DESIGN IN TIMBER

TO MS 544 PART2

COURSE OUTCOME
At the end of the lecture student will be able to;
Understand design philosophy of permissible
stress design
Design flexural member

INTRODUCTION
Timber can be used in a range of
structural application (like piers),
heavy civil work (like bridge and piles)
or domestic housing (like roofs and
floors)
Timber structures are loaded with
different type of loadings ie flexural,
compression, tension shear etc.
So it is important to know the
allowable and permissible stress of

Different materials have different

strength properties.
Permissible stress are the properties
of material under bending,
compression, tension etc.
These stresses together with the
loading criteria will form the basis of
design for the various timber
components.

Design of timber members

In accordance with
BS5268: The structural use of timber
or

MS544 Part2: Code of Practice for

Structural use of Timbers: Permissible
stress design of solid timber

Design philosophy
Permissible stress design
derived on a statistical basis and
deformations are limited.
Design based on the allowable and
permissible stress of the materials
Elastic theory is used to analyse structures
under various loading conditions to give the
worst design case.
Then timber sections are chosen so that
permissible stresses are not exceeded at
any point of the structure.

MS544 Part 2 and BS5268 is based on

permissible stress design (or elastic
design) rather than limit state design (as
in BS5950).
This means that in practice that a partial
safety factor is applied only to material
properties not to the loading.

Working stress design

Permissible stress design
Allowable stress design
Elastic method design

Has been used by designers and

engineers in timber construction and
this MS544 and BS5268 adopted this
design

Working stress design

The adequacy of a structure is
checked by calculating the working
stress to maximum expected loads
and comparing them with the
permissible stresses.
The permissible stress is equal to the
failure stress design methods to
successful structures at that time

The safety factors for the new

materials were estimated in
comparison with those for traditional
materials by taking into account the
nature for the new material and its
uncertainty or variability
Elastic method of design has formed
the basis of structural codes and
standards for most of the century.

Structural timber design may be

based on either
The grade stress for the individual
species for dry exposure or wet
condition given in Table 1 and 2 pg 5
16.
The grade stresses for the strength
group SG for dry exposure condition
given in Table 4 pg 18

Timber grade stresses

1.

2.

Since timber which is naturally occurring

and has varying range of properties, its
grade has to be classified accordingly. Its
properties are affected by conditions of
growth(temperature, wet or dry season,
wind etc) and therefore its strength varies
Strength is also determined by the
process of various strength reducing
characteristics such as knots, slope of
grain, fissures and wane

3. Strength Group, SG is defined as the

classification of timber based on
particular value of grade stresses
Timber having similar strength and
stiffness properties have been group
together for simplicity in design procedure
(Table 4 pg 18)

Definition of stresses
a)

Basic stress
The stress which can safely be
permanently sustained by timber
containing no strength reducing
characteristic
Include duration of loading
- size and shape of actual
member
- factors of safety
- variability of strength

b) Grade stress
The stress which can safely be
permanently sustained by timber of a
particular grade.
c)Green stress
A stress applicable to timber having a
moisture content exceeding 19%
d) Dry stress
A stress applicable to timber having a
moisture content not exceeding 19%

Derivation of Permissible
Stresses
Grade stress
(individual species)

Characteristic stress
Permissible stress

Strength
properties of
small clear
specimens

Basic stress

Grade stress
(strength group)

Derivation of Basic Stresses

Test results (for at least 30 samples)

for each species were tabulated and
the average strength value (stress) is
calculated using the following
equation:
n

X =

X= strength value
N = number of samples

X 2.33

Characteristic stress

Characteristic stress of timber is

defined as the strength value where
only 1% of the test results will be
below the basic stress value and is
given in the form:
k

= X 2.33

Basic stress

Basic stress: k = X 2.33

F.S

Where F.S is factor of safety

Safety factor

A safety factor is applied and it is usually assumed that

this factor will cover such items as accidental
overloading, assumptions made during design and
design accuracies together with errors in workmanship,
etc.

Property

Reduction factor

Formula

Bending and shear

2.5

X 2.33
2.5

Compression
parallel to grain

1.5

X 2.33
1.5

Compression
perpendicular to
grain

1.3

X 2.33
1.3

Mean modulus of
elasticity

1.0

Minimum modulus
of elasticity

1.0

X 2.33

Grade stress
The stress can be safely permanently
sustained by timber at a particular grade
They are derived from individual species
and are governed by the effect of visible
gross features of defect such as knots,
sloping of grains, fissures, etc.
Reduction strength expressed in terms of
strength ratio i.e of strength of piece of
timber with defects to the strength of the
same piece without defect.

Grade stress
Grade stress = Basic stress x reduction
factor
Reduction factor for grade stress taking into account of varying
amounts of defects based on basic stress and this gives three stress
grades of timbers namely Select, Standard and Common
Table 2.0 Strength ratio
Property

Select
%

Standard
%

Common
%

Bending, tension and

compression parallel to
grain

80

63

50

Compression
perpendicular to grain

85

80

75

Shear

72

56

45

Modulus of elasticity

Same as the basic value for all grades

Permissible stress
The stress which can be safely be
sustained by a structural component
under the particular condition of service
and loading
Permissible stress is the final stage at
which all allowances are made for the
particular condition of services and
loading
Permissible stress = grade stress x modification factor
= grade stress x K1xK2xK3xK4xK5xK6

Modification factors

DURATION OF LOADING
Modification factor K1 Table 5 MS 544:2001 Part 1

Duration of loading

Value of K1

Long term (dead + permanent imposed)

Medium term (dead + temporary imposed)
Short term (dead + imposed + wind)
Very short term (dead + imposed + wind)

1.00
1.25
1.50
1.75

LOAD SHARING FACTOR (Clause 10 of the MS544:2001 Part 2)

I.
II.
III.

Load sharing means a system whereby a number of members act together to

support a common load.
For load sharing , modification factor K2 is 1.1 and the mean value of modulus of
elasticity may be used.
(For non-load sharing, there is no increase in the grade stress and the minimum E
is used).
For load sharing system to be applicable the following must be satisfied:
There must be at least four or more members
The spacing of members must not be more than 610 mm apart with adequate
provision of lateral distribution of load
The stresses due to dead load or permanent load are not more than 60% of
stresses due to the total design load.

Members include rafters, joists, trusses or wall studs with adequate provision for
lateral distribution of loads by means of purlins, binders, boarding etc.

Emean should be used to calculate deflections and displacements.

LENGTH AND POSITION OF BEARING

For bearing < 150mm in length located 75mm or more from the
end of member, grade stress should be multiplied by
modification factor K3.

75mm Bearing less than

or more 150mm or more

Length of bearing (mm)

Value of K3

10

15

25

40

50

75

100

<150

1.74

1.67

1.53

1.33

1.20

1.14

1.10

1.00

NOTCHING FACTOR

Beam with notch on the top edge

Beam with notch on the top edge

For a he
K4 =

h (he a) ahe
he 2

Beam with notch in the underside

Beam with notch on the underside

For a >he
K4 = he/h
K4 = 1.0

FORM FACTOR
K5 = 1.8 for solid circular section
K5 = 1.41 for solid square sections loaded on a diagonal

DEPTH FACTOR
For depth of beams > 300mm, the grade bending stresses
should be multiplied by modification factor K6
For solid and glue laminated beams,

K6 = 0.81

Design of bending members

e.g, girders, stringers, bearers, purlins
and joist
In design, all follow the same design
principles as member subjected to
bending forces
Beam may be supported as freely
supported, supported by intermediate
supports, fixed end with other end free
(cantilever) etc.

Design considerations

1.
2.
3.
4.

The main design considerations for flexural members are:

Bending stress and prevention of lateral buckling
Deflection
Shear stress
Bearing stress.

The cross-sectional properties of all flexural members have to satisfy

elastic strength and service load requirements. In general, bending
is the most critical criterion for medium-span beams, deflection for
long span beams and shear for heavily loaded short-span beams. In
practice, design checks are carried out for all criteria listed above.
The permissible stress value is calculated as the product of the
grade stress and the appropriate modification factors for particular
service and loading conditions, and is usually compared with the
applied stress in a member or part of a component in structural
design calculations. In general:

Permissible stress ( = grade stress K-factors ) applied

stress

Bending stress and prevention of

lateral buckling

The design of timber beams in flexure requires the application of the elastic
theory of bending as express by:

=My
I

The term I/y is referred to as section modulus and is denoted by

Z. The applied bending stress about the major (x-x) axis of
the beam (say) (see Fig. 4.1), is calculated from:
b
My
M
y
Ixx
Z
xx
=
x

x
Where:
m,adm,// = applied bending stress (in N/mm2)
M = maximum bending moment (in Nmm)
Zxx = section modulus about its major (x-x) axis
(in mm3). For rectangular sections

Design considerations

Includes all as mention above

Additions:
Depth factor (Sec 11.6 pg 23)
Effective span L
e

Clause 11.3 pg 22 recommends that the span of flexural

members should be taken as the distance between the
centres of bearing
Beam or joist

Effective span
Clear span
Span to centres of actual bearings

Depth factor, K6

The grade bending stress given in Tables 1,2 and

4 of MS544 : Part 2 apply to beams having a
depth, h, of 300 mm (Clause 11.6). For other
depths of beams, the grade bending stress
should be multiplied by the depth modification
factor, K6 where:
for h 72 mm,
for 72 < h< 300 mm,
for h > 300 mm,
300
800

K6 = 1.17
K6 = (300 )0.11
h
K6 = 0.81h2 + 92
h2 + 56

Depth to breath ratio

Lateral Stability of built in beams
Beams with large depth to thickness ratios are at risk of buckling under bending forces. BS 5268 uses
the ratio of Ixx (2nd moment of area of section about neutral axis) to Iyy (2nd moment of area of the section
perpendicular to the neutral axis ) to identify the support requirements such that there is no risk of bucking

Note: for a simple rectangular beam the Ixx/Iyy ratio is simply the square of
the d/b ratio.
I xx/ I yy

16

25

36

49

d/b

Stiffness and deflection (Sec 11.7 pg 24)

Stiffness is related to deflection. When a member is

said to be stiff, it means that it is able to resist
deflection to a certain extend depending on the
degree of stiffness.
Deflection limits are decided through practical
experience and arbitrarily fixed.
For floors when fully loaded should not exceed
0.003 x span
In purlins, deflection should not exceed 0.005 x
span
Members may be pre-cambered to account for the
deflection under full dead or permanent load and in
this case the deflection under live or intermittent
load should not exceed 0.003 of the span

In calculating the deflection, either the mean

value or the minimum value of modulus of
elasticity (E) is used.
The mean value E is used for roof joist, floor
joist and other systems where transverse
distribution of load is achieved and where the
stress induced by the dead load or permanent
load is not more than 60% of the permissible
stress induced by the full design load.( the latter
statement is included because where the
permanent load is a large proportion of the total
load, will induce creep.
The minimum value of E is used for principals,
mean

min

binders and other components which acts

alone.

Procedure in beam design

Design steps:
i. Calculate the loads to be applied
ii. Effective span, Le (Clause 11.3 pg 22)
iii. Find m,g,// = bending stress (grade
stresses) parallel to grain from table 14
M < MR
Where

M: design moment
MR: moment resistance
MR = m,adm,// , // Zxx

Z = section modulus
m,adm,// = permissible bending stress // to grain
= = m,adm,// x modification factor ( K1-K8)