Reliability analysis on compression strength property of chinese larch visually-graded dimension lumber

The reliability analysis method was investigated in this study to obtain design values of ultimate compression strength parallel to grain (UCS) of Chinese larch visually-graded dimension lumber of common size. A total of 748 lumber samples of 40 by 90 mm were tested for static full-size compression strength according to Chinese National Standards’ requirements of the reliability index. The goodness of fit for the UCS distribution of four visual grades was analyzed and the first-order second-moment reliability analysis under different load cases was performed based on all the test data. The log-normal distribution was the optimizing fitted distribution of the compression strength of Chinese larch dimension lumber. Design values of the compression strength for grades Ic, IIc, IIIc and IVc were suggested for the minimum reliability index. These design values will be recommended to the standard committee of Chinese National Standards.