Load combination of moisture induced eigenstresses in timber

This paper presents and suggests a load combination factor for moisture induced stress (MIS) when MIS and snow load are combined. It is argued that MIS may be considered as an ordinary load to be combined with other structural actions, for example snow load. This outlook is not new but till now the load combination factor issue has not been investigated. Based on measured snow depths and calculated MIS at four different locations in Sweden it is suggested that the load combination factor for MIS is set to 0.2.