In Situ Assessment of Structural Timber: State-of-the-Art, Challenges and Future Directions

Abstract:

Timber is one of the oldest structural materials and has been traditionally used in all parts of the world. Pressures on environmental sustainability lead to revitalization of timber as a modern, highly environmentally friendly and sustainable material. This new interest also sparks the attention of the research and engineering community in the structural applications involving timber. A number of techniques can be used to evaluate health, deterioration and extent of potential damage of historic structures and their components. Because timber is a natural, biodegradable, hygroscopic, and inhomogeneous material, its interaction with the environment presents challenges not normally encountered in materials typically studied by engineers. In addition, high variability of properties even within individual species makes it difficult to make inferences on properties of the investigated systems or even individual components. This requires a multidisciplinary approach and broad knowledge of disciplines spanning from biology and plant anatomy to mechanical properties and statistics. This paper will discuss some of the methods that can be deployed to evaluate historic timber and their drawbacks and limitations. Future directions and needs will be addressed in the last part of the presentation.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volumes 133-134)
• Pages: 43-52
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/www.scientific.net/AMR.133-134.43
• Online since: October 2010
• Authors: Bohumil Kasal
• Keywords: In Situ Evaluation, Non-Destructive Method, Semi-Destructive Methods, Timber

References

[1] Adams, A, and Kasal, B (2010). Non-Contact Strain Measurement using Radiography and Digital Image Processing., Experimental Techniques. The Society for Experimental Mechanics. Blackwell Publishing, Inc. (in print).

[2] Burley, J, Evans J, and Younquist J (Editors) (2004). Mechanical properties of wood., Encyclopedia of Forest Science. Elsevier Publishing Co., Oxford, England. ISBN 0121451207. 2000 p.

[3] Ferguson, I, LaFontaine, B, Vinden, P, Bren, L, Hateley, R, and Hermesec R (1996). Environmental Properties of Timber., Research paper commissioned by the Forest and Wood Products Research and Development Corporation. Victoria, Australia.

[4] Kasal, B (Editor) (2010). State-of-the-art in in-situ assessment of timber., RILEM TC AST 215 Special Publication. Springer Verlag/RILEM Paris (in print).

[5] Kasal, B, and Anthony R (2004). Advances in in situ evaluation of timber structures., Progress in Structural Engineering and Materials. John Villey & Sons Ltd. London. UK. 6(2), 94-103.

DOI: 10.1002/pse.170

[6] Myers, R H, Walpole, R E, and Myers, S L (2006). Probability & Statistics for Engineers & Scientists (8th Edition)., Prentice Hall.

[7] National Design Specifications for Wood Construction (NDS)®. 2005 Edition. American Forest and Paper Association, Washington, DC.

[8] Wood Handbook (2002).