grain direction of the wood, resulting in a
reduction of its strength. In addition these affect the appearance of the wood.
A dead knot can be separated from the body of the wood, whereas live knot
cannot be. Knots reduce the strength of the timber and affect workability and
cleavability as fibres get curved. Knots are classified on the basis of size, form,
quality and occurrence.
End Splits are caused by greater evaporation of sap at the end grains of log and
can be reduced by painting the exposed end grains with a water proof paint or
capping the exposed end with hoop iron bandage.
Twisted Fibres are caused by wind constantly turning the trunk of young tree in
one direction.
Upsets are caused by the crushing of fibres running transversely during the
growth of the tree due to strong winds and unskilled felling consequently
resulting in discontinuity of fibres.
Foxiness is a sign of decay appearing in the form of yellow or red tinge or
discolouration of overmatured trees.
Rupture is caused due to injury or impact.

DEFECTS DUE TO SEASONING:


These defects are directly caused by the movement which occurs in timber due to
changes in moisture content. Excessive or uneven drying, exposure to wind and
rain, and poor stacking during seasoning can all produce distortions in timber.
These defects result in loosening of fixings or disruption of decoration, or both.
The common types of seasoning defects are:
checks—longitudinal separation of fibres not extending throughout the cross-
section of wood; splitting—separation of fibres extending through a piece of
timber from one face to another; warpage—consists of cupping, twisting and
bowing.
DISEASES OF TIMBER:
DRY ROT:
It is decomposition of felled timber caused by the action of various fungi. The
fungus reduces fibres to fine powder as shown in Fig. and the timber looses its
strength. This disease is highly infectious and causes tremendous destruction. It
occurs when the timber is imperfectly seasoned and placed in a moist, warm and
confined atmosphere having no free access of air. Fungus rapidly dies when
exposed to air or sunlight. The best remedy is to cut away the affected part and
paint the remaining part.

WET ROT:
When timber is subjected to alternate wet and dry conditions, decomposition of
tissues takes place. This is not caused by fungal attack. In a living tree, it is set up
by the access of water through wounds in the bark and causes the decomposition
of sap and fibres of the tree. This may also occur when timber is seasoned by
exposing it to moisture. To avoid wet rot, well seasoned timber is used with
preservatives and paints.
DECAY OF TIMBER:

Timber does not deteriorate by natural, physical or chemical changes or by pure


ageing. It is, however, affected by destructive elements, such as weathering,
chemical attack, fungi, insects or rodents. The most crucial amongst these are
fungi, insects and rodents and are described as follows.

1. Decay due to bacterial and fungal attack


2. Damages due to insects
1. Termites
2. Beatles
3. Carpenter Ants
3. Damages due to Rodents
PRESERVATION OF TIMBER:
The durability of wood is decidedly variable property. If well-seasoned and kept in
a dry place, if immersed in water, or if buried in ground, wood often lasts for
centuries. When, however, unprotected wood can easily decay by swelling (when
it gets wet), fungi, insects, fire, etc. The rapidly with which it decays depends on
external conditions, the species of the wood, its preliminary conditioning, and its
structure.
Preservative treatment of timber is not supposed to improve its basic properties
like mechanical, electrical, or chemical properties. Some of the methods are as
below:
1. Oily Type Preservatives
2. Organic Solvent Preservatives
3. Water Soluble Preservatives
BAMBOO STRUCTURES:
Building with bamboo looks back on an ancient tradition
in the regions in which plant grows in abundance, such
as South America, Africa and, in particular, in South-East Asia.
Bamboo is one of the oldest construction materials.

GEOGRAPHICAL DISTRIBUTION, CLIMATIC AND SOIL CONDITIONS:


The main area of distribution are the tropics, in particular, South-East-Asia.
Bamboo grow at sealevel and can be found at altitudes of up to 3800 m. Most
bamboo species grow at temperatures from 28°C to +50°C.
Bamboos grow mainly on sandy Loam to loamy clay soils. They prefer well
drained soils but grow also in wet and even marshy locations. They do not
tolerate saline soils.
PROPERTIES OF BAMBOO:

Tensile strenght:
The fibres of the bamboo run axial. In the outer zone are highly elastic vascular
bundle, that have a high tensile strenght. The tensile strenght of these fibres is
higher than that of steel, but its not possible to construct connections that can
transfer these tensile strenghs.
Shrinking:
Bamboo shrinks more than wood when it loses water. The canes can tear apart at
the nodes. Bamboo shrinks in the cross section ca. 10-16 %, in the wall thickness
ca. 15-17 %.
Fire Resistance:
The fire resistance is very good because of the high content of silicate acid. Filled
up with water, it can stand a temperature of 400° C while the water cooks inside.
Elasticity:
The enormous elasticity of bamboo makes it to a very good building material for
earth-quakeendangered areas.
Another advantage of bamboo is its low weight. It can be transported and worked
easily, the use of cranes is mostly unnecessary.
THE END

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