PRINCIPLES OF STRUCTURAL TIMBER DESIGN

DESIGN OF FLEXURAL MEMBERS (BEAMS)

Flexural members are those subjected to bending.
There are several types and forms of flexural timber members that are used in construction.
Typical examples are
 Solid section rectangular beams,
 floor joists,
 rafters and
 purlins.
Other examples include;
 glulam beams (vertical and horizontal glued laminated beams),
 ply-webbed beams (I-beams and box-beams)
 and beams of simple composites (Tee and I shaped beams)
Design considerations
The main design considerations for flexural members are:
o bending stress and prevention of lateral buckling
o deflection
o shear stress
o bearing stress

In general:

Bending stress and prevention of lateral buckling

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

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The applied bending stress about the major (x-x) axis of the beam is calculated from;

The permissible bending stress is calculated as the product of grade bending stress parallel to
grain and any relevant modification factors (K-factors)
These are
 K2 for wet exposure condition (if applicable),
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  K3 for load-duration,
 K6 for solid timber members other than rectangular sections (if applicable),
 K7 for solid timber members other than 300mm deep,
 and K8 for load-sharing systems (if applicable). Hence:

Effective span Le
see clause 2.10.3 of BS 5268; The span of flexural members should be taken as the
distance between the centres of bearings

In determining the effective span, Le, it is usually acceptable to assume an addition of 50 mm to

the clear span, between the supports, for solid timber beams and joists and 100 mm for built-up
beams on spans up to around 12m, but longer spans should be checked

Form factor K6
 See Clause 2.10.5
 Grade bending stresses apply to solid timber members of rectangular cross-section.
 For other shapes of cross-section the grade bending stresses should be multiplied by the
modification factor, K6, where;-
K6 = 1.18 for solid circular sections; and
K6 = 1.41 for solid square sections loaded on a diagonal

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 Depth factor, K7
 See Clause 2.10.6
 The grade bending stresses given in Tables 8-14 of BS 5268:Part 2 apply to beams having
a depth, h, of 300 mm

Selection of a suitable section size

Appropriate trial section is chosen from:
 Engineering judgement, which is based on experience.
 By utilizing the permissible bending stress criterion .Thus the expression for calculation of the
required section modulus Zxx for timber members, incorporating all the relevant K-factors, is as
follows:

Lateral stability
 See clause 2.10.8
 BS 5268: Part 2:2002 recommends that the depth to breadth ratio of solid and laminated rectangular
beams should not exceed the values given in Table 19

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 Deflection
 BS 5268:Part 2, Clause 2.10.7

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  The dimensions of flexural members should be such as to restrict deflection within limits
appropriate to the type of structure, having regard to the possibility of damage to surfacing
materials, ceilings, partitions and to the functional needs as well as aesthetic requirements.’
 For domestic floor joists, the deflection under full load should not exceed 0.003 times the
span or 14 mm, whichever is the lesser.

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Trimmer joists and lintels
The minimum modulus of elasticity modified by the factor, K9, (see Table 20) should be used
for calculation of deflections

Shear deflection

The maximum shear deflection induced in a single-span simply supported beam of either
rectangular or square cross-section, may be determined from the following equation

where A is the cross-sectional area of the beam, Mmax is the maximum bending moment in the
beam and E is as defined above
Bearing stress
The bearing stresses in timber beams are developed due to compressive forces applied in a
direction perpendicular to the grain and occur in positions such as points of support or applied
concentrated load

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The applied bearing stress, is calculated from the following equation

In general, the value of applied bearing stress, should not exceed the permissible bearing stress,
determined from

Length and position of bearings

BS 5268:Part 2, Clause 2.10.2
The grade stresses for compression perpendicular to the grain apply to bearings of any length at
the ends of a member, and bearings 150 mm or more in length at any position. For bearings less
than 150 mm long located 75 mm or more from the end of a member, as shown in Figure 1, the
grade stress should be multiplied by the modification factor, K4, given in Table 18.

Fig 1

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Shear stress
The critical position for shear is usually at supports where reaction occurs.
The applied shear stress,  , is calculated as maximum (not average) shear stress from the
following equation:

For a rectangular timber beam, the maximurn applied shear stress parallel to grain, occurs at the neutral
axis and is calculated from

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Shear at notched ends
 Clause 2.10.4
 K5 is a modification factor, which allows for stress concentration induced at square-cornered
notches at the ends of a flexural member

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Design examples
Design of a main beam
A main beam of 3 m length spans over an opening 2.8 m wide and supports a flooring system
which exerts a long-duration loading of 3.9 kN/m, including its own self-weight, over its span.
The beam is supported by 50mm wide walls on either side. Carry out design checks to show that
a 75mm x 225 mm deep sawn section whitewood grade SS under service class 1 is suitable.

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 16
17

18

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 19

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Design of floor joists

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 16
17

18

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The ground floor of a shop is to comprise a series of timber joists at 600 mm centres with tongued
and grooved (t & g) boarding. The joists are simply supported on 100mm hangers attached to load-
bearing walls 4.2 m apart as shown in Fig. 3 Determine a suitable thickness for floor boarding
using timber in strength class C18 and a suitable size for joists using timber in strength class C22
under service class 2. Assume imposed load is 2.0 kN/m2.

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