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Lecture 29 - Page 1 of 13

Lecture 29 Timber Design Beams



Wood is the most widely used construction material in use world-wide. It is used not
only for residential frame construction, but also as formwork, scaffolding and
temporary support framing for commercial and large-scale construction as well.
Heavy timber construction, which includes manufactured glued-laminated (glulam),
Microllam, Parallam, etc., is also used for bridge construction and large-scale
structures such as arena roofs, arches, etc. There are many reasons why wood is
used as a construction material, including:

Availability Wood is available almost every place in the world
Local labor Semi-skilled labor is all that is usually necessary
Easy to work with Light weight and easy to cut and fasten
Whole building of wood The entire building can be made of wood
Aesthetics Nothing compares to word for the aesthetic warmth
Relatively inexpensive Dimension lumber is relatively cheap compared to
other construction materials, particularly for small members however, heavy
timber members tend to be somewhat pricey.
Heavy timber is relatively fire-resistant (charred exterior of timber insulates
interior of timber)



Lecture 29 - Page 2 of 13




Timber-framed vehicular bridge in South Dakota
Lecture 29 - Page 3 of 13
Wood Design per IBC

Chapter 23 of the IBC dictates the design of wood structures, including beams,
columns, panels, decking and other members. This chapter refers back to Section
1604 General Design Requirements for usage of either the Allowable Stress Design
or the Load & Resistance Factor Design (LRFD) methods of design & analysis.
Within Chapter 23 includes span tables, charts and other useful data for the design of
wood structural members.

Wood Beam Design Using Allowable Stress Design

IBC Section 2306 Allowable Stress Design is the basis for our discussion. It
refers to the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) publication National
Design Specification for Wood Construction ASD, and will be hereafter referred to
as the NDS. The Web site for the AF&PA is http://www.awc.org/

1) Major classifications of lumber:

a) Dimension Lumber Sections with sizes corresponding to nominal
widths of 2 to 4 and depths of up to nominal 12. Usually used for
rafters, joists and studs
b) Beams and Stringers Rectangular sections nominal 5 or more in
width and depths nominally 2 or more than width. Usually used as
beams.
c) Posts and Timbers Square or nearly square sections nominal 5x5 or
larger. Used primarily as compression members.
d) Decking Lumber from 2 4 deep tongue-and-grooved. Used for flat
applications such as decking and flooring.

2) Beam Design Bending:

The revised allowable bending stress F
b
shall be greater than the actual
bending stress, f
b
.

F
b
> f
b

Lecture 29 - Page 4 of 13
where:
f
b
=actual bending stress
=
x
S
M
max


F
b
=revised allowable bending stress for laterally-braced beams
=F
b
(C
D
x C
r
x C
M
x C
F
x C
fu
)

F
b
=tabulated allowable stress values from table below

C
D
=load duration factor (see below)

Load Duration (Typical Design Loads) C
D
Load Duration (Typical Design Loads) C
D

Permanent (dead load)
Ten years (occupancy live load)
Two months (snow load)
0.9
1.0
1.15
Seven days (construction load)
Ten minutes (wind/earthquake load)
Impact
1
(impact load)
1.25
1.6
2.0

C
r
=repetitive use factor
=1.0 if single member
=1.15 if 3 or more members used in roof or floor system

C
M
=moisture factor for wet-use condition
=1.0 if moisture content (MC) <19%
=0.85 if MC >19%

C
F
=form (size) factor for members with depth d >12
=(12/d)
1/9
if d >12

C
fu
=flat-use factor if member is oriented flat, otherwise N/A
=1.1 for 2x4
=1.15 for 2x6, 2x8
=1.20 for 2x10, 2x12

=1.05 for 4x6, 4x8
=1.1 for 4x10 and deeper
Lecture 29 - Page 5 of 13

Species
&
Grade:
Size
classification
Bending
F
b
(psi)
Tension
parallel
to grain
F
t
(psi)
Shear
parallel
to
grain
F
v
(psi)
Compression
perpendicular
to grain F
c

(psi)
Compression
parallel to
grain F
c
(psi)
Modulus
of
Elasticity
E (psi)
Douglas
Fir-Larch

No. 1 Dim. lumber 1000 675 95 625 1500 1,700,000
No. 2 Dim. lumber 900 575 95 625 1350 1,600,000
No. 1 Beam & stringer 1350 675 85 625 925 1,600,000
No. 2 Beam & stringer 875 425 85 625 600 1,300,000
No. 1 Post & timber 1200 825 85 625 1000 1,600,000
No. 2 Post & timber 750 475 85 625 700 1,300,000
Southern
Pine

No. 1 Dim. lumber 1850 1050 100 565 1850 1,700,000
No. 2 Dim. lumber 1500 825 90 565 1650 1,600,000
No. 1 Post & timber 1350 900 165 375 825 1,500,000
No. 2 Post & timber 850 550 165 375 525 1,200,000
Glulam
24F-V1 Beam & stringer 2400 1000 135 255 (side face)
650 (top face)
1300 1,400,000
20F-V3 Beam & stringer 2000 1000 165 560 (side face)
560 (top face)
1550 1,500,000
Microllam
1.9E LVL Beam & stringer 2600 1555 285 750 2510 1,900,000
Parallam
1.0E PSL Beam & stringer 2900 2025 290 750 2900 2,000,000

Example 1
GIVEN: The nominal 4x14 D.F.L. No. 2 roof rafter spaced 5-0 o.c. as shown below.
The load is derived from snow loads and dead loads.
REQUIRED: Determine if the rafter is acceptable based on bending only.

















48 PSF
16-0 16-0
Rafter
48 PSF
Lecture 29 - Page 6 of 13
Step 1 Determine maximum actual bending stress, f
b
:

Span =16-0

w =uniform load
=5(48 PSF)
=240 PLF

M
max
=
8
2
wL


=
8
) ' 16 )( 240 (
2
PLF


=7680 ft-lb

f
b
=
x
S
ft M ) / " 12 (
max


where: S
x
=
6
2
bh


=
6
) " 25 . 13 )( " 5 . 3 (
2


=102.4 in
3


f
b
=
3
4 . 102
) / " 12 )( 7680 (
in
ft lb ft


=900 PSI

Step 2 Determine the revised allowable bending stress, F
b
:

F
b
=F
b
[(C
D
)(C
r
)(C
M
)(C
F
)(C
fu
)]

where:
F
b
=900 PSI (from Table above)

C
D
=1.15 since loading is snow

C
r
=1.15 since it is a repetitive member supporting roof

C
M
=1.0 since moisture content <19%


Lecture 29 - Page 7 of 13
C
F
=
9 / 1
)
12
(
d
since the depth of the member =13 >12

=
9 / 1
)
" 25 . 13
12
(

=0.99

C
fu
=Not applicable since member is oriented vertically

F
b
=F
b
[(C
D
)(C
r
)(C
M
)(C
F
)]

=900 PSI[(1.15)(1.15)(1.0)(0.99)]

F
b
= 1178 PSI > 900 PSI beam is acceptable for bending

3) Beam Design Shear:

Shear parallel to grain (otherwise known as horizontal shear) is a major design
consideration for wood beams. It, along with bending, must be investigated for
beams particularly short beams with very heavy loads.

The revised allowable shear parallel to grain stress F
v
shall be greater than the
actual shear parallel to grain stress, f
v
.

F
v
> f
v



where:
f
v
=actual horizontal shear stress (see Lecture 8 notes)
=
Ib
VQ


=1.5 ) (
A
V
for rectangular members

V =maximum vertical shear as obtained from shear diagram
A =cross-sectional area, in
2


F
v
=revised allowable shear stress parallel to grain
=F
v
(C
H
x C
D
x C
M
)

F
v
= tabulated allowable stress values from table above
Lecture 29 - Page 8 of 13

C
H
=shear stress factor
=2.0 if NO splits
=1.67 if split length is x wide face
=1.50 if split length is x wide face
=1.33 if split length is 1 x wide face
=1.00 if split length is 1 x wide face or more

C
D
=load duration factor (see above)

C
M
=moisture factor for wet-use condition
=1.0 if moisture content (MC) <19%
=0.97 if MC >19%

Example 2
GIVEN: The nominal 6x10 Southern Pine No. 1 timber beam below is to be
used as a crane beam and has a vertical impact load of 14 kips that can act
anywhere along the length of the beam. The beam is in very good condition
and has no splits. For simplicity, assume the weight of the beam itself is
negligible.
REQUIRED: Determine if the beam is adequate for shear parallel to grain
(i.e., horizontal shear).



Lecture 29 - Page 9 of 13
Step 1 Determine the maximum actual horizontal shear stress, f
v
on beam:

The maximum shear stress would occur at the point of load:

a) Load acting at center of beam:



















b) Load acting at end of beam:
























7 kips
5-0 5-0
0
0
14 kips
-7 kips
Shear Diagram
14 kips
10-0
0
0
14 kips
Shear Diagram
Lecture 29 - Page 10 of 13
The maximum actual horizontal shear stress, f
v
=

) ( 5 . 1
A
V
f
v
=

)
) " 5 . 9 " 5 . 5 (
14000
( 5 . 1
x
lbs
f
v
=

f
v
=267.9 PSI

Step 2 Determine the revised allowable stress parallel to grain, F
v
:

F
v
=revised allowable shear stress parallel to grain
=F
v
(C
H
x C
D
x C
M
)

F
v
=165 PSI from table above (post & timber)

C
H
=2.0 since there are NO splits

C
D
=2.0 since it is an impact load

C
M
=1.0 since MC <19%

F
v
=165 PSI(2.0)(2.0)(1.0)

F
v
= 660 PSI > 267.9 PSI beam is acceptable for shear


Lecture 29 - Page 11 of 13
4) Beam Design Bearing (compression perpendicular to grain):

The loaded contact area of a beam under load is considered to be in a
bearing stress. The grain is being crushed perpendicular to the direction of
the orientation of the grain as seen in the sketch below. It, along with bending,
and shear must be investigated for beams particularly short beams with
very heavy loads. This type of stress is also very susceptible to crushing if a
MC is greater than 19% and also small bearing areas.
























The revised allowable compression perpendicular to grain stress F
c

shall be greater than the actual compression perpendicular to grain
stress f
c


F
c
> f
c



Bearing Length L
b

Applied load
Contact area
Grain direction
Lecture 29 - Page 12 of 13
where:
f
c
=actual compression perpendicular to grain stress
=
A
V


V =maximum vertical shear as obtained from shear diagram at point of
interest

A =contact area, in
2


F
c
=revised allowable compression perpendicular to grain stress
=F
c
(C
D
x C
M
x C
b
)

F
c
= tabulated allowable stress values from table above

C
D
=load duration factor (see above)

C
M
=moisture factor for wet-use condition
=1.0 if moisture content (MC) <19%
=0.67 if MC >19%

C
b
=bearing area factor used if bearing length, L
b
<6

=
b
b
L
L 375 . 0 +

Lecture 29 - Page 13 of 13


Example 3
GIVEN: The nominal 6x10 wood beam from Example 2. Assume the bearing
length of the beam on the wall is 4.
REQUIRED: Determine if the beam is acceptable for compression
perpendicular to grain.

Step 1 Determine maximum actual compression perpendicular to grain
stress at wall location:

f
c
=
A
V


=
) " 5 . 5 )( " 4 (
14000
Wide Long
lbs


=636.4 PSI

Step 2 Determine revised allowable compression perpendicular to grain
stress:

F
c
= F
c
(C
D
x C
M
x C
b
)

F
c
= 375 PSI (post & timber)

C
D
=2.0 since load is impact

C
M
=1.0 since it has a MC <19%

C
b
=
b
b
L
L 375 . 0 +


=
" 4
375 . 0 " 4 +


=1.09

F
c
=375 PSI(2.0)(1.0)(1.09)

F
c
= 817.5 PSI > 636.4 PSI beam is acceptable for compression
perpendicular to grain

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