About

Daniel P. Hindman serves as an associate professor in the Sustainable Biomaterials department at Virginia Tech. His research program focuses on the efficient use of low carbon, biological-based materials for construction, emphasizing principles related to structure, safety, and sustainability of wood materials. Dr. Hindman's expertise includes wood building design, mechanical properties of wood, stability of wood I-joists, torsional stiffness of wood members, and safety of wood structures during construction. He holds a B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University, completed in 1997, 1999, and 2003 respectively. Dr. Hindman is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Forest Products Society, and the National Frame Building Association. He also holds a Professional Engineering license in the Commonwealth of Virginia. His teaching includes courses on BIM for wood construction, mechanics of sustainable biomaterials and packaging, green building systems, design of wood structures, and sustainable biomaterials in building. His research philosophy revolves around the core principles of structure, safety, and sustainability in wood materials.

Research topics

• Geology
• Materials science
• Composite material
• Structural engineering
• Engineering
• Civil engineering

Selected publications

• Half-lap cross laminated timber panel-to-panel connections using hardwood dowels

  Construction and Building Materials · 2026-01-15

  articleCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• State of the Art: Shear Deflection Theory and Design for Wood Products

  Journal of Architectural Engineering · 2025-04-22

  article1st authorCorresponding

  Shear deflection is caused by warping within the beam cross section because of the application of loads. Excluding very deep beams, most metallic and cement-based structural materials experience little to no shear deflection. However, wood and wood composites exhibit greater shear compliance, making shear deflection calculation important for the assessment of overall deflection. The study of shear deflection in wood materials began in the early 20th century, and continues with the development of cross-laminated timber (CLT) and other mass timber products. This paper discusses the theoretical basis of shear deflection, applications of shear deflection, current measurement procedures, and wood design approaches for solid-sawn lumber, glued laminated timber, structural composite lumber, wood composite I-joists, and CLT. Different wood composites exhibit different responses to shear deflection. CLT in particular can experience higher percentages of shear deflection, especially under fixed end conditions, which necessitates the inclusion of shear deflection in serviceability calculations.

  PublisherDOI

• Half-Lap Cross Laminated Timber Panel-to-Panel Connections Using Hardwood Pegs

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2025-01-01 · 1 citations

  preprintOpen access
  PublisherDOI

• Comparison of microscopy and quality control testing to examine the durability of adhesive bondline in cross-laminated timber

  Journal of Building Engineering · 2024-03-01 · 4 citations

  article
  PublisherDOI

• Evaluation of bending and shear properties of mixed softwood & hardwood cross-laminated timbers

  Journal of Building Engineering · 2024-09-02 · 5 citations

  articleSenior author
  PublisherDOI

• Evaluation of Tre Gai bamboo (Bambusa spinosa) bending strength perpendicular-to-fibre along the culm length

  Advances in Bamboo Science · 2024-02-25 · 2 citations

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding

  The continued need to decarbonize buildings has led to a deeper exploration of the use of bamboo culms in building systems. For the design and use of full culm bamboo structures, the bending strength perpendicular-to-fibre has received little comprehensive study along the length of commercially produced bamboo poles. We intensively measured the bending strength perpendicular-to-the-fibre for both node and internode sections along the length of commercially purchased Tre Gai (Bambusa spinosa) culms. Eight culms, each four meters long, were sectioned to measure the bending strength terms including tension and compression strengths in both the N-S (top/bottom) and E/W (left/right) directions using ISO 22157 procedures. Digital scanning was used to measure the inner and outer diameter of each section. Node strength was approximately 2.64 times greater than the internode strength. The performances of perpendicular-to-fibre strength terms were related to the primary tissue strength rather than the bamboo fibre strength within the culm. Based upon observations and measurements, the fmT,NS and fmC,EW strengths had greater values with lower variability, and were less sensitive to changes in length. Implications of perpendicular-to-fibre strength design in building elements are discussed.

  PublisherDOI

• Evaluation of Tre Gai Bamboo Bending Strength Perpendicular-to-Fiber Along Culm Length

  SSRN Electronic Journal · 2023-01-01

  articleOpen access1st authorCorresponding
  PublisherDOI

• SMART BAMBOO SYSTEMS: COMBINING MATERIAL INTELLIGENCE WITH MODERN MANUFACTURING

  Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research) · 2022-07-25 · 1 citations

  paratextOpen access

  Rising demand for housing in the global south must be met while focusing on lowering carbon emissions to mitigate the growing influence of climate change. Current bamboo structures typically consist of (1) lattice-based structures using full culm bamboo, which do not create modern building enclosures, or (2) bamboo composites which require disaggregation and reconstitution of the<br> bamboo, increasing the carbon footprint. This paper explains our concept, Smart Bamboo (SB), a lightly modified bamboo composite system that uses digital analysis and fabrication tools to create panelized building systems that utilize the sectional properties of full culm bamboo with composite cross-lamination strategies.

  PublisherDOI

• Dowel-Bearing Strength of Southern Pine Cross-Laminated Timber

  Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering · 2021-11-24

  article1st authorCorresponding

  The current method for estimating parallel-to-grain dowel bearing strength of cross-laminated timber (CLT) fasteners applied perpendicular to the face in the US adjusts the length of the fastener to account for the effect of cross-layers rather than modifying the dowel bearing strength. This method is counter to more-commonly used methods in Canada and Europe which adjust the dowel bearing strength of the CLT material and using the original length of the dowel. Currently, there are no experimental data supporting the use of an adjusted fastener length. This paper presented an alternative method for CLT dowel bearing strength assessment according to the US design code. The proposed method produced similar or slightly conservative dowel bearing strength values compared with the current US design method. Experimental results of dowel bearing strength were compared against the current design code, the proposed method, and European and Canadian codes. Standard test procedures were used to evaluate, stiffness, yield strength, 5% offset yield strength and ultimate strength. Greater mechanical properties were found for CLTs containing more parallel-to-grain layers, whereas lower mechanical properties were found for CLTs containing more perpendicular-to-grain layers. The current US dowel bearing strength method, the proposed method, and the European design code produced similar results, which were slightly conservative compared with the experimental values. The proposed dowel bearing strength equation is felt to be an improvement given the ease of use and similarity in form to other design formats.

  PublisherDOI

• Acoustical Properties of Southern Pine Cross-Laminated Timber Panels

  Journal of Architectural Engineering · 2020 · 8 citations

  1st authorCorresponding
  • Structural engineering
  • Engineering
  • Geology

  Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is composed of a series of lumber layers placed orthogonally to create a thick panel. Advantages of CLT construction include reduced construction time, lighter structural elements, and reduced carbon footprint. As part of an effort to explore the use of a southern pine CLT panel for building code acceptance, the transmission loss (TL), associated sound transmission class (STC), normalized impact sound pressure levels (NISPL), and associated impact insulation class (IIC) of CLT walls and floors were measured. Wall and floor configurations were tested both as bare CLT panels and with one side covered with studs/joists, insulation, and gypsum wall board. STC results of the bare wall and floor configurations produced identical STC values. The wall and floor configurations using CLT with one-sided studs/joists met or exceeded the STC values in the International Building Code (IBC), but did not meet the IIC values in the IBC. Comparisons of the one-third octave band TL of the CLT panels with conventional wood frame and concrete sections were discussed. The TL performance of the CLT panels mirrored the mass–law relationship. The NISPL associated with CLT bare floors mimicked the NISPL values of a bare concrete floor, except at higher frequencies at which the CLT outperformed the concrete.

  PublisherDOI

Frequent coauthors

• Joseph R. Loferski

  16 shared

• David E. Finkenbinder

  9 shared

• Philip Line

  9 shared

• John J. Janowiak

  6 shared

• Milad Mohamadzadeh

  6 shared

• John C. Bouldin

  Virginia Tech

  6 shared

• Tonya L. Smith‐Jackson

  North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University

  6 shared

• Gi Young Jeong

  5 shared

Labs

• Sustainable BiomaterialsPI

Education

• Ph.D., Agricultural and Biological Engineering

  Pennsylvania State University