Experimental grading of locally grown timber to be used as structural material

In Italy timber and wood products are becoming increasingly used for building constructions due to their excellent physics and mechanical properties. International Codes require the use of wood previously graded according to the current legislation. This paper reports the preliminary results of an experimental campaign aim at verifying the reliability of the use of Sardinian timber as structural material. For this purpose Maritime Pine boards from three different regions of Sardinia have been analyzed and visual strength graded. Physical properties (density, knots, clusters knot, resin pockets, deviation of the grain, annual ring width position of board respect to the pith, humidity, etc) and Mechanical properties (elastic modulus, tensile strength, ultrasonic pulse velocity) have been checked and discussed. Moreover Cross-laminated Timber (CLT) panels made from Sardinian grown timber have been prepared and tested