Wood Engineering 24 PDH Discount Package

This online engineering PDH course discusses the macroscopic physical properties of wood with emphasis on their relationship with moisture content.

Wood, like many natural materials, is hygroscopic; it takes on moisture from the surrounding environment. Moisture exchange between wood and air depends on the relative hu­midity and temperature of the air and the current amount of water in the wood. This moisture relationship has an impor­tant influence on wood properties and performance. Many of the challenges of using wood as an engineering material arise from changes in moisture content or an abundance of moisture within the wood.

This online engineering PDH course provides information on the most recent research on properties of the wood cell wall at the nanoscale level. It discusses the mechanical properties of wood, the nature and magnitude of variability in its properties as well as the effect of growth features.

Many of the mechanical properties of wood tabulated in this course were derived from extensive sampling and analysis procedures. These properties are represented as the average mechanical properties of the species. Some properties, such as tension parallel to the grain, and all properties for some imported species are based on a more limited number of specimens that were not subjected to the same sampling and analysis procedures. The appropriateness of these latter properties to represent the average properties of a species is uncertain; nevertheless, the properties represent the best information available.

This online engineering PDH course provides basic information on procedures for selecting and applying in-place treatments to bridges to prevent or arrest degradation, and discusses different approaches for minimizing damage caused by fire.

Wooden bridges have a long history of use throughout the world, and like bridges made of other materials, the service life of wooden bridges can be enhanced through proper construction, inspection, and maintenance. Wooden bridges, whether historic covered bridges or current highway timber bridges, can be vulnerable to damage from biodeterioration, fire or biodegradation. Biodeterioration is minimized through design and construction practices, and in the case of modern timber bridges, through pressure treatment of the timbers with wood preservatives. However, over time, many bridges need maintenance in order to prevent degradation and to minimize any damage caused by fire.

In order to maintain wood bridges, different methods, procedures and treatments are used. These include; in-place treatments, surface-applied liquid treatments, paste surface treatments, internal treatments, and fire retardants, all of which are discussed in this course.

This online engineering PDH course provides guidance on joint designs required for wood fastenings for utmost rigidity, strength, and service. It discusses each type of fastening requiring joint designs adapted to the strength properties of wood along and across the grain and to dimensional changes that may occur with changes in moisture content.

The strength and stability of any structure depend heavily on the fastenings that hold its parts together. One prime advantage of wood as a structural material is the ease with which wood structural parts can be joined together with a wide variety of fastenings such as nails, spikes, screws, bolts, lag screws, drift pins, staples and metal connectors of various types.

This 3 PDH online course is applicable to civil, structural or geotechnical engineers, as well as design and construction personnel who are interested in gaining a better understanding in wood fastenings or who are involved in the design and planning of wood structures.

This online engineering PDH course presents the types of adhesives and their properties, bonding processes, bonded joints, testing and performance. It discusses how adhesives can effectively transfer and distribute stresses, thereby increasing the strength and stiffness of the composite.

Adhesive bonding of wood plays an increasing role in the forest products industry and is a key factor for efficiently utilizing our timber resource. The main use of adhesives is in the manufacture of building materials, including plywood, oriented strandboard, particleboard, fiberboard, structural composite lumber, doors, windows and frames, and factory-laminated wood products. Adhesives are also used in the assembly of furniture and cabinets, manufacture of engineered wood products, and construction of residential and commercial structures.

This 3 PDH online course is applicable to civil, structural or geotechnical engineers, as well as design and construction personnel who are interested in gaining a better understanding in adhesive bonding of wood materials.

This online engineering PDH course provides guidance on the basic biological structure of wood and provides a basis for interpreting its properties in an engineering context. By understanding the function of wood in the living tree, we can better understand the strengths and limitations it presents as a material.

Wood is a complex biological structure, a composite of many chemistries and cell types acting together to serve the needs of a living plant. Attempting to understand wood in the context of wood technology, we have often overlooked the key and basic fact that wood evolved over the course of millions of years to serve three main functions in plants― conduction of water from the roots to the leaves, mechanical support of the plant body, and storage of biochemicals. There is no property of wood—physical, mechanical, chemical, biological, or technological—that is not fundamentally derived from the fact that wood is formed to meet the needs of the living tree. To accomplish any of these functions, wood must have cells that are designed and interconnected in ways sufficient to perform these functions. These three functions have influenced the evolution of approximately 20,000 different species of woody plants, each with unique properties, uses, and capabilities, in both plant and human contexts.

This online engineering PDH course describes the features of various types of building systems. It places emphasis on how these systems have adapted to the use of modern materials and techniques.

In North America, most housing and commercial structures built prior to the 20th century used wood as the major structural material. The abundant wood resource formed the basic structure for most houses, commercial buildings, bridges, and utility poles. Today, houses and many light commercial and industrial buildings are made using modern wood structural materials. Recently, there has been increased interest in using wood for various types of transportation structures, including highway bridges. Furthermore, prefabricated floor and wall panels along with prefabricated roof and floor trusses or I-joists are replacing piece-by-piece on-site construction with dimension lumber.

This 2 PDH online course is applicable to civil, structural or geotechnical engineers, as well as design and construction personnel who are interested in gaining a better understanding in use of wood in buildings and bridges.

This online engineering PDH course illustrates how wood is considered as a sustainable building material.

Few building materials possess the environmental benefits of wood. It is not only the most widely used building mate­rial but also one with characteristics that make it suitable for a wide range of applications.One of the greatest attributes of wood is that it is a renewable resource. If sustainable forest management and harvesting practices are followed, wood resources will be available indefinitely.