CHAPTER 5:

TIMBER

Ts. DR. NORHAYATI NGADIMAN

 CONTAIN
5.1 Timber Classification.
5.2 Timber Structure.
5.3 Moisture, Shrinkage and Strength.
5.4 Timber Defect
5.5 Treatment and Curing
5.6 Timber Products.
5.7 Wood in constructions
5.8 Timber Standard Testing
INTRODUCTION
Definition of wood, timber and lumber:

Wood : May be defined as the material that

forms the trunks and branches of trees

Timber : Wood cut from the trunk which can be

used for constructing houses, furniture, bridges
and etc.

Lumber: Used in U.S to signify such as sawn and

worked timber
 5.1 Timber Classification.
Softwood Hardwood
 coniferous and have needle  grow slowly to give generally high
shaped leaves density and high strength
 quick growing and give wood  less easy to work because very
generally low density and fairly low hard
strength.  very durable although without use
 easily worked because softer, less preservatives
dense, easier to cut
 most hardwoods are very
 not normally highly durable unless expensive due to slow growing
protected by preservatives
 hard to see the growth rings
 since they grow quickly, softwood
are relatively cheap  have vessels
 clearly growth rings
 higher proportion of heartwood
 no vessel
Example: Example:
Temperate species
Temperate species Bass wood, Cheery, Cottonwood, Oak,
Hemlock, Redwood, Spruce, Pine, Hemlock Walnut and etc.
and etc.
Tropical species
Tropical species Meranti, Kapur, Cengal, Balau, Keruing,
Damar minyak, podo, sempilor and etc.
i. Heavy Hard Wood (HHW)
 Density of over 880 kg/m3
 constructional timbers
 some of them contain toxic material within
their tissue such as alkaloids and other
substances
 can be used in most exposed conditions
without undergoing preservative treatment
 however, sapwood requires preservative
treatment because less durable compare to
heartwood
 About 14 species under “Malaysian Grading
Rules 1984 Edition 1”
ii. Medium Hardwood (MHW)
 720 – 880 kg/m3 at 15% moisture content –
MSS 544: 2001 (Consider Dry condition <
19%)
 Moderately heavy to heavy construction
 Come of the timbers (kempas and tualang)
are heavy and strong, but insuffient for used
in exposed condition and in ground
contact.
 About 36 species under “Malaysian Grading
Rules 1984 Edition 1”
iii. Light hardwood (LHW)
 lessthan 720 kg/m3
 general utility timbers – joinery work, cabinet
marking, furniture, decorative paneling and
etc.
 require preservative treatment as a
precaution against wood destroying agents
such as fungi an insects.
 About 47 species under “Malaysian Grading
Rules 1984 Edition 1”
 iv. Softwood (SW)
 No specific classification for softwood.
 About 3 species under “Malaysian Grading
Rules 1984 Edition 1”
 Damar minyak is of commercial importance
at the moment.
 Density range about 385 – 735 kg/m3
 Timber mainly used as decorative plywood
and paneling
Scientific Name or Botanical Name:
 Aregiven based on international rules
 Can have only one name
 Consist of two part:
 a. Genus : Botanical group
 b. Epithet : Exact species
 Based on Latin language

Example:
Kayu Kempas Koompassia Malaccensis
(Genus) ( Epithet)
5.2 Timber Structure
Wood Formation
5.2 Timber Structure
 Wood is aggregate of cells produced by the
tree to serve among others certain functions
connected with the life process of the tree.
 The functions are:
a. Conduction of water and
dissolved mineral salt solution from
the roots to leaves for
manufacture of plant food
materials
b. Storage and distribution of
manufactured and reserved food
materials
c. Provision of mechanical strength
of the tree as a whole
Sapwood & Heartwood
 Sapwood
 food conduction and storage
 less resistant to fungi and insect
 can often be recognized, as it is usually
lighter in colour
 proportion decrease continuously with the
age of tress
 young tress being almost all sapwood
 may be less than 20 % in mature three
 Heartwood
 structural support
 no longer store food
 structural features is similar with sapwood
except, the cell walls of the latter are often
permeated with resinous or gummy
substances
 more resistant to fungi and insect
 it is usually darker in colour
Formation of Annual Rings or
Growth Rings

Figure 5.1 The Formation of Annual Ring

 Temperate Species
 The rings of wood formed may be clear
differentiated because the vigour of growth
during a single growing season.
 Early spring, the tissue produced consists of large
and porous cells. This is followed by a gradual
decline vigour (of growth)
 By late autumn (after the fall of the leaves),
growth for the year end.
 the growth resumes in early spring, the cambium
starts putting on large and porous cells which
contrast significantly in texture with the cells of
the immediate preceding layer of late autumn
wood.
 Tropical Species
 Clear growth rings are exceptional because
there are indistinct seasonal changes in
climate.
 No notable differences between the
textures of wood produced.
 Therefore, in tropical woods, these rings
even if distinct, are not criterion of the age
of the tree which calculated one year per
ring like temperate species.
5.3 Moisture, Shrinkage and Strength.

Shrinkage Strength
• All structures made • Density
from timber have the • Moisture content
possible effect of
shrinkage. • Temperature
• Grains structure
• Condition of growth
• Defects
5.4 TIMBER DEFECT
 Since timber is a natural product,
developed through many years of growth
in the open air, exposed to continual and
varying climate conditions, it is prone to
many defects.
 Defects can be caused during growth,
during drying, through insects, through fungi
or during subsequent handling or
machining, and each should be known, so
that imperfect pieces can be detected
and rejected
Defects
Defects
Defects
 Defects

Termites Decay
5.5 Treatment and Curing
1) Oil type preservatives 2) Water soluble preservatives
 1) Oil type Preservatives
 the moisture content in timber should not be
more than 14%.
 applied over outside of exposed timber.
 unpleasant smell.
 not suitable when timber is to be painted.
 examples; creosote, carbolinium, solignum,
with or without admixture with petroleum or
suitable oils.
2) Water Soluble Preservatives
 moisture content of 20 to 30% is permissible.
 odourless organic or inorganic salts and adopted for inside
location only.
 examples of leachable type of preservatives; zinc chloride,
boric acid(borax), etc.
 the types of zinc chloride, sodium fluoride and sodium-
pentachloro-phenate are toxic to fungi. These types are
expensive and odourless.
 benzene-hexa-chloride is used as spray against borers.
 Boric acid is used against Lyctus borers and to protect
plywood in tea chests.
 another type;
i) copper-chromate-arsenic composition.
ii) acid-cupric-chromate composition.
iii) chromate-zinc chloride composition.
iv) solvent treatment.
 i) Surface application
 by spraying, dipping or brushing the preservatives for
a short period.
 at least two coats should be applied.
 the subsequent coats should not be applied until the
first one has dried or soaked into the wood.
 used mostly for treating timber at site and re-
treatment of cut surfaces.
 ii) Soaking treatment
 submerging debarked timber in the preservatives
solution for sufficiently long period until the required
absorption of the preservative is obtained.
 iii) Hot and cold process
 ensures sterilization against fungi and insects.
 the timber is submerged in the preservation solution which
is heated to about 90°C to 95°C and maintained at this
temperature. Then allowed to cool until the required
absorption is obtained. During the heating period, air in the
timber expands and is partially expelled.
 while cooling, the residual air in the timber creates a partial
vacuum which causes the preservative to be sucked into
the timber.
 generally, two baths are used. First-containing the water to
prepare the hot treatment. Second-cold bath-containing
the preservatives into which the timber is transferred
immediately after heating.
 this to solve the danger of precipitation of chemicals at
high temperature. Also helps to make the process
continuous in case the quantity of timber is large.
 iv) Boucherie Process
 a method of preserving wood involving impregnation with
copper sulfate under pressure
 this approach consisted of attaching a bag or container of
preservative solution to a standing or a freshly cut tree with
bark, branches, and leaves still attached, thereby injecting
the liquid into the sap stream.
 Through transpiration of moisture from the leaves the
preservative is drawn upward through the sapwood of the
tree trunk.
v) Full cell or bethel process
 essentially a pressure process.
 used when maximum absorption of the preservative is
desired.
 timber charge is introduced into the cylinder.
 vi) Empty cell process
 also known as pressure processes.
 aimed at a maximum penetration of the preservative with
a minimum net retention.
 Lawry process and Rueping process are commonly used.
 5.6 Timber Products.
Veneers Plywood Boards
 5.7 Wood in constructions.
Furnitures Bridge Houses Columns
5.8 Timber Standard Testing
1. Volumetric shrinkage and swelling
2. Static bending strength
3. Compressive strength
4. Moisture content
5.8.1 Volumetric shrinkage and swelling
5.8.1 Volumetric shrinkage and swelling
5.8.2 Static Bending Strength
5.8.3 Compressive Strength Test
Formula Modulus of Elasticity (MOE)
5.8.3 Moisture content
5.8.3 Moisture content
- THE END-