ISSN: 0090-3973
Published Online: 24 July 2009
Page Count: 9

Material Variability and Repetitive Member Factors for the Allowable Properties of Engineered Wood Products

Verrill, Steve
Mathematical Statistician,U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory,WI,

Kretschmann, David E.
Research General Engineer,U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Forest Products Laboratory,WI,

(Received 1 July 2008; accepted 10 June 2009)

Abstract

It has been argued that repetitive member allowable property adjustments should be larger for high-variability materials than for low-variability materials. We report analytic calculations and simulations that suggest that the order of such adjustments should be reversed, that is, given the manner in which allowable properties are currently calculated, as the coefficient of variation of the strength distribution of individual elements increases, the upward repetitive member adjustments (if any) of assemblies constructed from these elements should decrease.

Keywords:
assembly, reliability, redundancy

Paper ID: JTE101924
DOI: 10.1520/JTE101924
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