UEBE 1213-

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

Hardwoods are from broad-leaved trees most of which are deciduous

Hardwoods include the densest, strongest and most durable timbers
Some hardwoods contain resins and/or oils which interfere with the hardening of
paints
Some such as teak and makore include materials, e.g. silica which make working
difficult
Generally, hardwoods are more costly than softwoods
 SOFTWOOD
Softwoods are derived from coniferous trees
Softwoods comprise about 75% of the timber used in the UK
Table 2.4 (Everett) shows the average densities of some common timbers at 15%
moisture content
 HARDWOODS kg/m3 SOFTWOODS

Lignum vitae 1249

African ebony 1000

Opepe 750
Yew: American pitch pine
Light red seraya/ meranti 500
Yellow pine: sequoia
Western red cedar
250

Figure 2.4 Average densities of common timbers at 15%

moisture content (Everett)
 ANATOMY OF TIMBER
Refer to Figure 2.1 (Everett)
A tree is a complex plant which uses salts from the soil and carbon dioxide from
the air to manufacture food materials by action of sunlight on chlorophyll in
leaves
The trunk and branches grow outwards around a leading shoot by adding new
rings of timber
Usually one ring is added each year but this is not always the case, thus they are
known as ‘growth rings’ rather than ‘annual rings’
The more rapid the growth, the wider are the growth rings
Figure 2.1 The tree

Night Day

Fork Sunlight + CO2

CO2

O2

Bole
or
Trunk
 Figure 2.1 The tree

Growth ring

Rays Early Late

wood wood

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)

The band of sapwood varies widely in width from 25 to 150 mm or more in

some tropical hardwoods
Mechanically, there is no significant difference between sapwood and
heartwood but in most species, sapwood is lighter in colour and because it
contains sugars, starch and water, it is more attractive to fungi and certain
insects
The outer surface of a tree is protected by bark and in some trees is
renewed periodically
The term grain refers to the general direction of the fibres in timber
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 as shown in Fig. 4.4 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 favour its decay.
 Defects Due to Abnormal
Growth
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
adversly affect the durability of timber because they readily admit moisture and air.
•Shakes are longitudinal separations in the wood between the annual rings. These
lengthwise separations reduce the allowable shear strength without much effect on
compressive and tensile values. 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 horisontal 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.
Defects Due to Abnormal
Growth
•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. Star shakes appear as the wood
dries below the fibre saturation point. It is a senous fault leading to
separated log when sawn.
 Fissures
Refer to Figure 2.2 (Everett)
These defects include splits and shakes

Split

Repair to split
 Fissures
Resin pocket

Resin pocket in the wood

 Knots
Refer to Figure 2.3 (Evmerett)
A knot is the part of a branch which became enclosed in a growing tree
Fissures and knots

Avoid the following blemishes:

1 Large or dead knots
2 Growth-ring shakes
3 End splits
4 Surface checking
5 Honeycomb checks
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.
•Decay due to Fungal and Bacterial Attack
• Wood is essentially an organic substance, made up of a skeleton of cellulose
impregnated with lignin. The organic substances are susceptible to attack by
both bacteria and fungi. Bacteria are the smallest of living organism and do not
cause any serious damage to timber, except for some discolourations. Fungi are
a system of plant organism which live in and attack timber causing rot and
decay.
Decay Of Timber
Control of Fungi and Bacterial Attack: One of the prime requirements in
the control of fungal attack is the dryness of timber. The timber should
not be subjected to alternate wet and dry conditions. When this is
unavoidable, a proper preservative treatment should be made.
Felled trees should be air-dried as rapidly as possible and sawn timber
should be kiln-seasoned properly in accordance with good air-seasoning
practice. Thereafter, they should be protected from rain and other
sources of moisture. It should be ensured that adequate ventilation is
there around the timber to prevent fungal attack. Also, no timber used
in a structure should contain sapwood which is more susceptible to
fungal attack because of the food supplies stored in its parenchyma.
Fungal decay

White Pocket Rot

 Diseases of Timber
i) Dry Rot

It is decomposition of felled timber caused by the action of various fungi.

The fungus reduces fibres to fine powder 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
 Diseases of Timber
i) 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.
Wet rot affects the joists to the canter levered
jetty on the southern elevation
Significant wet rot fungal decay affecting the
large corner posts and cill beams
Damages due to Insects
• Termites: Termites, or white ants as they are inappropriately
called, are the most destructive of all insect agencies. They are
small, social insects which form vast colonies and possess
differentiated casts to carry on specialized functions in the social
structure. They completely excavate the wood at the centre
leaving the outer shell intact. They also attack furniture and
wood work in houses and railway sleepers, etc.

• 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

Oak Pinhole Borer

Defects due to Conversion
Conversion is the term used to describe the process whereby the felled
tree is converted into marketable sizes of timber. Conversion defects are
basically due to unsound practice in milling or attempts to economise
during conversion of timber.
A wane occurs in timber which contains, on one or more faces, part of
the bark or the rounded periphery of the trunk. This reduces the cross
sectional area, with consequent reduction in strength in the parts
affected. Excessive slope of grains may also be classed as a conversion
defect when conversion has not been done parallel to the axis of the
trunk.
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.
PROPERTIES OF TIMBER
 Properties of timbers (1)
Density
The weight of wood tissue is about 1,506 kg/m3
Most seasoned timbers fall within the range of 385-835 kg/m3 (compared
with stones, 2,082-3204 kg/m3, common metals, 2,640-11,373 kg/m3 and
plastics, 900-1,400 kg/m3)
Within the range of moisture contents 5 to 25%, the weight of timbers varies
approximately 0.5% for every 1% variation in moisture content
 Properties of timbers (2)

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

Seasoning defects in coconut wood

Various defects in timber:

a = twist; b = cupping;
c = honeycomb checks;
d = bowing;
e = checks;
f = end split;
g = compression failure;
h = behaviour of test sample from a case-
hardended board;
i = spring.
Practical effect of shrinkage
Minimization of changes in moisture content (1)

Moisture content = weight  dryweight

x100%
dryweight
Apart from obvious precautions such as the avoidance of unnecessary wetting of
timber, changes in moisture content are minimised by:
➢Impregnation
➢Surface coatings
➢Seasoning
Minimization of changes in moisture content (2)

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

Treatment Moisture content after 12 days in saturated

atmosphere (95-100% RH) %

Untreated 28.4

2-coat surface applications:

Long oil phenolic/ tung oil
varnish 21.0
Epoxy resin varnish 12.0

Normal 3-coat oil paintwork 8.0 approximately

Wax or other impregnants 18.2 – 24.9

Minimization of changes in moisture content (4)
3. Seasoning
•Seasoning is the controlled reduction of moisture content to a level appropriate to the
end use
•Drying timber from the green to the normal seasoned condition reduces its density by
50% or more with consequent shrinkage
•Advantages of seasoning:
• Reduce the shrinkage and warping after placement in structure.
• Increase strength, durability and workability.
• Reduce its tendency to split and decay.
• Make it suitable for painting.
• Reduce its weight.
 Methods of seasoning (1)
Sawn softwood is imported either ‘green’ or ‘shipping dry’, i.e. surface dry only
In seasoning, if drying is too rapid, the outer parts, in particular unprotected ends,
shrink before the interior, surface splitting results
In extreme cases, the surface case hardens and the interior honeycombs or the timber
collapses becomes useless
 Methods of seasoning (2)

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

Solar dryer - glasshouse

type

1 - heat absorption area

2 - transpeaent walls
3 - frame
4 - fan
5 - ventilation opening
(out)
6 - ventilation opening (in)
7 - timber stack
8 - foundation
9 - separation wall
10 - shade wall, usually well
insulated
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
•Process relatively inexpensive
Disadvantages
•Require large land area
•Seasoning is slow
•Quality control somewhat
lacking

Advantages
•Compact machinery requires
less land area
•Seasoning is fast
•Quality could be controlled
Disadvantages
•High installation first cost
•High operating and
maintenance cost
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

Timber is made highly durable in a treatment plant like this.

As well as preservative protection some timber also comes ready treated with a water repellent
that helps further protect the wood from weathering.

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

OS (Organic solvent types)

OS 1 – chlorinated naphthalenes and other chlorinated hydrocarbons
OS2 – copper naphthenate and zinc naphthenate

WB (Water-borne types)
WB 1 – copper-chrome
WB 2 – copper-chrome-arsenic, etc