Timber Beam Design Under Distributed Load

Timber beam design under a distributed load uses the beam’s size and the wood’s properties to keep the structure safe. The beam’s length and width are known at the start. The timber’s grade and species also matter because they affect the allowable stress, which is the highest stress the material can safely handle.

A simply supported timber beam is to be designed to support a distributed load. The length and width of the beam are known, along with the allowable normal stress values. The depth of the beam needs to be determined.

To solve this, the entire beam is considered as a free body, and the moment and force balances are written to determine the...