Place your mouse over the Engineering Property for a detailed description:
Bending Strength is one of the main properties in determining the maximum safe loads for roofs and floors.
Compression and Tension are important to the Engineer for specialized designs and applications, such as roof diaphrams and splice joints.
Shear-Through-Thickness stresses are caused by forces acting along opposites edges of a panel. Such forces are generated in wooden I-joists - where the panel serves as the web in a beam and must carry loads applied to its edges.
Some industrial applications require a panel to carry very high loads over a short span, such as concrete formwork, warehouse storage areas and decking. Planar Shear Strength is very often a limiting property in determining the maximum safe load capacity.
Bending Stiffness is important when it comes to the performance of a floor. Higher stiffness panels make for a floor that doesn't feel bouncy, and will reduce tile popping and cracking.
Compression and Tension are important to the Engineer for specialized designs and applications, such as roof diaphrams and splice joints.
Bearing strength is the ability to resist crushing when a large concentrated load is applied perpendicular to the panel face. Examples include structures where a beam or column must rest on a panel, and industrial applications where the panel must support heavy machinery over a small contact area.
Panel weight is influenced by two main factors - the panel compression during the manufacturing process and the wood species. For the builder, a lighter panel makes for easier handling and installation. For the distributor, the heavier product will cost more to ship.
Orientation is relative to the face grain direction or the panel's long dimension.
“Sheathing” OSB is intended for roof and wall sheathing, and for sub-flooring where a separate underlayment panel must be installed over the OSB.
“Single-floor” OSB is intended for floor sheathing where a separate underlayment is NOT required.
"Sheathing" OSB is intended for roof and wall sheathing, and for sub-flooring where a separate underlayment panel must be installed over the OSB.
DFP - Douglas Fir Plywood manufactured to CSA 0121
CSP - Canadian Softwood Plywood manufactured to CSA 0151
Technical Questions
Paul Jaehrlich, P.Eng
Engineer
Tel:(604) 981-4190
Fax:(604) 985-0342 jaehrlich@canply.org
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Plywood Engineering Properties
Comparative Product Data
15.5 mm
| Strength, Stiffness and Rigidity Capacities | |||||
| Engineering Property | Orientation | DFP | CSP | OSB |
OSB Sheathing |
|
0° |
750 | 520 | 310 | 460 |
90° |
230 | 230 | 100 | 160 | |
0° |
130 | 110 | 60 | 67 | |
90° |
71 | 71 | 43 | 48 | |
0° |
170 | 120 | 87 | 92 | |
90° |
79 | 79 | 78 | 87 | |
| 0° |
36 | 38 | 47 | 55 | |
90° |
36 | 38 | 47 | 55 | |
0° |
6.6 | 6.6 | 5.2 | 6.1 | |
90° |
3.6 | 3.6 | 3.3 | 3.8 | |
0° |
0.55 | 0.55 | 0.52 | 0.61 | |
90° |
0.72 | 0.72 | 0.33 | 0.38 | |
0° |
3,000,000 | 2,000,000 | 1,400,000 | 2,100,000 | |
90° |
430,000 | 430,000 | 300,000 | 500,000 | |
0° |
94,000 | 71,000 | 53,000 | 53,000 | |
90° |
47,000 | 47,000 | 31,000 | 31,000 | |
0° |
8400 | 7100 | 11,000 | 12,000 | |
90° |
8400 | 7100 | 11,000 | 12,000 | |
| normal to plane of panel | 4.5 | 4.5 | 4.2 | 4.2 | |
| - | 23 | 21 | 29 | 29 | |
Notes:
1) These values are from CSA O86 Engineering Design with Wood and apply to products certified to the following standards: DFP - CSA O121, CSP - CSA O151, OSB - CSA O325. Values have been provided for information purposes only. Complete design information may be found in CSA O86 or in CANPLY publication Plywood Design Fundamentals
2) DFP and CSP values are conservatively derived using the weakest species, worst-case construction and thinnest panel allowed within the respective manufacturing standard.
3)Values for OSB Single Floor are based on a span-rating of 1F16 and a thickness of 15.0 mm.
4)Values for OSB Sheathing are based on a span-rating of 2R40/2F20 and a thickness of 15.0 mm.
5)Orientation is relative to the face grain or the panel's long direction.