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I-joists, I-beams engineered from wood with fiberboard or laminated veneer lumber, or both, are also becoming increasingly popular in construction, especially residential, as they are both lighter and less prone to warping than solid wooden joists. However, there has been some concern as to their rapid loss of strength in a fire if unprotected.
Invented in 1969, the I-joist is an engineered wood product that has great strength in relation to its size and weight. The biggest notable difference from dimensional lumber is that the I-joist carries heavy loads with less lumber than a dimensional solid wood joist. [1] As of 2005, approximately 50% of all wood light framed floors used I-joists.
The wood moisture content is above 25% on a dry-weight basis; The environment is sufficiently warm; Oxygen (O 2) is present; Wood with less than 25% moisture (dry weight basis) can remain free of decay for centuries. Similarly, wood submerged in water may not be attacked by fungi if the amount of oxygen is inadequate. Fungi lumber/timber ...
It is typically used for headers, beams, rimboard, and edge-forming material. LVL offers several advantages over typical milled lumber: Made in a factory under controlled specifications, it is stronger, straighter, and more uniform. Due to its composite nature, it is much less likely than conventional lumber to warp, twist, bow, or shrink.
For example, conventional strength of materials predicts that a large beam and a tiny beam will fail at the same stress if they are made of the same material. In the real world, because of size effects, a larger beam will fail at a lower stress than a smaller beam.
The beams are continuously formed, so the length of the beam is limited only to the maximum length that can be handled and transported. Typical widths are 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 , 5 + 1 ⁄ 4 or 7 inches (89, 133 or 178 mm); typical depths are 9 + 1 ⁄ 2 , 11 + 7 ⁄ 8 , 14, 16 and 18 inches (240, 300, 360, 410 and 460 mm).
Wood contains an abundance of chemical groups called free hydroxyls. Free hydroxyl groups readily absorb and release water according to changes in the climatic conditions to which they are exposed. This is the main reason why wood's dimensional stability is impacted by swelling and shrinking.
Regular timber is an anisotropic material, meaning that the physical properties change depending on the direction at which the force is applied. By gluing layers of wood at right angles, the panel is able to achieve better structural rigidity in both directions. It is similar to plywood but with distinctively thicker laminations (or lamellae).