Test: Timber - 3 - Civil Engineering (CE) MCQ

• Density: During kiln seasoning, some moisture is removed from the wood cells. This can lead to a very slight decrease in overall wood density because water itself has some mass. However, the density of the wood fibers themselves might not change significantly. The impact on density can vary depending on the wood species and the intensity of the drying process.

Therefore, both 1. reduced density (to a very small extent) and 3. dimensional stability are valid effects of kiln seasoning on timber.

Here's what's not entirely accurate:

• 2. reduced life (fire): As mentioned before, there's no direct significant impact on fire resistance.

Weight and strength properties of timber are greatly influenced by moisture content. Therefore the strength values and weight obtained are usually standardized at 12% moisture content.

Timber is stronger in tension along the grain but it is quite difficult to determine this because of the difficulties in conducting the test.