Construction and Building Materials 207 (2019) 70–83

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Construction and Building Materials

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Moisture and temperature induced swelling/shrinkage of softwood and

hardwood glulam and LVL: An experimental study
A.A. Chiniforush a, A. Akbarnezhad b, H. Valipour a,⇑, S. Malekmohammadi c
a
Centre for Infrastructure Engineering and Safety (CIES), School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, UNSW Sydney, NSW 2052, Australia
b
School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, NSW 2008, Australia
c
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Technology Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia

h i g h l i g h t s

Study hygroscopic behaviour of hardwood and softwood glulam & LVL at 15 and 50 °C.

Investigate effect of temperature on coefficient of moisture expansion.

Determine coefficient of moisture expansion for glulam & LVL in three directions.

Evaluate effect of adhesives on coefficient of moisture expansion for glulam & LVL.

Hygroscopic behaviour of small clear wood differs from large scale engineered wood.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: To investigate the hygroscopic behaviour of engineered timber, glued-laminated (glulam) timber made of
Received 16 May 2018 Pacific Teak (Tectona grandis), Tasmanian Oak (Eucalyptus regnans/obliqua/delegatensis), Blackbutt
Received in revised form 19 December 2018 (Eucalyptus pilularis), Radiata Pine (Pinus radiata) and Slash Pine (Pinus elliottii) and laminated veneer
Accepted 18 February 2019
lumber (LVL) made of Radiata Pine were exposed to sorption and desorption cycles at two temperatures
Available online 23 February 2019
(i.e. 15 and 50 °C) and the shrinkage and swelling of samples were measured in three orthogonal direc-
tions. The samples were conditioned in different relative humidity to produce eight intermediate mois-
Keywords:
ture contents (reading points) between the oven-dried and saturated states. A bilinear model was fitted
Sorption
Desorption
to the swelling/shrinkage strain-moisture content data to accurately determine the Coefficient of
Fibre saturation Moisture Expansion (CME) and Moisture Contraction (CMC), and Coefficient of Thermal Expansion
Shrinkage (CTE), as well as the Fibre Saturation Point (FSP) for each group of specimens. The experimental results
Swelling demonstrated a significant difference in swelling/shrinkage behaviour of large glulam and LVL samples
compared to small clear wood samples as well as a significant effect of temperature on moisture-
induced swelling/shrinkage of glulam and LVL beams in the transverse direction. The CME and/or CMC
in the transverse direction were found to decrease with increasing temperature, while swelling/shrinkage
coefficients in the longitudinal direction exhibited an opposite pattern. The results of this study can
potentially improve the accuracy of the hygro-thermo-mechanical and long-term analysis of glulam
and LVL members.
Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction structures, has led recently to growing use of engineered wood in

Wood is a sustainable construction material used to fabricate
different structural elements for low-rise buildings for many cen-
turies [1]. Furthermore, the improved mechanical properties,
dimensional stability, and durability of engineered wood, as well
as the increased awareness about sustainability benefits of timber
⇑ Corresponding author.
E-mail address: h.valipour@unsw.edu.au (H. Valipour).
low- and mid-rise structures [1,2]. A major stumbling block to
widespread use of manufactured wood as a reliable and durable
construction material is, however, the sensitivity of wood’s
mechanical behaviour to variations in environmental conditions,
particularly humidity and temperature [3–5]. Achieving a thor-
ough understanding of the variability of the wood properties under
varying environmental condition over the service life of the struc-
tures is crucial to ensure long-term reliability, safety, and satisfac-
tory performance of the timber structures [6].

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.02.114
0950-0618/Ó 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 A.A. Chiniforush et al. / Construction and Building Materials 207 (2019) 70–83
The ambient temperature and relative humidity are rarely con-
stant during structures’ service life, leading to variations in the
Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) of the structural timber com-
ponents. The physical and mechanical properties of the wood, on
the other hand, are determined with respect to the moisture con-
tent (MC) value [4,6]. Two types of moisture may be present within
the microstructure of the wood, i.e. the free water (liquid or vapour
in the cell cavities) and the bound water (within the cell walls) [3].
The moisture content at which all cell lumina are free from water
and only the cell walls are saturated is referred to as Fibre Satura-
tion Point (FSP). It is generally assumed that the physical and
mechanical properties of wood do not change by variations in
the MC above FSP, which is typically around 25% to 30% [6]. How-
ever, the FSP is much higher than the average MC of structural tim-
ber, which is commonly reported to be around 12%, highlighting
the vulnerability of typical structural timber elements to changes
in environmental conditions [4,6]. Swelling and shrinkage are the
main direct indicators of changes in physical properties of wood
due to variations in MC and are characterised by dimensional
changes of wood elements. The rate of swelling (also known as lin-
ear swelling coefficient) and the rate of shrinkage (also known as
linear shrinkage coefficient) are quantified by Coefficient of Mois-
ture Expansion (CME) and Coefficient of Moisture Contraction
(CMC), respectively [4]. Due to the anisotropy of wood, the CME
and CMC are conventionally expressed in three orthogonal direc-
tions, i.e. tangential, radial, and longitudinal [7]. The CMEs and
CMCs of different woods have been investigated extensively in
the literature [8–13]. The mechanical behaviour, CME and CMC
of timber in radial and tangential directions are significantly differ-
ent, but in large structural timber members, the radial and tangen-
tial directions are treated as one direction, namely perpendicular
to grain direction. Moreover, the effect of temperature on swel-
ling/shrinkage behaviour of timber has not been adequately inves-
tigated and constant shrinkage/swelling parameters have been
typically adopted to predict long-term behaviour of timber struc-
tures in variable environmental conditions [14–21]. The accurate
evaluation of CMEs and CMCs at different temperatures is also cru-
cial in the investigation of moisture-induced stress in wood-based
structural elements [9,22].
A number of attempts have been made to develop analytical
and numerical models for simulating the effect of moisture on
the mechanical properties of wood [23–31]. The reported models
assume generally a circular or hexagonal cellular structure to rep-
resent the wood cells. The cell wall material often consists of sev-
eral composite layers, to capture the anisotropic physical and
mechanical behaviour of wood at the timber scale. The experimen-
tal studies have investigated the effect of density, the hysteresis of
saturation, the stress levels, different types of treatment, and the
effect of various solutions on shrinkage/swelling of different wood
species [11,32–36]. In addition, separate studies have been con-
ducted to investigate the effect of temperature on the dimensional
changes (swelling and shrinkage) in various wood species [37–39].
In most of the experimental studies, small samples of clear wood
with distinct orientations (i.e. tangential or radial orientation) have
been considered (See Fig. 1a). It should be noted that the behaviour
of small wood samples is not quite representative of the behaviour
of engineered timber products at larger scales due to the presence
of annual rings (see Fig. 1b) and the stacking arrangement of wood
planks (e.g. in glulam) or layers/veneers (e.g. in LVL). In addition to
that, only a single coefficient at a specific temperature (e.g. 25 °C)
has been often reported for calculating the swelling and shrinkage
of glulam and LVL timber in different directions (i.e. longitudinal,
tangential and radial).
A comprehensive experimental study was conducted to investi-
gate the moisture and temperature induced swelling and shrinkage
of softwood and hardwood glued-laminated (glulam) timber and
71
Fig. 1. Definition of principal direction for wood (a) small samples with local
coordinates (L: Longitudinal, T: Tangential, and R: Radial) and (b) engineered wood
product with arbitrary alignment of wood layers (L: Longitudinal, H: Horizontal, V:
Vertical).
laminated veneer lumber (LVL). The variations in shrinkage and
swelling parameters are reported in three orthogonal directions
in relatively large (structural scale) samples instead of small clear
wood samples used previously. A comprehensive discussion is con-
ducted on wood anatomy and anisotropic hygro-expansion/
contraction of wood followed by the methodology and experimen-
tal setup used to perform the tests, and then the results of swelling
and shrinkage tests at two distinct temperatures, i.e. 15 °C and
50 °C are provided and discussed with respect to the type of wood,
i.e. softwood & hardwood.
2. Hygro-expansion/contraction of wood
Due to the nonhomogeneous nature of wood cell wall material
and the complex hierarchical structure of wood, timber products
exhibit hygroscopic behaviour which is not desirable from a prac-
tical point of view [40]. For instance, checking and splitting may
occur (due to moisture induced swelling/shrinkage) which lead
to major defects in some lumber products both during the drying
process and later in-service [40]. Hygro-expansion and contraction
depend not only on the moisture content of wood but also on its
density. Denser wood species typically tend to exhibit greater
shrinkage for a given moisture variation. Accordingly, hardwood
species generally tend to shrink more than softwood species [40].
Shrinkage may also vary between earlywood (less dense) and late-
wood (denser) within an annual ring of softwoods. At the same
time, there are woods with very similar densities but very different
shrinkage behaviour because of other factors such as wood anat-
omy, chemical composition and MicroFibril Angle (MFA) [40].
The volumetric hygro-expansion of the wood was found to be
significantly less than that of the cell-wall material, owing to the
confining effect of the outer layers [3]. Furthermore, the maximum
volumetric shrinkage and swelling of the wood cell walls have
been shown to be a linear function of the fibre saturation point
and specific gravity [3]. Stamm and Loughborough [41] showed
for a homogenous cell-wall structure, volumetric shrinkage/swel-
ling is independent of the void fraction and it has a linear relation-
ship with the density of the wood. This conclusion remains valid if
the cell-wall itself is made of an anisotropic material [3]. Accord-
ingly, it was hypothesised that the cell cavity remains mainly con-
stant when wood shrinks or swells [41]. Validity of this hypothesis
has been examined in several studies [41–43] and it was concluded
that volumetric hygro-expansion is generally proportional to the
density of wood with the proportionality constant, in this case,
being fibre saturation point (FSP) [3].
Keylwerth [44] studied coefficient of volumetric hygro-
expansion and concluded that the swelling is not increasing lin-
72 A.A. Chiniforush et al. / Construction and Building Materials 207 (2019) 70–83

early by a moisture content increase. During the initial stage of

sorption from the dry condition (MC within the range of 4–5%),
the rate of swelling is low, because the moisture is penetrating
the small pores in the cell wall and hence the moisture increase
do not entirely contribute to the cell-wall swelling. The cell wall
swelling starts and continues with a constant rate for MC within
the range of 5–25%, and for MC above the FSP (approximately
25%), the rate of swelling declines dramatically. The decrease in
swelling (for MC above FSP) can be attributed to the capillary con-
densation in the larger micro voids according to the Kelvin-Laplace
equation [45]. Another reason is the development of swelling stres-
ses which tend to reduce the total swelling [3].
The longitudinal shrinkage is mainly governed by the MFA in
the S2 layers of the longitudinal cell-walls and it is a nonlinear
function of moisture content [24,46]. Numerical studies have
demonstrated that as the MFA increases from 0 to 30°, the longi-
tudinal swelling decrease from a small positive to a negative
value at the angle about 30° and suddenly increases after this
point [24]. Similar conclusion has been drawn from the laboratory
experiments conducted on Pinus jeffreyi [47]. The large longitudi-
nal hygro-expansion of reaction wood, compression wood in con-
ifers and tension wood in hardwoods has been largely attributed
to the high MFA in their cell walls [3]. The hygro-expansion in
transverse (perpendicular to grain) direction is much greater than
the longitudinal (parallel to the grain) direction due to the
microstructure and the hydrophilic nature of the chemical con- Fig. 2. Cross section of the specimens (perpendicular to longitudinal/grain direc-
stituents (e.g. hemicellulose) of the wood. Pentoney [48] con- tion), PT: Pacific Teak, TO: Tasmanian Oak, BB: Blackbutt, RP: Radiata Pine, SP: Slash
ducted a comprehensive review of literature and divided Pine, and LVL: Laminated Veneer Lumber.
reasons behind the transverse anisotropy (of hygroscopic swel-
ling/shrinkage) into three groups, i.e. variations in wood
microstructure such as arrangements of various cell types, varia-
The swelling characteristics and arrangements of various cell-
tions in microfibril alignment, and variations in cell-wall layers’
wall layers have been investigated in several studies [53–56]. For
chemical constituents. Skaar [3] proposed two theories regarding
instance, Frey-Wyssling [54,55] observed more cross-walls per
transverse hygro-expansion, i.e. ray restraining and early wood-
unit length in transverse microtome in the tangential section than
late wood theory. Ray restraining theory postulates that the ray
in the radial. Furthermore, the radial direction contains thicker
tissues which are oriented radially shrink/swell in the radial
middle lamellae which result in more shrinkage in comparison to
direction less than the surrounding longitudinal tracheids/fibres
the secondary wall and accordingly excessive shrinkage in the tan-
potentially due to their higher stiffness compared to the trans-
gential direction [3]. Bosshard [56] reported a higher lignin content
verse modulus of fibres. As cells are elongated in the radial direc-
in the radial direction of longitudinal wood cells and since the lig-
tion, therefore, they are stronger than adjoining tissues, and
nin is stiffer and less hygroscopic than the holocellulosic fractions,
restraining radial shrinkage/swelling in comparison to the tan-
it is concluded that the radial shrinkage is more restricted (or smal-
gential direction. The earlywood-latewood theory states that
ler) than tangential.
strong latewood shrinks more tangentially than earlywood.
Therefore, the resultant forces cause the earlywood to shrink
more tangentially rather than radially. With regard to the first
theory, Crews [49] investigated different wood species and con- 3. Materials and test setup
cluded that short wide rays reduce radial shrinkage more than
high narrow rays. Furthermore, any reduction in radial shrinkage The hardwood species selected for the current study are glulam
caused by rays’ restraining effect results in an increase in the tan- made of Pacific Teak (PT, Tectona grandis), Tasmanian Oak (TO,
gential shrinkage because of Poisson’s ratio effect. Nakato [50] Eucalyptus regnans/obliqua/delegatensis), Blackbutt (BB, Eucalyptus
showed this recent effect is prominent for hardwood species such pilularis), and the softwood samples included glulam made of Radi-
as red oak. ata Pine (RP, Pinus radiata) and Slash Pine (SP, Pinus elliottii) and
The hygroscopic swelling of latewood is greater than that of Laminated Veneer Lumber (LVL) made of Radiata Pine (Fig. 2)
earlywood, and it is mechanically stronger than the earlywood. [57]. The physical and mechanical specification as well as the ori-
Therefore, the strong tangential restraints of latewoods force early- gin of species are listed in Table 1. Two separate sets of samples (at
wood to expand in tangential direction as much as the latewood two different temperatures) were conditioned to study the swel-
[3]. The study conducted by Vintila [51] on softwoods strongly ling and shrinkage of engineered timber during sorption and des-
supports the earlywood-latewood interaction theory. Kollmann orption cycles. Typical sorption-desorption isotherm for TO
[52] observed that the ratio of tangential to radial hygroscopic species used in this study is depicted in Fig. 3. Each set was com-
shrinkage decreases with increasing wood density which is prised of 126 samples (minimum six identical samples of each
demonstrative of the validity of earlywood-latewood theory. engineered wood product with the same dimension and the same
Boyd [53] studied effect of the MFA in the radial and tangential orientation ( 6 products  3 directions  6 repeats) conditioned
walls on the transverse shrinkage anisotropy of the wood and con- at two different temperatures, i.e. 15 °C and 50 °C. Half of the spec-
cluded that the MFA accounts for 15% of the difference in trans- imens for each engineered wood product were oven-dried and the
verse hygro-expansion of earlywood tissue of conifers and 2% of other half were water-saturated to perform sorption and desorp-
the difference in the case of latewood. tion cyclic tests, respectively (see Fig. 3).
 A.A. Chiniforush et al. / Construction and Building Materials 207 (2019) 70–83 73

Table 1
Physical property, structural class and origin of the studied species.

Species Structural grade [74] Durability class [75] Porosity [76] Origin [70]
RP GL13 4 0.525 New Zealand
SP GL17C 4 0.547 New Zealand
LVL –* 4 0.615 New Zealand
BB GL18 2 0.494 NSW, Australia
PT GL18 2 0.455 Pacific Islands
TO GL18C 4 0.492 VIC, Australia
*
Modulus of Elasticity 13,500 MPa, bending strength of 50 MPa, and tensile strength of 25 MPa according to AS 1720 [77].

35
Sorption 15°C
30
Desoprtion 15°C
25 Soprtion 50°C
Desorption 50°C
EMC (%)

20

15

10

0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Relative Humidity (%)
Fig. 4. Desiccator with continuous air circulation and Relative Humidity (RH) and
Fig. 3. Typical sorption-desorption isotherm (Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) Temperature (T) sensors.
vs Relative Humidity) for Tasmania Oak species, curve 1 and 3 refers to sorption
isotherm in 15 and 50 °C whereas curves 2 and 4 refers to desorption isotherm.

sirion EK-H4 evaluation kit and SHT7x sensors were mounted in

The specimens were cut in three planes perpendicular to the
length (longitudinal, parallel to grain), thickness (horizontal, per-
pendicular to grain) and height (vertical, perpendicular to grain)
of glulam timber (same quantity for each direction) shown in
Figs. 1b and 2 with a nominal dimension of 6  60  120 mm;
two perpendicular dimension changes were monitored for each
sample of all species. It is noteworthy that the horizontal direction
was parallel to the plane of adhesives/glues in glulam specimens
and perpendicular to the plane of adhesives/glues in the LVL sam-
ples (see Figs. 1b and 2). For the sorption process, half of the sam-
ples for each type of wood product were oven dried at 104 °C by
following the successive weighting method [58]. The oven-dried
samples were then left to cool down in a sealed desiccator contain-
ing silica gel to avoid any moisture gain. The stabilised dimensions
were then measured, and the samples were conditioned to reach
the next planned moisture content incrementally by using varying
types of aqueous salt solutions to control humidity (curve 1 and 3
in Fig. 3). The humidity levels achieved using different types of salt
solutions are listed in Table 2 [59]. As shown in Fig. 4, the samples
were conditioned inside the fabricated desiccators containing sat-
urated salt solutions at the bottom and equipped with a fan to cir-
culate air to keep constant humidity and temperature. The
temperature was adjusted using the environmental chamber
(LABEC LHC-80 with an accuracy of 0.1 °C). Furthermore, a Sen-
Table 2
Equilibrium relative humidity obtained using various aqueous salt solutions.
Salt Solution 15  C
Lithium Chloride (LiCl) 11.3
Magnesium Chloride (MgCl2 ) 33.3
Potassium Carbonate (K2 CO3 ) 43.2
Sodium Bromide (NaBr) – 50.9
Sodium Chloride (NaCl) 75.6
Potassium Chloride (KCl) 85.9
Potassium Sulphate (K2 SO4 ) 97.9
the desiccators to monitor the experimental conditions continu-
ously. The maximum moisture content stabilisation time (for sorp-
tion and desorption cycles) was found to be less than 1 and
2 weeks at 50 °C and 15 °C, respectively according to the successive
weighting method [58]. However, all samples were subjected to
the maximum required measured time (2 weeks for Pacific Teak)
to ensure consistency of results. After conditioning, the samples
were saturated in distilled water and the successive weighting
method [58] was applied to ensure all samples have reached the
fully saturated state.
For the desorption process, the above-explained cycle was
applied in a reverse order, beginning with saturating the samples
in distilled water, followed by oven-drying, and leaving the sam-
ples to cool down in desiccators containing the silica gels (curve
2 and 4 in Fig. 3). In each step of sorption and desorption cycles,
the weight and dimensions were monitored to calculate MC and
swelling strain, respectively. The changes in dimensions were mea-
sured using a modified concrete shrinkage rig [60] and 2 steel cal-
ibration bars for the width and height of the samples (see Fig. 5).
The accuracy of mounted dial gauge was 2 lm with 12 mm travel.
The dial gauge was calibrated before each measurement using the
fabricated calibration bars. Marking pins were mounted on sam-
ples to ensure that all measurements in different steps are per-
formed in the same position and location (see Fig. 5). The
balance used in this study to measure the weight of samples had
a precision of 10 mg, leading to an equivalent accuracy of 0:2%
for weight change measurement of MC in the range of 0  95% rel-
ative humidity. In BB and TO specimens, due to large expansions,
the height of the pins on the samples was re-adjusted to fit the
50  C
maximum travel of the mounted dial gauge and shrinkage rig.
11.1
To investigate the effect of temperature on dimension change of
30.5
–
specimens, the samples used for sorption tests at 15 °C was oven
dried; and the dimensions were measured immediately after
74.5 removing from the oven. The temperature gradient of
81.2 104  15 ’ 90 C was used to estimate the linear coefficient of ther-
95.8
mal expansion (CTE). Since the change in the dimensions of speci-
74 A.A. Chiniforush et al. / Construction and Building Materials 207 (2019) 70–83
Fig. 5. Measurement rig, calibration bars and measurement arrangement.
mens was measured with respect to the oven-dried state of the
specimens, all sorption curves at 15 °C were shifted down as much
as temperature expansion strains. Accordingly, the swelling strains
(a) depicted in Figs. 6–11 were calculated as follows [61],
l  lminov en
a¼
lminov en
where lminov en is the dimension of the sample after drying in the oven
and cooling down in the silica gel desiccator (except for sorption at
15 °C with no cooling down) and l is the dimension of the sample at
different steps. The MC in each step was obtained from [58],
W Step  W Ov en
MC ¼
W Ov en
where W Step is the stable weight of specimen in each step of condi-
tioning and W Ov en is the oven-dried weight of the specimen. The
theoretical Fibre Saturation Point (FSPTheo ) is considered the MC
above which the dimensions of wood elements do not change by
variation of moisture content. This point which is generally
reported in the range of 25–30% in the literature is calculated by
dividing the total volumetric shrinkage to the coefficient of volu-
metric moisture contraction [3,4,6,22,62]. In the current study, the
MC corresponding to the intersection of the two fitted lines to the
experimental data (see Figs. 6–11) for each type of wood species
is considered as the FSPInt . In other words, the dimensional changes
beyond this point have a significantly lower rate. FSP Theo and FSP Int
are calculated and compared to demonstrate the effect of assump-
tions made in estimating FSP (see Table 3).
Average swelling (a) and shrinkage (b) in principal directions
(i.e. bh horizontal, bv vertical, and bL longitudinal) and total volu-
metric swelling (aV ) and volumetric shrinkage (bV ) are obtained
from Eqs. (3a) and (3b) [63–66], respectively
lmaxsat  lminov en lmaxsat  lminov en
a¼  100; b ¼  100 ) a
lminov en lmaxsat
100b
¼ ð3aÞ
100  b
lh lv Sat ll lhov en lv ov en llov en
aV ¼ Sat Sat
lhov en lv ov en llov en
 100
lh lv Sat ll lhov en lv ov en llov en
ð3bÞ
bV ¼ Sat
lh
Sat
lv Sat ll
 100
Sat Sat
where lmaxsat is the stabilised dimension of a test specimen at satu-
rated state in the horizontal, vertical or longitudinal direction (in
mm) and lminov en is the stabilised dimension of the specimen after
drying in the oven. Also, the density of wood samples were mea-
sured and normalised with respect to 12% MC by Eq. (4) [67].
mW 1 þ 0:01ð12  W Þ
qW ¼ and q12 ¼ qW ð4Þ
l LW  l RW  l T W 1 þ 0:01ð12  W Þ qqW
H2 O
The q12 density, total directional (i.e. horizontal h, vertical v
and longitudinal l) and volumetric shrinkage bV, and total volumet-
ric swelling aV (in %) along with their standard deviations for all
specimens are summarised in Table 3.
The total volumetric swelling aV and shrinkage bV , as well as
total directional shrinkage (bh ; bv and bl ) (in %) along with their
standard deviations for all specimens are shown in Table 3 and
Fig. 12. It is seen that the effect of temperature expansion/contrac-
tion is negligible when compared to moisture-induced volumetric
swelling and/or shrinkage. This observation is consistent with the
results reported for small clear wood specimens [4],
The volumetric shrinkage and swelling can be calculated at any
moisture content (MC) with respect to CME and/or CMC as follows,
aV ¼ ½ðah þ 1Þ  ðav þ 1Þ  ðal þ 1Þ  1
¼ kh  kv  kl MC 3 þ ðkh  kv þ kh  kl þ kv  kl ÞMC 2
þ ðkh þ kv þ kl ÞMC ð5Þ
where CMEs in three orthogonal directions (i.e. horizontal, vertical
and longitudinal directions) are denoted by kh , kv and kl . It is note-
ð1Þ worthy that Eq. (5) shows a nonlinear relationship between the vol-
umetric swelling and MC as reported in the literature [35].
4. Results and discussion
The expansion/contraction of different types of wood species in
three principal directions versus MC are plotted in Figs. 6–11. For
ð2Þ each direction and cycle, a bi-linear model was fitted to the exper-
imental data and the empirical bilinear equations and their corre-
sponding R-square values are provided in Figs. 6–11. The slope of
the lines in Figs. 6–11 during the sorption process represents the
CME and during the desorption process represents the CMC. The
values of CME/CMC (denoted KM) and CTE (denoted KT) for all spec-
imens tested in the transverse (i.e. horizontal and vertical) and in
the longitudinal directions are shown in Fig. 13. Theoretically,
FSP is the moisture content at which all the cell-walls are saturated
with water but cavities (lumen) are free from water. In timber
engineering, it is assumed that the hygro-expansion/contraction
rate decreases significantly for moisture contents greater than
FSP. Accordingly, in this study, the FSP was obtained from the
intersection of the two fitted lines to the experimental data (see
Figs. 6–11) for each type of wood species [62] and denoted by
FSPInt . As it is shown in Figs. 6–11 the estimated FSPInt is mainly
smaller than the FSPTheo (normally in the range of 25–30%) calcu-
lated conventionally by dividing the total volumetric shrinkage
to the coefficient of volumetric moisture contraction reported in
the literature [3,4,6,22,62] (see Table 3).
 A.A. Chiniforush et al. / Construction and Building Materials 207 (2019) 70–83 75

90 80
y = 0.15x + 47.44
y = 0.20x + 43.13 R² = 0.57
70 R² = 0.73
60

Strain x10-3
Strain x10 -3
50 y = 0.13x + 39.58
y = 0.30x + 35.85 40 R² = 0.37
R² = 0.44
y = 2.05x + 1.10
30 R² = 0.89
y = 1.50x + 0.91 Sorption 50°C
R² = 0.93 20 y = 2.19x - 0.43 Desorption 50°C
10 Sorption 15°C R² = 0.92
y = 2.47x - 7.47 Desorption 15°C
R² = 0.96
0
-10 0 30 60 90 120 150 0 30 60 90 120 150
Moisture (%) Moisture (%)

90 80
y = 0.06x + 55.08
y = 0.16x + 48.61 R² = 0.10
70 R² = 0.69
60

Strain x10 -3
Strain x10 -3

50 y = 0.25x + 40.99
R² = 0.79 40 y = 0.13x + 35.94
R² = 0.61
30 y = 1.65x - 0.33 y = 2.02x + 0.42
R² = 0.97 Sorption 50°C R² = 0.89 Desorption 50°C
20
y = 2.28x - 4.54
10 R² = 0.96 Sorption 15°C y = 2.23x - 1.61 Desorption 15°C
R² = 0.98
0
-10 0 30 60 90 120 150
0 30 60 90 120 150
Moisture (%) Moisture (%)

3 3
y = 0.118x + 0.064 y = 0.011x + 1.645
R² = 0.943 R² = 0.358
y = 0.011x + 1.021
2 y = 0.112x + 0.051 R² = 0.235
2 R² = 0.839
Strain x10 -3
Strain x10 -3

y = 0.016x - 0.178
R² = 0.685 y = 0.008x + 1.231
1 R² = 0.269
Sorption 50°C
1
Sorption 15°C
0 Desorption 50°C
0 30 60 90 120 150 y = 0.085x - 0.001
y = 0.077x - 1.045 R² = 0.901 Desorption 15°C
R² = 0.649 0
-1 0 30 60 90 120 150
Moisture (%)
Moisture (%)

Fig. 6. Moisture expansion & contraction of Radiata Pine (RP, Pinus radiata) subject to sorption and desorption cycle (a) horizontal, (b) vertical and (c) longitudinal direction.

Prior to submerging the samples in the water (i.e. MC < FSP), in sorption curves at 15  C is because of the initial reading
the proposed empirical models exhibit a reasonably good correla- (MC ¼ 0%) performed at an elevated temperature of 104  C instead
tion (R2 > 0:89) with the experimental expansion and contraction of 15  C. The shift caused by this temperature effect is however rel-
data in the horizontal and vertical (perpendicular to grain) direc- atively small (i.e. on average 5:5  103 mm=mm for 90  C gradient)
tion, but the correlation between the empirical linear models and in comparison with the total dimensions’ change which is
expansion/contraction data in the longitudinal (parallel to the 65  103 mm=mm on average, and therefore the temperature
2
grain) direction (R > 0:67) was not as good as the transverse effect can be ignored in measurements and analysis of the
directions. After submerging the samples in water, the test data moisture-induced expansion/contraction in the horizontal
for MC > FSP show considerably higher scatter. Since in most direction.
structural applications, MC of timber and/or engineered wood The expansion (during the sorption process) in the horizontal
tends to remain well below FSP, the experimental results of this direction at 15  C were found to be greater than 50  C. The CMEs
study can be reliably used to predict the moisture-induced expan- of RP, SP and LVL decrease from 2:47; 2:5 and
sion/contraction of different wood species. A detailed analysis of 2:13  103 ðmm=mm=%Þ at 15 Cto 1:5; 1:72; and
the experimental data is presented in the following sections. 3
1:97  10 ðmm=mm=%Þ at 50 C, that indicate a decrease in 

the range of 8.1%–65% with a 35  C increase in the temperature

4.1. Softwood specimens
The swelling/shrinkage strain of RP, SP, and LVL (softwood)
specimens in the horizontal direction versus MC changes are
depicted in Figs. 6a–8a, respectively. The initial downward shift
(see Fig. 13a). The second part of the fitted bi-linear model
(MC > FSP) shows less correlation with the tests data compared
to the first part. The slope of the second line (for MC > FSP) in
Figs. 6a–8a is on average 13:4 times smaller than the first line
(MC < FSP) with Standard Deviation (STD) of 5.4. This is demon-
76 A.A. Chiniforush et al. / Construction and Building Materials 207 (2019) 70–83

y = 0.32x + 39.40 80 y = 0.14x + 53.42

70 R² = 0.71 R² = 0.17

60

Strain x10-3
50 y = 0.24x + 45.35
Strain x10 -3

y = 0.18x + 35.53 R² = 0.90

R² = 0.52
40 y = 2.53x - 2.08
30 y = 1.72x - 0.30
R² = 0.94 R² = 0.95
Sorption 50°C
Desorption 50°C
y = 2.50x - 3.85 20
10 R² = 0.97 Sorption 15°C y = 2.35x - 2.52
R² = 0.98 Desorption 15°C
0
-10 0 30 60 90 120
0 30 60 90 120 150
Moisture (%) Moisture (%)

80 y = 0.13x + 50.75
70 y = 0.12x + 48.57
R² = 0.64
R² = 0.49

60

Strain x10-3
50 y = 0.18x + 43.02
Strain x10 -3

R² = 0.93 y = 0.14x + 45.76

y = 1.72x + 0.77 40 R² = 0.78
30 R² = 0.98 y = 2.22x - 1.21
R² = 0.96
Sorption 50°C Desorption 50°C
y = 2.59x - 5.33 20
10 R² = 0.99
Sorption 15°C y = 2.27x - 2.01 Desorption 15°C
0 R² = 0.98
-10 0 30 60 90 120
0 30 60 90 120 150
Moisture (%)
Moisture (%)

2 3
y = 0.137x + 0.159
R² = 0.768 y = -0.005x + 2.167
R² = 0.303
y = 0.004x + 1.184 2
Strain x10 -3

1
Strain x10 -3

R² = 0.560
y = 0.010x + 0.869
R² = 0.554 y = -0.005x + 1.619
R² = 0.239
1
0 y = 0.084x + 0.124 Desorption 50°C
R² = 0.725
0 30 60 90 120
Sorption 50°C y = 0.094x + 0.044 Desorption 15°C
y = 0.093x - 0.447
R² = 0.543 0 R² = 0.898
Sorption 15°C
-1 0 30 60 90 120 150
Moisture (%) Moisture (%)

Fig. 7. Moisture expansion & contraction of Slash Pine (SP, Pinus elliottii) subject to sorption and desorption cycle (a) horizontal, (b) vertical and (c) longitudinal direction.

strative of a significant (over 92%) reduction in the moisture-
induced swelling/shrinkage of timber beyond fibre saturation
point.
The magnitude of moisture-induced expansion and contraction
of the softwood in the vertical direction (Figs. 6b-8b) show a trend
similar to that in the horizontal direction, particularly for
MC < FSP. Like the trend observed in the horizontal direction, an
increase in temperature from 15  C to 50  C led to a considerable
decrease in the CMEs of all softwood glulam and LVL specimens
in the vertical direction. In particular, CMEs of RP, SP, and LVL (in
the vertical direction) decrease from 2:28; 2:59; and 2:77 
103 ðmm=mm=%Þ to 1:65; 1:72; and 1:75  103 ðmm=mm=%Þ,
respectively, showing (on average) a 33:0% reduction in the value
of CMEs with a 35  C increase in the temperature (Fig. 13b).
Comparing the results in Fig. 6a–8a with Figs. 6b–8b and
Fig. 13a with b shows that for all softwood glulam and LVL, the
average expansions in horizontal and vertical directions (trans-
verse direction) during the sorption process are larger than the
average contractions during the desorption process at 15  C. How-
ever, at 50  C the moisture-induced contractions in the transverse
directions are larger than expansions for all softwood glulam.
Moreover, the temperature was found to have a minor influence
on CMCs in the transverse direction (see Fig. 13a and b) of soft-
wood glulam and LVL beams. As shown in Figs. 6b–8b, the second
lines fitted to sorption/desorption data (with MC > FSP) have a
slope around 5–6% of the first line (i.e. MC < FSPÞ that shows over
94% reduction in the moisture-induced expansion/contraction of
softwood glulam and LVL (in the vertical direction) beyond fibre
saturation point.
Comparing the bar charts in Fig. 13a with b shows that the aver-
age CMEs and CMCs values in the vertical direction (Kv ) were just
slightly less than those measured in the horizontal direction (Kh )
with the ratio of vertical to horizontal being 0:97  0:13, whereas,
the ratio reported in the literature is around 0.5 for clear small
wood specimens [4]. This discrepancy is demonstrating the impor-
tance of investigation of the hygroscopic behaviour of engineered
wood (e.g. glulam and LVL) using structural scale samples contain-
ing glue/adhesive and combination of tangential and radial layers
in transverse directions.
The swelling/shrinkage strains of softwood specimens in the
longitudinal direction (along the glulam and LVL beams) versus
the moisture contents are depicted in Figs. 6c–8c which show con-
siderably different trend compared to the moisture-induced
expansion/contraction behaviours in the transverse (horizontal
 A.A. Chiniforush et al. / Construction and Building Materials 207 (2019) 70–83 77

y = 0.16x + 46.93
70 R² = 0.59 80
y = 0.12x + 45.96
R² = 0.25
60

Strain x10 -3
Strain x10 -3 50 y = 0.18x + 44.08
R² = 0.40
y = 1.97x + 0.07
30 R² = 0.94 40
y = 0.07x + 44.30
Sorption 50°C y = 1.88x - 0.82 R² = 0.22
R² = 0.98
10 y = 2.13x - 5.16 20 Desorption 50°C
Sorption 15°C
R² = 0.92
y = 2.05x - 1.31
R² = 0.93 Desorption 15°C
0
-10 0 30 60 90 120
0 30 60 90 120
Moisture (%) Moisture (%)

y = 0.09x + 60.13
70 y = 0.18x + 50.14 80 R² = 0.27
R² = 0.70

60

Strain x10 -3
50 y = 0.07x + 55.01
Strain x10 -3

y = 1.75x + 1.42 R² = 0.51 y = 0.21x + 46.34

R² = 0.96 R² = 0.98
y = 2.36x + 0.13
30 40 R² = 0.99
y = 2.77x - 5.30
R² = 0.99 Sorption 50°C
Desorption 50°C
20
10 Sorption 15°C y = 2.37x - 0.86
R² = 0.99 Desorption 15°C
0
-10 0 30 60 90 120
0 30 60 90 120
Moisture (%)
Moisture (%)

5 3
y = 0.021x + 1.251
4 R² = 0.591
y = 0.011x + 1.587
y = 0.109x + 0.264 2 R² = 0.260
Strain x10 -3

3
Strain x10 -3

R² = 0.740
y = 0.012x + 0.615
2 R² = 0.717 y = 0.006x + 1.261
R² = 0.425
Sorption 50°C 1
1 y = 0.098x - 0.116 Desorption 50°C
R² = 0.926
y = 0.093x - 0.683 Sorption 15°C
0 y = 0.122x + 0.050 Desorption 15°C
R² = 0.531
0 30 60 90 120 R² = 0.850
0
-1 0 30 60 90 120
Moisture (%)
Moisture (%)

Fig. 8. Moisture expansion & contraction of laminated veneer lumber (LVL) of Radiata Pine subject to sorption and desorption cycle (a) horizontal, (b) vertical and (c)
longitudinal direction.

and vertical) directions. Total shrinkage/swelling strains and CME of
softwood glulam and LVL in the longitudinal directions (at 15  C)
were found to be on average 35.6, 41.4 and 28.4 times smaller than
corresponding values in the transverse directions (see Fig. 2). How-
ever, at 50  C the CMEs/CMCs along the softwood glulam and LVL
beams are on average 26.0, 34.9 and 22.8 times smaller than the
transverse directions. Contrary to the trend observed for transverse
directions, CMEs in the longitudinal direction increased with an
increase in temperature from 15  C to 50  C. Unlike the transverse
directions (i.e. horizontal and vertical), at 15  C, the CMCs in the lon-
gitudinal direction were slightly greater than CMEs. At 50  C, how-
ever, CMCs were less than CMEs. This reversed trend can be
attributed to the Poisson effect which requires that an increase in
the rate of shrinkage/swelling in horizontal and vertical directions
to be accompanied with a simultaneous decrease in the shrinkage/
swelling rate in the longitudinal direction. A similar behaviour has
been reported previously for specimens subject to an increase in
temperature [39]. The intensified Poisson effect can be observed in
the longitudinal direction of SP within the desorption cycle
(Fig. 7c), leading to a negative slope for MC > FSP.
The long-chain cellulosic structures in the cell-wall are closely
aligned to the long axis of the cells. As moisture penetrates and
goes out the cell walls, the resulting expansion and contraction
mainly take place in the perpendicular to cell walls and does not
influence the length of cell walls. A simple analogy can be drawn
from pushing marbles into a straw boom when the broom head
gets wider, however, its length remains almost constant [68]. Sim-
ilarly, the anatomical reason for having greater tangential shrink-
age than radial one is associated with the same orientation of the
growth rings to the tangential direction and the restraining effect
of the wood rays which their longitudinal axes are orientated in
the radial direction [68].
The CTEs were estimated using the sorption curves at 15 C (the
downward shift in the results due to the temperature gradient of
90  C that affected the initial reading). The CTEs in horizontal, ver-
tical and longitudinal directions of softwood glulam and LVL spec-
imens were on average 0:061; 0:056 and
0:008  103 ðmm=mm= CÞ, respectively. The CTEs of all speci-
mens in the transverse and longitudinal directions are shown in
Fig. 13a–c. The minor influence of thermal expansions/contractions
78 A.A. Chiniforush et al. / Construction and Building Materials 207 (2019) 70–83

130 120

110 100 y = 0.38x + 62.44

y = 0.66x + 62.01
R² = 0.84 R² = 0.46
90 80

Strain x10-3
Strain x10 -3

y = 0.35x + 68.91
70 y = 0.35x + 62.70 60 R² = 0.24
R² = 0.45
50 y = 2.58x - 1.07 y = 3.13x - 2.88
R² = 0.99 40 R² = 0.95
30 Sorption 50°C
20 y = 2.90x - 4.35 Desorption 50°C
y = 3.71x - 9.67 R² = 0.98
10 R² = 0.99 Sorption 15°C
Desorption 15°C
0
-10 0 15 30 45 60 75 0 15 30 45 60 75
Moisture (%) Moisture (%)

90 100
y = 0.45x + 59.36
y = 0.34x + 50.06 R² = 0.69
70 R² = 0.72 80
y = 0.25x + 59.25

Strain x10-3
Strain x10 -3

R² = 0.43 60
50 y = 0.30x + 54.55
y = 2.41x - 0.74 R² = 0.49
R² = 0.99 40
30 y = 2.86x - 1.29
Sorption 50°C R² = 0.99
y = 3.24x - 10.74 20 Desorption 50°C
10 R² = 0.98 Sorption 15°C y = 2.40x - 2.29
R² = 0.99 Desorption 15°C
0
-10 0 15 30 45 60 75 0 15 30 45 60 75
Moisture (%) Moisture (%)

3 y = 0.022x + 1.067
y = 0.102x + 0.160 R² = 0.576 2
R² = 0.879 y = -0.010x + 1.973
2 R² = 0.265
Strain x10-3
Strain x10 -3

1
y = 0.010x + 0.844 y = -0.005x + 1.530
R² = 0.045 1 R² = 0.051
0 y = 0.127x + 0.056
0 15 30 45 60 75 R² = 0.870 Desorption 50°C
Sorption 50°C
-1 y = 0.149x - 1.733 y = 0.073x - 0.033
Desorption 15°C
R² = 0.418 0 R² = 0.854
Sorption 15°C
-2 0 15 30 45 60 75
Moisture (%) Moisture (%)

Fig. 9. Moisture expansion & contraction of Blackbutt (BB, Eucalyptus pilularis) subject to sorption and desorption cycle (a) horizontal, (b) vertical and (c) longitudinal
direction.

compared to moisture-induced swelling/shrinkage in the trans- the transverse (perpendicular to grain) direction is
verse directions is evident from the bar charts in Fig. 13a and b. 4  106 mm=mm= C and in parallel to grain direction is
But, in the longitudinal direction, the magnitude of CTEs are com- 30  106 mm=mm= C on average. Also, the dimensional change
parable to the magnitude of CMEs/CMCs as shown in Fig. 13c. This by 1% moisture content variation is equivalent to the dimensional
observation highlights the importance of CTEs in conjunction with change by 100  C temperature variation [40].
CMEs and CMCs for hygro-thermo-mechanical analysis of struc-
tural timber elements in the longitudinal direction. Having said
that, the change in dimensions of specimens was found to be con- 4.2. Hardwood specimens
siderably more sensitive to variations in moisture content than
variations in the temperature. For instance, the magnitude of The swelling/shrinkage strains versus moisture contents during
dimension changes in horizontal, vertical and longitudinal direc- sorption and desorption cycles and the CME, CMC, and CTE of glu-
tions due to a 10  C temperature change was respectively lam specimens made of (hardwood) BT, PT and TO are shown in
26%; 22% and 92% of that caused by a 1% change in moisture con- Figs. 9–11 and 13, respectively. In general, the hardwood speci-
tent. This is also demonstrative of the earlier conclusion about the mens exhibited CME greater than that of softwood specimens
greater effect of temperature in the longitudinal direction com- (see Fig. 13). This observation is consistent with the experimental
pared to the transverse directions, i.e. 92%=24% = 3:8 times greater results in the literature [4,5] which show greater shrinkage and
dimension changes in the longitudinal direction than transverse swelling for denser wood species (see Table 3).
directions when engineered timber is subjected to temperature The expansion (during the sorption process) in the horizontal
and moisture content changes. A comprehensive study of Canadian direction at 15  C were greater than 50  C. The CMEs of BB, PT
wood species has shown the coefficient of thermal expansion in and TO glulam decrease from 3:71; 2:96 and
 A.A. Chiniforush et al. / Construction and Building Materials 207 (2019) 70–83 79

70 80
y = 0.22x + 36.97
R² = 0.76 y = 0.16x + 47.48
50 60 R² = 0.34

Strain x10-3
Strain x10 -3
y = 0.08x + 43.63
R² = 0.49 40 y = 0.21x + 36.40
30 R² = 0.27
y = 2.43x - 1.47 y = 2.29x - 1.56
R² = 0.99
R² = 0.96
Sorption 50°C 20 Desorption 50°C
10 y = 2.96x - 16.88 y = 2.50x - 2.49
R² = 0.94 Sorption 15°C R² = 0.97 Desorption 15°C
0
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120
-10 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120
Moisture (%) Moisture (%)

70 80

y = 0.10x + 41.58
y = 0.17x + 36.33
R² = 0.58 60 R² = 0.27
50

Strain x10-3
Strain x10 -3

y = 0.10x + 33.03 40
30 R² = 0.66
y = 0.18x + 33.04
y = 2.11x - 0.91
y = 1.77x + 0.80 R² = 0.64
R² = 0.99
Sorption 50°C R² = 0.96
y = 2.37x - 5.71
20 Desorption 50°C
10 y = 2.16x - 1.72
R² = 0.97 Sorption 15°C
R² = 0.97 Desorption 15°C
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 0
-10 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120
Moisture (%)
Moisture (%)

3 1.5
y = 0.048x + 0.168 Desorption 50°C
R² = 0.674
2 Desorption 15°C
y = 0.006x + 1.665
R² = 0.363 1
Strain x10-3

y = -0.006x + 1.125
Strain x10 -3

1 y = 0.118x + 0.122 R² = 0.256

R² = 0.848 y = 0.015x - 0.566
R² = 0.519
0 0.5
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 y = -0.004x + 0.805
y = 0.046x - 0.032 R² = 0.207
-1 Sorption 50°C R² = 0.916
y = 0.086x - 1.641
R² = 0.760 0
Sorption 15°C
-2 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120
Moisture (%) Moisture (%)

Fig. 10. Moisture expansion & contraction of Pacific Teak (PT, Tectona grandis) subject to sorption and desorption cycle, (a) horizontal, (b) vertical and (c) longitudinal
direction.

3:45  103 ðmm=mm=%Þ at 15  Cto
3
2:95  10 ðmm=mm=%Þ at 50  C, showing a decrease in the range
of 17% - 44% with a 35  C increase in the temperature (see
Fig. 13a). The slope of the second part (MC > FSP) of the empirical
bi-linear model in Figs. 9a–11a is on average 14:2 times smaller
than the slope of the first line (MC < FSP) with Standard Deviation
(STD) of 9.7. This is demonstrative of a significant (over 93%)
reduction in the transverse (horizontal) swelling/shrinkage of the
hardwood glulam with MC > FSP.
The swelling/shrinkage strains versus moisture content and the
CME and CMC for the hardwood specimens in the vertical direction
are shown in Figs. 9b–11b and 13b, respectively. The slope of sec-
ond lines (fitted to data with MC > FSPÞ in Figs. 9b–11b is 8–9% of
the initial slope (for MC < FSP) which is demonstrative of a signif-
icant reduction in swelling/shrinkage of timber at MCs above the
FSP. Despite the greater density of Pacific Teak (PT) compared to
Tasmanian Oak (TO), the PT had smaller CMEs and CMCs compared
to the other two hardwood glulams (i.e. BB and TO). This discrep-
ancy can be attributed to the difference in the structure of the cells
in Teak species compared to Oak.
2:58; 2:43 and Increasing the temperature from 15  C to 50  C led to a 3–26%
reduction of CME in the vertical direction for hardwood glulam,
as evident from Fig. 13b. More specifically, the CMEs at 15  C in
the vertical direction are 3:24; 2:37 and 2:34  103 ðmm=mm=%Þ
for BB, PT and TO, respectively, which are greater than the CMEs,
i.e. 2:41; 2:11 and 2:28  103 ðmm=mm=%Þ; at 50  C.
For glulam hardwoods, the ratio of CME and/or CMC in the vertical
direction over horizontal direction (Fig. 13a and b) was 0:82  0:11
which is less than softwood glulam and LVL and it is quite different
from 0.5 from the tests conducted by Skaar [4] on the small scale
samples with distinct orientation of the wood layers. This discrep-
ancy can be attributed to the combined effect of tangential and radial
orientation of wood structure that becomes more pronounced in the
hygroscopic behaviour of structural scale engineered timber.
For all hardwood glulam specimens, except Tasmanian Oak (TO)
in the vertical direction, the CME was bigger than the CMC in the
transverse (i.e. horizontal and vertical) directions at 15  C (see
Fig. 13a and b). The lesser value of CME/CMC in the radial direction
was investigated by Panshin and De Zeeuw [69] and attributed to
the presence of the ray cells and bands of low-density earlywood
80 A.A. Chiniforush et al. / Construction and Building Materials 207 (2019) 70–83

90 100
y = 0.20x + 76.20
R² = 0.40
70 y = 0.19x + 39.91 80
R² = 0.58

Strain x10-3
Strain x10 -3

60
50
y = 0.10x + 58.97
y = 0.24x + 41.13 40 R² = 0.21
30 y = 2.28x - 0.98 R² = 0.61 y = 3.87x - 4.39
R² = 0.96 R² = 0.93
Sorption 50°C
20 Desorption 50°C
10 y = 2.34x - 4.35 y = 2.85x - 2.92
Sorption 15°C R² = 0.98
R² = 0.87 Desorption 15°C
0
-10 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120
Moisture (%) Moisture (%)

100
110 y = 0.38x + 58.57
y = 0.25x + 65.32
R² = 0.41
R² = 0.69 80
90
y = 0.55x + 48.38

Strain x10-3
Strain x10 -3

y = 0.33x + 58.26 60
70 R² = 0.90
R² = 0.83
y = 2.11x - 0.25
50 y = 2.95x - 1.81 40 R² = 0.96
R² = 0.99
30 Sorption 50°C
20 Desorption 50°C
y = 3.45x - 8.80 y = 2.79x - 1.26
R² = 0.98 Sorption 15°C
10 R² = 0.97 Desorption 15°C
0
-10 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120
Moisture (%) Moisture (%)

4 y = -0.027x + 4.765 y = -0.005x + 1.815

R² = 0.564 R² = 0.230
2
3
y = 0.268x - 0.385
Strain x10-3

2 R² = 0.849
Strain x10 -3

1
y = -0.000x + 1.368
1
0 R² = 0.001
y = 0.091x + 0.006
0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120 R² = 0.919 Desorption 50°C
-1 y = 0.011x + 0.405
Sorption 50°C y = 0.105x + 0.085
R² = 0.374 R² = 0.888
-2 Desorption 15°C
y = 0.136x - 2.079 Sorption 15°C 0
-3 R² = 0.700 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 120
Moisture (%)
Moisture (%)

Fig. 11. Moisture expansion & contraction of Tasmanian Oak (TO, Eucalyptus regnans/obliqua/delegatensis) subject to sorption and desorption cycle (a) horizontal, (b) vertical
and (c) longitudinal direction.

Table 3
The range of density q (kg/m3), total shrinkage (b) (%), total swelling (a) (%) and the value of FSP#(%) of different wood species.

Species q12 bh bv bl bV aV FSP Int FSP Theo T (°C)

RP 581:2721:45 5:55  0:87 6:12  0:71 0:164  0:027 11:50 13:42 20:85 25.53 15
5:26  0:78 4:57  0:68 0:189  0:021 9:32 10:54 16:89 22.29 50
SP 677:5048:09 6:06  0:44 5:94  0:50 0:145  0:030 11:13 12:92 17:15 23.61 15
6:07  0:67 5:87  0:17 0:171  0:023 11:09 12:87 17:09 22.94 50
LVL 602:0010:16 6:42  0:39 6:65  0:34 0:230  0:071 12:09 14:22 21:15 26.62 15
6:12  0:33 6:36  0:41 0:274  0:070 11:64 13:59 20:36 26.83 50
BB 909:5713:81 8:62  0:84 6:55  0:38 0:117  0:079 13:73 16:62 15:29 25.55 15
7:80  0:46 7:08  0:48 0:177  0:043 13:52 16:27 15:05 22.10 50
PT 778:9516:70 5:93  0:20 4:79  0:25 0:108  0:006 10:01 11:41 13:24 21.27 15
5:24  0:35 4:39  0:40 0:184  0:037 9:14 10:31 12:09 22.25 50
TO 651:1546:87 8:33  0:41 8:14  0:30 0:140  0:019 14:75 18:08 23:70 25.67 15
8:95  0:69 7:46  0:62 0:219  0:088 14:77 18:13 23:75 24.33 50
#
FSP Int refers to the intersection of bilinear fit in the current study, FSP Theo refers to theoretical value obtained by dividing total volumetric shrinkage to the coefficient of
volumetric moisture contraction.

and high-density latewood. These two factors superimpose in the Comparing the hygroscopic behaviour of softwood and hard-
radial direction to restrain the shrinkage in the radial direction, wood glulam specimens showed that the CTE of the hardwood
but, force the earlywood to shrink by the same amount in the tan- specimens (particularly in the longitudinal direction) was higher
gential direction [69]. than the softwood specimens. The average CTE in the horizontal,
 A.A. Chiniforush et al. / Construction and Building Materials 207 (2019) 70–83 81

Fig. 12. Total horizontal bh, vertical bv and volumetric shrinkage bv and volumetric swelling aV at 15  C and 50  C.
4.0 4.0
vertical and longitudinal directions for hardwood specimens were Sorption 15˚C
3.5 Desorption 15˚C 3.5
0:131; 0:077 and 0:020  103 ðmm=mm= CÞ, respectively (see

Khx103(mm.kg/(mm.kgx100))
Sorption 50˚C

KT,hx104(mm./(mm.˚C))
3.0 Desorption 50˚C 3.0
Fig. 13a–c). Moreover, the hardwood glulam exhibited larger tem- Thermal Expansion
perature and moisture-induced expansion/contraction compared 2.5 2.5
to softwood glulam and the difference between CME and CMC in
2.0 2.0
hardwood specimens was more pronounced than the softwood
specimens. 1.5 1.5
Table 4 is demonstrating the directional shrinkage of sawn tim- 1.0 1.0
bers for clear wood samples available in the literature [57,70].
0.5 0.5
Results show that adhesive, the arrangements of wood pieces
and their interaction in engineering wood product reduce the 0.0 0.0
orthotropic shrinkage behaviour of engineered wood (ratio of RP SP LVL BB PT TO
radial to tangential shrinkage), compared to the sawn timber. Skaar
[4] concluded any reduction in radial shrinkage caused by
4.0 4.0
restraints (in this case, application of glue in engineered wood Sorption 15˚C
products) results in an increase in the tangential shrinkage because 3.5 Desorption 15˚C 3.5
Kvx103(mm.kg/(mm.kgx100))

Sorption 50˚C
of Poisson’s ratio effect. Furthermore, two different trends can be

KT,vx104(mm./(mm.˚C))
3.0 Desorption 50˚C 3.0
identified by comparing the reported values for sawn timber of Thermal Expansion
small clear samples (see Table 4) with the measured properties 2.5 2.5
for glulam timbers provided in Table 3. The volumetric shrinkage 2.0 2.0
is decreasing in hardwood species; however, the volumetric
1.5 1.5
hygro-contraction is slightly increasing in softwood species. The
difference can be attributed to the different anatomy of hardwood 1.0 1.0
and softwood species, particularly, the presence of vessels in hard- 0.5 0.5
wood species [70]. In addition to effect of glue and additive, for
0.0 0.0
transverse direction of large structural-level samples, the wood
RP SP LVL BB PT TO
lamellae are the combination of radial and tangential directions,
therefore, the hygro-expansion/contraction in laminated engi-
neered wood products is expected to be an average of these two
distinctive behaviours of small clear wood samples. Comparing
Sorption 15˚C hardwood
the results provided in Tables 3 and 4 shows that the ratio of max- 0.25 0.25
Desorption 15˚C
Klx103(mm.kg/(mm.kgx100))

imum shrinkage in principal transverse directions for engineered Sorption 50˚C

KT,lx104(mm./(mm.˚C))

wood (bh =bv ) is close to 1.0, however, the corresponding ratio 0.20
Desorption 50˚C
0.20
Thermal Expansion
(bR =bT ) for clear wood samples is in the range of 0.5–0.7 (see
Table 4). softwood
0.15 0.15
PT species has quite different wood anatomy compared to the
rest of considered species. The PT wood is highly impermeable,
0.10 0.10
and contains the lowest porosity amongst the studied species
[71]. It is seen that PT has the lowest FSP Int (Table 3) which causes
0.05 0.05
that PT expands/contracts rapidly in low moisture contents below
the FSPInt , then the expansion/contraction rate decreases dramati-
cally in moisture contents above the FSP Int . Similar results have 0.00 0.00
RP SP LVL BB PT TO
been reported for Quercus borealis based on radial-shrinkage
intersection method in which FSP Int was found to be only 17.6%
for ray tissue compared to 25.6% for the longitudinal tissue [72]. Fig. 13. Coefficient of moisture expansion/contraction (KM) and coefficient of
The measured hygro-expansion/contraction for glulam and LVL thermal expansion (KT) in the (a) horizontal h, (b) vertical v and (c) longitudinal l
timbers in the current study is quite large particularly in transverse (parallel to the grain) direction.
82 A.A. Chiniforush et al. / Construction and Building Materials 207 (2019) 70–83
Table 4
Total radial and tangential shrinkage (%) for small clear wood samples of sawn timber
[57,70].
Species Radial shrinkage (bR ) Tangential shrinkage (bT )
BB 4.5 7.5
PT 3.5 6.0
RP 3.0 4.5
SP 3.0 4.2
TO 6.6 13.3
(horizontal and vertical) direction which potentially affect the ser-
viceability of timber structures. It is worth noting that an effective
approach to control and to stabilise dimensional changes (due to
change of moisture content) in engineered wood product is
cross-lamination. In the production of cross-laminated timber
(CLT) panels, lumbers are cross-laminated to produce a solid wood
product/panel and to reduce swelling and shrinkage. As such, the
rates of in-plane and out-of-plane swelling and shrinkage for Nor-
way spruce (Picea abies) CLT panels, (for moisture content in the
range of 6–22%) are 0:02 mm=mm=% for both in-plane directions
and 0:24 mm=mm=% for the out-of-plane direction. The resulted
internal stresses outside this moisture content range generally cre-
ate cracks and affect panel integrity [73].
5. Conclusion
A comprehensive experimental study was conducted to evalu-
ate the moisture-induced swelling/shrinkage of timber at two dif-
ferent temperatures, i.e. 15  C and 50  C. Six different groups of
engineered wood specimens (three hardwood glulam and three
softwood glulam and/or LVL) were considered in the experimental
program. A bilinear model was fitted to the swelling/shrinkage
strains versus moisture content curves and accordingly the fibre
saturation point (FSP), coefficient of moisture expansion (CME),
coefficient of moisture contraction (CMC) and coefficient of ther-
mal expansion (CTE) for softwood and hardwood glulam and LVL
in transverse and longitudinal directions were determined. The fol-
lowing conclusions were drawn from the sorption/desorption test
results;

Temperature has a minor effect on the fibre saturation point
(FSP) of the glulam/LVL beams made of hardwood (i.e. Pacific
Teak, Tasmanian Oak and Blackbutt), and softwood (i.e. Slash
Pine and Radiata Pine). The FSPInt of the softwood and hardwood
glulam and LVLs estimated in this study was smaller than the
theoretical FSPtheo (which is typically in the range of 25–30%).

Increasing the temperature from 15 °C to 50° led to an overall
reduction up to 65% (depending on the wood species) in the
CME and/or CMC in the transverse (perpendicular to grain)
direction for glulam and LVL. However, increasing the tempera-
ture from 15 °C to 50 °C increased the CME and CMC in the lon-
gitudinal (parallel to the grain) direction of the glulam and LVL.

The CME and/or CMC of engineered timber significantly (over
90%) drops for moisture content changes above fibre saturation
point (FSP).

Effect of temperature on moisture-induced shrinkage and swel-
ling in the longitudinal direction is more pronounced than the
transverse directions. The CME and/or CMC in the longitudinal
direction of glulam and LVL beams was found to be an order
of magnitude smaller than the CMEs/CMCs in the transverse
direction.

The ratio of CME in the vertical direction over horizontal direc-
tion (both transverse directions) for softwood and hardwood
glulam/LVL beams are 0:97  0:13 and 0:82  0:11, respectively.
This is in contrast with the results of tests conducted on small
clear wood samples with a distinct orientation of radial and tan-
gential directions which show a ratio of 0.5–0.6. This can be
attributed to the glue and combination of radial and tangential
Ratio (bR =bT ) directions behaviour that happens in large structural samples
0.60 and laminated engineered wood products. Such combinations
0.58 lead to more even expansion in the transverse directions.
0.67
During relative humidity increments, the temperature kept con-
0.71
0.50
stant for two considered points i.e. 15  C and 50  C to isolate
possible variable temperature and variable moisture content
interaction. The effect of temperature on hygro-expansion/
contraction in these two points was found to be significant.
The interaction between temperature and moisture content
should be investigated in future studies using numerical
multi-scale models. A comprehensive numerical multi-scale
and microscale experimental studies are currently missing in
the literature on the significant effect of temperature on the
variation of CMC/CME. Particularly, the multi-scale aspect of
hygro-expansion/contraction of engineered wood should be
investigated in more details.
Declarations of interest
None.
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