Design of Timber Structures

Timber as a structural material

• The oldest construction material and
still one of the most versatile
• A natural material with inherent
flaws and variability
• We need to recognize its strengths
and weaknesses
• Timber design therefore as much an
art as a science
 One of nature’s most efficient structures:
an Arbutus tree facing the onslaught of West Coast storms
Decay of wood
Requirements:
• nutrition (wood)
• modest temperature (~ 20 C)
• moisture (the only one that can be readily controlled)
Preservative treatment of wood in marine environment
Decay in a poorly constructed building envelope
Wet column bases
Comparative 400
Stress (MPa)

material
properties
300 mild steel

200

100
wood (parallel to grain) Strain, %

-20 -10 10 20 30

concrete -100

-200

-300

-400
 Fire resistance

• One of the biggest challenges in light timber construction

• Also an important benefit of heavy timber construction
 Reliability and Safety
Strength distributions
Probability of occurrence

Load
distributions

Probability of failure Load, Resistance

(overlap area)
 Safety Factors
Load
Strength distribution
Probability of occurrence

distribution

Global safety factor = Ravg/Lavg

Lavg Ravg

Probability of failure Load, Resistance

(overlap area)
 Safety factors

Load
Probability of occurrence

distribution

Resistance
Nominal safety factor = R95/L05 distribution

95th percentile 5th percentile

L95 R05
Load, Resistance
Measure of safety
 Safety

Probability of occurrence
Load

Index
distribution
Strength distribution
Probability of occurrence

Probability of failure
(overlap area)

(Resistance – Load)
distribution
Probability of
failure
β = Safety Index
β (SDEV)
Resistance - Load
 Normal Distribution

1.645 SDEV
Probability of occurrence

Resistance
distribution

R05 Ravg Load, Resistance

 Design equation

Factored Action ≤ Factored Resistance

From National Building Code From material specific

(same for all materials) design code, e.g. O86.1

Load factor
L ≤  R
Resistance (R05)

Load (L95) Calibration factor

 Material
properties of
wood

… imagine a bundle of
straws held together with
elastic bands

• tension parallel to grain

• compression parallel to grain
• tension perpendicular to grain
lignin • compression perpendicular to grain
cellulose fibres • shear
 Design properties
(approximate values, D-fir No.1/2)

Clear Structural
Strength property wood timber
(MPa) (MPa)

Tension parallel to grain ( ft ) 20 6

Compression parallel to grain ( fc ) 18 14

Tension perpendicular to grain ( ftp ) 1 1

Compression perpendicular to grain ( fcp ) 8 8

Bending ( fb ) 30 10

Shear parallel to grain ( fv ) 1 1

 Consequences of different
design values
• Avoid tension perpendicular and shear
stresses at all cost
• Make use of compression strength of wood
as much as possible
• Simplify connections and use compression
load transfer when possible
• Avoid stress concentrations and complex
stress patterns
 Brittle failure
of wood

Tension perpendicular to grain

Tension parallel to grain
Shear
 Factors that affect the
strength of clear wood
• Decay
• Direction of load w.r.t. grain orientation
• Others ….. ?
 Effect of density
Density values:
Douglas fir 0.49 Modulus of elasticity
200
Pine 0.37-0.44
Hemlock 0.43
150 Spruce 0.37-0.43 Modulus of rupture
Strength (MPa)

Compression parallel
100

50 Compression perpendicular

0
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.0

Relative density
Grading of timber

Defects that affect the

strength of timber
 Visual Grading of Lumber
• Lumber is sorted for a specific
application, e.g.
– For tension members all knots and
defects have a significant effect
– For beams and stringers, the grader
focuses on edge knots
– For posts and timbers sloped grain is
more important
• The larger the members, the higher
the probability of missing some
important defects
 The sorting process
• Sorting by species
– Species of similar strength
characteristics are lumped together
• Visual grading
– A certified grader sorts wood by hand
according to visual appearance
– Lumber gets sorted according to end
use
– Grading criteria:
• Knots (type, location, size, frequency),
wane, checks, slope of grain, pitch pockets
• Mechanical grading
 Testing of lumber

Tension test

Bending test

Probability of Proof load

Full size members are tested occurrence Strength
(a) To failure (full
distribution is obtained) distribution
(b) Up to a proof load (only
lower tail end of
distribution is obtained)
5th percentile value Strength
Use of dimension lumber in
residential construction
Platform construction
 Platform
construction
Residential construction
Design values for structural joists and planks (MPa)

General
purpose
members
Design values for beams and stringers (MPa)
 Beams and stringers on the flat

Adjustment factors when using beams or

stringers on the flat:

fb E or E05
Select Structural 0.88 1.00
No.1 or No.2 0.77 0.90
Variability of material properties

Bridging
(load sharing)

Selection of members
for specific applications
(grading)

Closely spaced members

(load sharing)
 Defects are
distributed
among many
laminations

Large glulam
beams in
buildings
and bridges
Design values for
Douglas fir glulam
(MPa)
 Design concepts
Engineered wood product
Probability of occurrence

Load
distribution Sawn lumber

Probability of failure Load, Resistance

(overlap area)
 Engineered wood products -
pick the best member for each application
laminated veneer lumber

I-joists

laminated strand lumber

oriented
strandboard finger-jointed studs

plywood
 Structural design
• To minimize the probability of a very
high stress (extreme load case)
occurring at a location of very low
strength (extreme weakness)

low strength area

high stress area

 Wall
construction

These elements
for shearwalls
only
 Loads on
walls

Gravity loads
(dead load, snow,
occupancy)
Shear loads
(wind, earthquake)
Lateral loads
(wind)
 Shrinkage of wood
10
shrinkage (%)

lengthwise shrinkage
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30

moisture content of wood (%)

Wood shrinkage in platform construction

2x12 (38x235) joists

2x4 (38x89) top plates

When using green wood (25% MC)

Shrinkage @ 5% results in
(0.05)(235+38+38) = 15.6mm
 Post and
beam
constructi
on
 Post and
beam
construction

C.K. Choi
building, UBC
campus
Design values for posts and timbers (MPa)
 Mechanical grading of lumber

MSR
Machine stress rating
• non-destructive
Probability of
occurrence
• continuous feed Visual
• elastic modulus is measured
over entire length and
averaged
• E-values are correlated with
strength values 5th percentile values Strength
 Design values for MSR lumber (MPa)
Note: no
species
separation
Use of MSR lumber in trusses
 Engineered wood products
• A way to reduce the variability of the
material
• Use low quality material to produce a
high-grade product
• Use high quality material in high
stress zones
• No size limitations (almost)
• Can be made for special applications
Shrinkage in
woodframe
construction
Shrinkage in
connections
 Wood properties and
connection design
• Avoid connections as much as
possible
• Work with the strong properties of
wood (compression)
• Avoid weak properties (tension
perpendicular and shear)
• Consider shrinkage
• Design for durability
• Strive for simplicity
Efficient use of timber for a long span roof
(minimal connections)
 Bearing
connections
Bearing connections
 Bearing
connections
Bearing connections
Complex connections ??
The connection
palace
Wood in bending and compression
The ultimate tree
??