WOOD

MECHANICAL
PROPERTIES
FDI2201_
WOOD
PROPERTIES
 OVERVIEW

The mechanical, or strength properties

of wood are measures of its ability
to resist applied forces that might tend to
change its shape & size.
 Strength vs. Mechanical
Properties of Wood

Strength is how well a material can carry applied

loads or forces without failing (breaking or
permanently deforming).

The properties of material that determines it strength

are referred to as its mechanical properties.
 Strength Properties of Wood
➢ Mechanical properties of wood play an important role when used for
different design applications.

➢ Most important fact about strength of timber; not the same in all
directions because wood is anisotropic material (having different
structure in different directions).

➢ Wood is an orthotropic material: has unique & independent

mechanical properties in 3 mutually perpendicular axis: longitudinal,
radial & tangential.

➢ In general, depending on the species, wood has MOE & MOR values
of 800,000–2,500,000 psi & 5,000–15,000 psi, respectively.
 How do you determine the
strength of wood?
➢ Mechanical properties of wood play an important role when used for
different design applications.

➢ A good indicator of a wood's strength is its density — the weight for

a given volume. Generally, the higher the ratio, the denser &
stronger the wood.

➢ The strength of the wood is fundamentally affected by the direction

in which it is loaded in relation to the grain. In the direction of the
grain, the bending strength is directly proportional to the density of
the wood.
 Wood & Mechanical Testing
➢ Wood & timber are natural organic materials – comprise the
structural tissues of trees (composed of cellulose fibres embedded in
a matrix of lignin); creates a material that is incredibly strong in both
tension & compression.

➢ Wood & timber material undergo simple tension, compression &

flexural testing to determine their suitability for a specific
application.

➢ The measured strength of wood will determine if it is an acceptable

candidate for a particular application.

➢ Strength properties parallel to the grain are 20-30 times higher

than those same properties measured perpendicular to the grain.
 Stress vs. Strain
➢ Wood can undergo a certain load, or stress,
before breaking. When stress is applied to a
rigid body (block of wood), distortion of the
wood occurs. A large stress will cause the wood
to fail & break.

➢ Stress - distributed force per unit area; occurs

when a force or load acts on a wood (units of
pounds per square inch (psi) or pascals (Pa or
Nm-2). Strain -deformation or displacement of
material that results from applied stress.

➢ Low stresses will cause the wood to distort (bend

or shrink) without actually breaking. The change
in length divided by the original length is called
strain.
Figure: Illustration of stress &
strain in a wood column.
 Wood Grain & Wood Strength
➢ Wood is a natural substance (consists of parallel strands of cellulose
fibers held together by a lignin binder); that is much stronger when
the grain is continuous.

➢ Think about lining up thousands of straws all lined up & packed

together. One straw is weak but altogether, they can be quite
strong.

➢ When you split wood with the grain, you’re breaking lignin bonds
(easy); when you break across the grain, you’re snapping cellulose
fibers which is much harder.

➢ Always orient the grain so the fibers support the load.

 Types of wood
mechanical testing
● Compressive strength
● Bending strength
● Tensile strength
● Shear
● Toughness
● Flexural
● Resilience
 Bending Strength

Bending strength (also known as the

MOR) shows the load the wood can
withstand perpendicular to the grain.
Load apply to the beam which
causes beam deflection
The bending strength or flexural
strength of a material is defined as its
ability to resist deformation under
load.

During a bending test described in

ASTM D790 the maximum achieved
flexural stress value is noted as flexural
strength.
The measure of wood stiffness
when loaded by bending is
expressed by MOE, while the
maximal load capacity in bending
is expressed by the MOR.
MOR
MOE Modulus of rupture is a measure
Modulus of elasticity is the ratio of of a specimen’s strength before
stress to strain of a material in rupture.
deflection & sometimes called
`Young’s Modulus’.
In general, wood has MOE & MOR
values of 800 000 - 2 500 000
psi & 5 000 – 15 000 psi,
respectively. MOE & MOR are
important determines of solid
lumber performance & value.
 MOE MOR
MOE = PL3 MOR = 1.5 P x L
(48ID) (b x h2)
Where:
Where:
P = load at some point below the
proportional limit P = maximum load
L = distance between supports for the
L = distance between supports for the
beam / (span)
beam / (span)
D = deflection at mid-span
I = moment of inertia depends on b = beam width
beam size: h = beam depth
width x depth3/12
 Example 1

o 75 x 75 x 762 mm red oak stick o MOE = PL3/48ID

o Supported at each end of its o MOE = 13350 N x (1.27)3
1270 mm span 48 [0.075 x (0.075)3 / 12] x 0.015
o Loaded at centre o MOE = 27346
o At load of 13,350 N deflection 0.0000018984
at midspan is 15 mm
o What is MOE?
o MOE = 14600 MPa
 Example 2

o MOR = 1.5PL/(b x h2)

o 50 x 50 x 762 mm red oak stick o MOR = 1.5 x 9400 N x 0.711 m
o Supported at each end of its 0.05m x (0.05m)2
711 mm span
o Breaking load is 9400N
o MOR = 10025
1.25 x10-4
o What is MOR?
o MOR = 80.2 MPa
 Tensile Strength
Tensile strength is the maximum stress
wood can bear before breaking when
it is allowed to be stretched or pulled.

Tensile test of wood are conducted

parallel & perpendicular to the wood
grain.

Load apply to pulls the sample apart The tensile strength of softwoods
resulting in the sample failing in tension parallel to grain at 12% MC generally
ranges between 70 - 140MPa.
Compression Strength Compression testing of wood materials
is the opposite of tensile testing in that
instead of pulling the ends away from
each the ends are pushed together.

2 different forms of compression testing:

parallel to grain (load applied along the
grains) & perpendicular to grain (load
to be applied perpendicularly to the
wood grain).

Load apply to the Load apply to the In railroad ties, compression strength
surface of a column ends of a column perpendicular to grain is of primary
importance because of the weight of the
trains.
Compression parallel to grain is
important for poles or columns (carry a
heavy weight).
 Shear Strength
Ability wood to resist internal slipping
of one part on another along the grain.

Think of shear as pulling apart or

separating.
Load apply to the beam which
causes beam deflection Shear strength parallel to the grain
ranges from 3 - 15 Mpa (12% MC).

Because wood is highly orthotropic, it is

very difficult to get it to fail in shear
perpendicular to the grain.
 Factor Affecting Strength
Mechanical properties Presence/ absence of
increase in value below defects such as knots &
FSP splits

MC
Grain/ SG/ Knots
Environmental
direction density Factors

Wood strength is different Higher the Load, biology

in each direction; wood is density/SG the activity, chemical
strongest parallel to its stronger the exposure
grain wood
 Important of Mechanical
Provides a basis for
Properties
predicting the material Helps to decide whether a particular
behavior under various load manufacturing process is suitable for
conditions. shaping the material or not, or vice-versa.

Predicting Processing
Operations
Selection

Informs in what respect the various

Helpful in making a right mechanical properties of a material
selection of material or structure will get affected by different
for various types of load & service mechanical processes or operations
conditions. on a material.
o What are the differences
between strength and
mechanical properties of
wood?
o What gives strength to wood?
o Why is timber stronger
parallel to the grain?
o How does density affect
mechanical properties of
wood?
o How does knots reduce wood
strength?