CHARACTERIZATION OF LOCALLY SOURCED TIMBER FOR USE IN NIGERIAN BUILDING CONSTRUCTION

ABSTRACT

This project deals with the Characterization of Locally Sourced Timber for use in Nigerian Building Construction. In this project, the European Standard EN 338 strength classification of some Nigerian timber species was carried out. This allowed the design of the timber species using Eurocode 5. Laboratory experiments were conducted to determine the Physical and Mechanical properties of the Nigerian timbers using structural size specimens. The characteristic values of timber properties were derived from test data in accordance with EN 384 (2004). The equilibrium moisture content of the timber species was  13.26% for Ovbiakhe (Nauclei diderich), 18.71% for Urhuaro (Nesogordonia papaverifera), 13.39% for Okha(Ceiba pentandra),21.85% for Afina ( Ceiba pentandra). The strength grading of the timber species by adjusting the material properties values to 12% moisture content was conducted  using the required adjustment factors. The timber species were then graded according to EN338 (2016). Ovbiakhe, Urhuaro, Okha, and Afina were assigned to strength class  D50, D30, C30, and D60 respectively. Okha are coniferous species (softwood) because their characteristic densities fall within the softwood density range of 290-460 kg/m3, while Ovbiakhe, Urhuaro, and Afina are deciduous species (hardwood) because their characteristic densities fall within the hardwood density range of 475-900 kg/m3 as classified in EN338. A  database of  the physical and mechanical properties of the various selected Timber in this work was established.