CHAPTER 3: MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF WOOD 3.1 Fundamental considerations ‘ 3.1.1 General Wood is a natural product of biological origin, hence it is a very variable end heterogenous material. The “strength properties or mechanical properties of wood are an expression of ite behaviour under applied forces. The many uses to which wood is put require thé ability to resist loads, and thus it is appropriate to examine the behaviour of wood when subjected to various forces, Although experience and availability have often dictated which species of timber Should be used for a particular purpose, a much more detailed knowledge of the Properties of timber is required for efficient utilization, tor exploitation of lesser The teim strength when applied:to a material such as wood refers to the abilty of the material to resist external forces or loads tending 10 change ils size or aller its Shape. The effect of applying exlernal loads to a body isto induce intemal forces called stress within the body that resist changes in size and shape. Stress is a i force expressed on the basis of unit area such as pounds per square foot in the q known species and to aid in selection of species for afforestation British system or newtons per square millimetre in the International Sysiem The word strength has ttle meaning unless qualified in some way, Wood has Several types of strength and a timber strong in one respect may be comparatively weak in another.} tensile stress in which the forces acts as to elongate the body, 'b) compressive stress in which the forces tends to shorten or crush the timber, and c) shear stress which results from forces which tend to cause one portion of the body to slide over the remainder. . 2st (ETEIEh Teouon Compression i (~ | | Fig 30. Three kinds of primary stresses Under cenain conditions, for example in bending, these three primary stresses acts tgether thus producing a compound stress (Fig 31). li is these stresses which have to be resisted by the timber and its performance in this respect will depend, on Bd Be Bee Be 1 is tuncdamental properties i BEER) eSWhen no extemal force is acting, on the body, it has what is known as natural shape, which is not distorted in any way. When external force or load Is applied to the body, it looses its natural shape. Such changes in size and or shape are known as deformations or strains. Strain values are expressed in terms of deformation per unit tength, area or volume. For example, compressive strain is the reduction. in length of a member under compression divided by the length of a member before loading in compression. Each type of stress produce a corresponding strain such as tensile, shear, compressive, bending, depending on stress. 3.1.2 Hooke's law ‘The strain induced in a piece of wood is proportional to the applied stress, when the sirain is small, If the time of application of stress is short and the strain remains small, when the load is removed the body recovers its original shape and size. The ability of the material to recover its original shape and size alter stress is removed is called elasticity. This behaviour was described by Robert Hooke in 1678, and is known as Hooke's law. According to this law the strain is proportional 10 stress and can be stated in form of an equation as : c= ao where, € is strain (deformation per unit length, area, etc) cis stress (force per unit area}, and ais the proportionality constant and it indicates the strain per unit stress.jormally in technical iterature, E the reciprocal value of a (E = t/a) is used. & is pecalled the modulus of elasticity for bending stresses and Young's modulus (Y) gO" compressive and tensile stresses. It expresses the hypothetical stress by which = BF rod would be extended to double its of ial length. The billy of wood to bend freely and regain normal shape is known as flexibility and the abilty to resist bending is called stiffness. Modulus of elasticity provides a Convenient figure for expressing the stitness or ‘lexibilily of timber; the, greater the modulus of elasticity the stiffer the timber, and conversely, the lower the modulus of elasticity the more flexible it is, For each type of stress there is a separate modulus of elasticity. For @ glven piece of wood subjected fo stress, up to a certain point called the limit Of proportionality the deformation or strain is proportional to load (stress). Beyond the limit of proportionality the deformation caused by load is nonrecoverable a and some permanent set (or permanent deformation) is imposed on the specimen Int Mis area the deformations increases more rapidly than the load. Further increase a of stress may cause failure or rupture. The load required to cause rupture is calied the maximum load. The behaviour of wood under siréss is often more variable than that of manulaciured structural materials. The idealized stress-strain general curve is shown 'n Fig 32. Wood, while following the general pattern will not always conform entirely. The elastic behaviour of wood is illustrated by the straight line (elastic line) portion of the curve for stress-strain shown above The area under the elastic line portion of the curve represents the potential energy ] OF recoverable work, and is a measure of the resilience of the ‘material, ‘The steepness of the slope of the elastic line is the measure of the magnitude of the = Ey ime pericci clastic modulus i.e the sleeper the slope, the greater the modulus init of proposionslity (Ft) Floste tine i ' i i i FAveo under curve upto fot ‘eprevens tecarergle work oesesilence n= € = wnt delormolion Fig 22. Idealized stress-strain diagram for static loading to failure Source: Panshin and de Zecuw (1970) The permanent set is due to plastic delormation of the wood and is represented by the area between the projection of elastic line beyond the limit of proportionality and the actual curve. adversely affected, The {otal amount of non-recoverable strain that a piece of wood absorbs up to the Point of complete failure is a reflection of its toughness, Toughness refers to the abilty Of wood to endure suddenly applied load exceeding the limit of Proportionality. Wood samples which bend a great deal and break gradually with thea) shock resisting ability, measured by height of drop of a hammer; b).work done to maximum load, which is a measure of capacity of subsiance to store a considerable amount of energy before - failure; and ©) total work in bending, which provides an estimate of the ability of substance to sustain a considerable load after the maximum load has been reached. The shape of the curve for the bending stress-strain deformation relationship in wood beyond the maximum load is determined by the toughness of the wood in bending. The curve will be abruptly terminated for brittle wood and will decrease slepwise for tough wood Failure occurs when the strain limit has been reached. The maximum crushing Strength is a measure of the ability of a piece of wood to withstand loads in compression parallel to the grain up to the point of failure. in bending the magnitude Of the load required to cause fallure is expressed by the modulus of rupture. Résistance to impact bending is another type of strength of wood, it is essentially a measure of energy absorption or work properties and toughness. Shear in wood is only determined in direction parallel to the grain, since wood is weak in shear in this axis Resistance to shear across the grain is so much greater than other mechanical properties that it is of no practical significance. 2B eee ee mom ae a Ge ia3.1.3 Anisotropic behaviour ce wood is highly anisotropic, and its mechanical properties may vary considerably according to the structural directions, any strength properties must be referred to a particular direction with respect to the structure of wood. Consequently, we must apply 2 set of three ifferent values for each of the strength properties ie for longitudinal, radial, and tangential directions. ‘The differences in strength properties on the radial and tangential axis, however, is in practice not of significant importance. In structural designing it is usual to consider the strength of timber only “parallel with the grain" ie. loaded in the direction of the longitudinal axis, or "perpendicular to the grain’ when loaded on radial or tangential axis. The choice of timber for a particular purpose usually depends not only on one but ‘on many of ils strength properties3.2 Assessment of mechanical properties of wood In the past, experience and availability often dictated which tree species should be used for a particular purpose. For efficient utilization of timber a much more detailed knowledge of properties is required. Knowledge of strength properties of wood is important and is obtained through experimentation either by means of service tests involving the use of wood under actual conditions met within practice or by laboratory tests requiring the use of special testing apparatus. Service tests have the advantage that they are carried out under the condition to which timber is exposed in use, and such: conditions cannot be exactly reproduced in laboratory. On the other hand the data takes much longer to collect, external factors likely 0 influence strength properties are difficult to control, the decentralization of experiments increase their costs, and since the test conditions cannot be standardized accurate comparison of timbers from different localities cannot be made. In these circumstances, laboratory tests if properly conducted provide a practical solution. In latcratories two classes of tec!s are made: a) tests on small clear specimens, and b) tests on timber in structural sizes. Tests on smail clear specimens of wood are of value for providing data for purposes of comparing strength properties, for example of different species Since the tests on small clear specimen are designed to exclude as much as 1 possible the influence of knots and other defects, the result do not indicate theaclual structural loads members can carry. A reduction factor must, therefore, be applied to obtain safe working stress. . Tests of timber of structural size will more nearly reproduce service: conditions, bul has the disadvantage of being costly, because of the large amount of timber required and the length of time needed to load large size test pieces to the point of failure However, because test data obtained from small clear specimens are not directly usable to derive allowable unit stress values for full size lumber, limited tests (mainly in bending, compression parallel to grain, and tension parallel to grain) of full size members are required. Such tests provide corrections of the data on small clear specimens and serves as direct verification of unit stresses applicable to full size members. Also tests on timber of structural zes are used to determine the effect of defects, beam size, moisture content and species. In order to achieve comparable resulis, a standard test procedure under controlled conditions must be applied. Test results oblained from ferent test procedures are not directly comparable The mechanical properties of wood are very much influenced by its moisiure al the time of test content. Therefore it is very necessary to state moisture content when reporting mechanical properties The ultimate strength properties of wood are also aifecied by the rate of strain. For a given test, when following the standard procedure the test specimen must be loaded at a fixed and constant rate. Tests used for determination of mechanical properties of wood includes: a) Deterr nation of modulus of elasticity in static bending b} Determination of ultimate strength in static bending c) Compression parallel to grain4g) Compression perpendicular to grain e) Shear parallel to grain {) Tension parallel to grain g) Tension perpendicular to grain h) Hardness i) Impact bending J) Nail withdrawal k) Cleavage perpendicular to grain‘i's gesoription of tests are mostly based on International Standard Organization mublicaions, The sampling methods and general requirements for physical and mechanical tests are given in Appendix 2 © 5 5.1 Determination of modulus of elasticity in static bending Static bending is one of the most widely used tests because of tHe general uillly of the results and the ease with which the tests can be conducted. In static bending tests, the modulus of elasticity and the ultimate strength in static bending can be determined. In principle, the determination of modulus of elasticity is by measuring the deflection in the net bending area duting the application to the test piece of gradually increasing load within the region of proportionality of the load and deflection The testing machine must ensure the required rate of loading of the lest piece (or movement of loading head) and allow the measurement of load 10 1% accuracy ‘the device for creation of a net bending area symmetrical in relation to the test piece length, consist of two supports with two loading shoes between them. The distance between supports is from 240 to 320 mm and that between loading shoes is equal to 113 of 1/2 of the distance between supports. The radius ol curvature of supports and shoes is 30 mm. ‘The instrument for measuring deflection of test piece in the net bending area consisi ot a) a unit for measuring linear movement to an. accuracy of 0.001 mm, bb) mechanism for fastening the arrangement on the neutral axis of the rest piece and symmetrically in relation to the middle of is length, the distancefastening being equal to that between loading shoes, test pieee on the rom which deflection between the points of ¢) an arrangement fastened on the neutral axis of the middle of its length to be used as @ reference point { of the test piece is read. ith ross section 20 by 20 mm and In middle of test piéce, width is tial direction to the accuracy of 0.1 Tost pieces aro made in form of right prisms w the length along the grain 300 to 380 mm. measured in radial direction and height in tangent mm With the instrument for measuring de pigce is placed into the device for cross sedtionel bending. ‘The bending force is directed perpendicular to the racial surface of th flection fastened on its neuiral axis, the test e test piece (iangential bending). | speed af movernent ut at a constant rate of loading or constan The test is carried e test piece until the load on ing head to ensure loading of th in 30 s, When crease load up to 18 MPa and of testing machine load its surface layer reaches 18 MPa, the foad on the test piece to S MPa, then in sr loadings, measure the def n load reaches 7 and 18 MPa to the the load reaches 18 MPa, decrease decrease it to 5 MPa, During the fou od not more than 10 s at moments whe tection within a peri nearest 0.001 mm. : 1d 18 MPa deflaction is not proportional to the i within the load range between 7 an that the values obtained for 1 fimits of toading so oad, change upper and lower ortion of the load-detormation diagram. deflection lie within the rectilinear p The rectilinear portion of the diagram can be determined from previous results of similar tests. In cases where the limit of proportionally 1 exceeded during the test, the test piece shall be excluded from the calculations, Figure 33 shows the schematic arrangement of test piece and bending device.Na Fig 93. Arrangement of test piece in static bending (distance between ‘s equal to 1/3 of the gistance between supports) Ce Fr loading shoes After the completion of the test, a sample of 30 mm fong is taken from the central Portion of the each test piece for moisture content measurement The modulus if elasticity E of each test piece at moisture content W at the moment of test is given in gigapascals by the following formula 2) when the distance between the loading shoes is equal to 4/3 of the distance between supports (Fig 33) Ey = (PP\/(38bh) 5) when the distance between loading shoes is equal to 1/2 of ll he distance between supports (Fig 34) Ey (3PP)(84bh),the difference between arithmetic means of upper and is load equal to iswer limits of loading in newtons, Tis the distance between supports in cm, usually equal to 30 cm and h are cross section dimensions in radial and tangential directions = respectively fig the deflection in net bending area equal to the difference between arithmetic means of resulls obtained in measuring deflection al upper and lower limits of loading, in mm. i a Fig 34. Distance between loading shoes equal to 1/2 of distance between supporis @ Results are expressed to an acouracy of 0.1 GPa, The modulus of elasticity can be adjusted to 12 % moisture content by the following formula (valid for moisture content of 12 + 3 %): Ey, = E(t - o(W - 12), a where ois the correction factor for moisture contont whose value are obtained from national standards, and W is the moisture content at the time of test = SS. = wap | =3.3.2 Determination of ultimate strength in static bending In principle, this involves the determination of maximum load required to cause rupture of test piece 1.5 + 0.5 min from the beginning of loading, and estimation of stress at this load. Test pieces are prepared in form of right prisms haying a square cross section of 20 mm by 20 mm and length along the grain of 300 to 380 mm Midway along the test piece, the breadth in radial direction and the height | tangential direction are measured to 0.1 mm At the time of carrying out test, the ratio of distance between the centres of the device suppor and the lest piece height is set between 12 and 16. The load is applied to radial surface of the test piece (tangential bending) midway between supports (Fig 35). { od a? it Fig 35. Determination of ultimate strength in static bending Source: Kucera (1988). The loading of test piece is carried out uniformly at constant speed. The speed of testing (at constant rate of loading or constant rate of movement of loading head of.@ @ a esting wood in tension perpendicular to the grain { timber to the splitting actions of bolts and urtace of failure The strength values obtained by t flee of use in estimating the resistance o other fastenings. In most woods, the strength Is greater when the si is tangential than when it is radial. 3.3.8 Determination of static hardness ‘lid body against the entering of Hardness is defined as the resisiance of a s\ tration by hardness tool is @ ther solid body by force. The resistance 10 pene anot ntation. measure of hardness oF resistance to Inder is in principle done by determining the The determination of static hardness {a plunger to a specified depth and a cesistance ol a test piece to the penetration 0 gradually increased load a plunger with an e with a device consisting of a body, {for measuring linear The testing machin hemispherical tip of radius 5.64 + 0.01 mm, and an instrumen' movements to an accuracy of 0.01 mm. gm having a square cross section of ‘The test piece is made in the form of @ Fight pr { ess than 50 mm (Fig 40), 50 mm by 50 mm, and length along the grain no 1 the centre line of the radial, tangential The test piece is indented with a plunger 0 radius of the and end surfaces of the test piece to a depth equal to the hemispherical tip of the plunger (5.64 mm) or if splitting of the test piece occurs, to the depth of 2.82 mm, at a constant speed of 3 '0 6 mm/min, When this depth of Jad to an accuracy of 1%. indentation is reached the load Is re ions of the test piece having indentation marks are Alter the test is completed, port taken as samples for moisture content determination. i a mon Em B cz) — = @_| Fig 40. Specimen for static hardness test Source: Kucera (1988), The slalic hardness Hy, of each test piece al moisture content W at the ‘ime of test, in mewlons, as the load necessary to obtain an indentation whose area of projection is equal to 1 cm’ is given by the formula: Hy. = KP * where, P is the load during penetration during the penetration of piunger into the test piece to the specified depth, in newtons; K is a coefficient equal to 1 and 4/3 in the case of penetration of plunger to a depth of 5.64 mm and 2.82 mm respectively. ‘The results are expressed in newtons The results of stalic hardness can be adjusied to 12 % moisture content by the fotlowing formula: