Investigation of the suitability of finger jointed structural timber for use in nail plated roof trusses

Dakin, Anthony (2011) Investigation of the suitability of finger jointed structural timber for use in nail plated roof trusses. [USQ Project]

[img]
Preview
PDF
Dakin_2011.pdf

Download (5MB)

Abstract

The most common method of roof framing employed by Australian builders in modern construction is the use of pre-fabricated nail plated timber roof trusses. These trusses are predominantly manufactured from structural framing timber limited in length to a maximum of 6 metres. The style and size of houses increasingly preferred by Australian homeowners means that trusses are regularly required to span further than 6 metres. Truss manufacturers therefore use larger or additional nail plates to splice members during fabrication, and the assembly process becomes far more complex. Finger jointing of sawmill off-cuts and other short lengths of timber is a means of manufacturers economically producing timber in longer lengths. This dissertation investigates the suitability of using finger jointed structural timber for the fabrication of nail plated roof trusses.

Physical testing and statistical analysis has been used to compare the performance of finger jointed structural timber with standard structural framing timber normally used in truss fabrication. This study involved characterizing the mechanical properties of the timber, as well as assessing the performance of joints including mechanical fasteners. These methods, along with the static modelling of loading situations, were also used to quantify the probability of inducing failures unique to finger jointed timber, during the truss fabrication and erection process.

These investigations concluded that finger jointed timber could be produced with equivalent mechanical properties to standard framing timber. Joints manufactured from finger jointed and solid structural timber also exhibited no significant difference in performance. Furthermore, failures unique to finger jointed timber could occur during fabrication and erection, however, the probability of these, under normal use conditions, is generally quite low.


Statistics for USQ ePrint 21896
Statistics for this ePrint Item
Item Type: USQ Project
Refereed: No
Item Status: Live Archive
Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: Historic - Faculty of Engineering and Surveying - Department of Agricultural, Civil and Environmental Engineering (Up to 30 Jun 2013)
Supervisors: Karunasena, Karu
Date Deposited: 10 Sep 2012 03:47
Last Modified: 03 Jul 2013 01:28
Uncontrolled Keywords: nail plated timber roof trusses; finger jointed timber
Fields of Research (2008): 09 Engineering > 0905 Civil Engineering > 090506 Structural Engineering
Fields of Research (2020): 40 ENGINEERING > 4005 Civil engineering > 400510 Structural engineering
URI: https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/21896

Actions (login required)

View Item Archive Repository Staff Only