Bending Strength of Korean Softwood Species for 120×180 mm Structural Members

The goal of this study is to investigate bending properties of domestic timber. Three representative structural timber from Larix kaempferi, Pinus koraiensis, and Pinus densiflora, in the northeastern South Korea were selected. Visual grading for the timber was conducted based on KFRI notification 2009-01 and the bending strength for the timber was evaluated based on ASTM D 198 bending. The high percentage of grade 1 and 2 for Larix kaempferi shows that the KFRI notification was optimized for this species. The bending strength distributions from Pinus koraiensis and Pinus densiflora were very similar. It could be possible to specify the allowable bending properties of these two Specification using a united species group similar to spruce-pine-fir. Lastly, the bending strength of $120{\times}180mm$ structural members was higher than both existing values in KBC 2009 and design values for timber of imported species described in the NDS. Thus, 120 mm thick domestic softwoods could replace the commercial imported species and the KBC should be modified to provide design values for both timber and dimensional lumber, respectively, like NDS.