Appearances can be deceptive
In This Series
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Philip O'Leary, head of TRADA Technology's Structural Investigations team, highlights his concerns about a lack of understanding in the industry about timber strength grading issues.
Timber as a natural material, is inherently variable, even within a single species. Strength grading of softwood and hardwood overcomes this, by assessing the strength and stiffness of individual pieces intended for structural use and assigning them to a strength grade and/or strength class. Specifiers can then work with known and dependable mechanical properties.
Article from the TRADA Timber Industry Yearbook 2011
Suggested Reading
Constructional timber: Fact sheet no. 3
This wood for good fact sheet is an introductory document to constructional timber.
The sheet contains tips, guides to marking and span tables for C16 and C24 floor joists.
Contents:
- Tips
- Markings
- Species
- Specifications
- Span tables for domestic floor joists: C16 timber
- Span tables for domestic floor...
01/01/2004 | Info from other organisation
Structural use of hardwoods
Although the vast majority of structural timber in the UK is softwood, there is a significant interest in hardwoods from both temperate and tropical regions for structural applications. When using hardwoods in structures, the specifier may need to take more interest in the species, its origin and its moisture condition...
07/05/2019 | Wood Information Sheet
Round timber in construction: Notes for structural design
The use of round timber for structural applications can provide designers with attractive features in sympathy with local surrounding in a range of applications from housing and agricultural buildings to major engineering structures such as bridges.
Structural engineers are often faced with little information on designing with round timber...
01/01/2004 | Other Technical Guidance
