University Of Zakho

College Of Engineering
Mechanical Department

Wood
(Structure of wood)
And
(Mechanical properties of wood)

Prepare by:
 Mohammed Amin
 Mazin Haji
 Honar Shaban
 Alind Njyar

Stage :2nd

Jun/2020
Table of contents

 Introduction :
  Wood Chemical Composition
 Microstructure & macrostructure
 Softwoods & hardwoods
 Defects
(Knots)(Checks, shakes, splits)(Reaction wood)(Wane, skip)(Slope of
grain)(Warp)
 Mechanical properties
o (1)Stiffness And Elasticity,
o (2) Tensile Strength,
o (3) Compressive Or Crushing Strength,
o (4) Shearing Strength,
o (5) Transverse Or Bending Strength,
o (6) Toughness,
o (7) Hardness,
o (8) Cleavability,
o (9) Resilience.
 Factors affecting Mechanical properties of wood
 Methods of determining Mechanical Properties
o Non-destructive Methods.
o Semi-destructive methods.
o Destructive methods.
 Reference:

Introduction :
the mechanical properties presented in this chapter were obtained from tests of
small pieces of wood termed “clear” and “straight grained” because they did not
contain characteristics such as knots, cross grain, checks, and splits. These test
pieces did have anatomical characteristics such as growth rings that occurred in
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 consistent patterns within each piece. Clear wood specimens are usually
considered “homogeneous” in wood mechanics. Many of the mechanical
properties of wood tabulated in this chapter were derived from extensive
sampling and analysis procedures. These properties are represented as the
average mechanical properties of the species. Some properties, such as tension
parallel to the grain, and all properties for some imported species are based on a
more limited number of specimens that were not subjected to the same sampling
and analysis procedures. The appropriateness of these latter properties to
represent the average properties of a species is uncertain; nevertheless, the
properties represent the best information available. Variability, or variation in
properties, is common to all materials. Because wood is a natural material and
the tree is subject to many constantly changing influences (such as moisture, soil
conditions, and growing space), wood properties vary considerably, even in clear
material. This chapter provides information, where possible, on the nature and
magnitude of variability in properties. This chapter also includes a discussion of
the effect of growth features, such as knots and slope of grain, on clear wood
properties. The effects of manufacturing and service environments on
mechanical properties are discussed, and their effects on clear wood and material
containing growth features are compared. Chapter 6 discusses how these
research results have been implemented in engineering standards.

Wood Chemical Composition

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Wood Chemical Composition
 Cellulose – Carbohydrate of long chain polymers organized into microfibrils.
(Note: Cotton is pure cellulose)
 Lignin – Organic compound the bindsthe microfibrils together in
thesecondary walls and middle lamella.
Wood Chemical Composition
 Hemicellulose – A cellulose-like material in the wood cell wall that is easily
decomposed by dilute acid to yield simple sugars.
 Extractives – Organic material deposited during heartwood formation
(gums,resins, oils, alkaloids).

Micrograph – Red Pine

Macrostructure – Red Oak

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Macrostructure – Douglas Fir

Softwoods
 Naked seeds in cones
 Needle-like leaves
 Usually evergreen
 Simple cell structure
 Some are very high strength
-Douglas fir
-Southern Pine

Hardwoods
 Seeds are enclosed in shells
 Broad leaves
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  Deciduous
 Complex cell structure
 Some are very low strength
- Aspen
- Cottonwood

Defects
 Knots
 Checks, shakes, splits
 Reaction wood
 Wane, skip
 Slope of grain
 Warp

Knots
o Intergrown
Tree trunk grows around and with aliving branch

o Encased
Tree trunk grows around a deadbranch

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Checks, shakes, splits
o Checks – radial cracks due to differential shrinkage (ST > SR)
o Shakes – tangential cracks due to shock loading or growth defect
o Split – any thru-thickness crack

Reaction Wood
o Growth defect
o Abnormal cell growth while under bending stress
o Softwoods – Compression wood
o Hardwoods – Tension wood
o Bigger problem for lumber than for timber

Reaction Wood

Compression Wood

Tension Wood

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Compression Wood in Lumber

Wane & Skip

o Cutting defects
o Wane – Incomplete rectangular cross section due to cutting too close to the
bark.
o Skip – Saw gouge, chip, or other recessed area not removed by planing
o at the mill.
Slope of Grain
o Growth or cutting defect
o Wood cell fibers not parallel to memberaxis
o Common around knots
o Causes failure by shear and tension perp.

Warp
o Bow – Curvature about minor axis

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 o Crook – Curvature about major axis
o Twist – board does not lie flat
o Kink – Sharp bend at a knot
o Cup – Curvature about longitudinal axis

Mechanical properties
Mechanical properties means the resistance of a particular material to
stress, load of amount of energy it faces
It has unique and independent mechanical properties in the directions of three
mutually perpendicular axies: longitudinal, radial, and tangential (Orthotropic).
In general, depending on the species, wood has MOE and MOR values of
800,000–2,500,000 psi and 5,000–15,000 psi, respectively.
Parameters used to express Mechanical properties
 Modulus of elasticity (MOE): Modulus elasticity is the
ratio of stress to strain of a material in deflection and is
sometimes called 'Young's modulus.

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 Modulus of rupture (MOR): Measure of a specimen's
strength before rupture.

 The mechanical properties of wood are its fitness and ability to resist
applied or external forces
 The mechanical properties of wood considered are (1)stiffness and
elasticity, (2) tensile strength, (3) compressive or crushing strength,
(4) shearing strength, (5) transverse or bending strength, (6)
toughness, (7) hardness, (8) cleavability, (9) resilience.

1-STIFFNESS
 The property by means of which a body acted upon by external forces tends
to retain its natural size and shape, or resists deformation.

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  Thus a material that is difficult to bend or otherwise deform is stiff; one that
is easily bent or otherwise deformed is flexible. Flexibility is not the exact
counterpart of stiffness, as it also involves toughness and pliability.

2-TENSILE STRENGTH
Tensile strength: Limit of resistivity to opposite force applied parallel to the
Grain.
The tensile strength of wood parallel to the grain depends upon the strength of the
fibers and is affected not only by the nature and dimensions of the wood elements
but also by their arrangement.

3-COMPRESSIVE OR CRUSHING STRENGTH

 Compressive strength: compressive strength means by loading a block of
 wood parallel to the grain until it breaks.
 Is very closely related to hardness and transverse shear.

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  There are two ways in which wood is subjected to stress of this kind,
namely, (1) with the load acting over the entire area of the specimen, and (2)
with a load concentrated over a portion of the area.

4-SHEARING STRENGTH
 Shear strength: application of stress from two opposite directions causing
 portions of an object to move in parallel but opposite directions.
 Whenever forces act upon a body in such a way that one portion tends to
slide upon another adjacent to it the action is called a shear. In wood this
shearing action may be (1) along the grain, or (2) across the grain.
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5-TRANSVERSE OR BENDING STRENGTH: BEAMS
 Bending strength: bending strength means by loading a block perpendicular
to the grain.
 When external forces acting in the same plane are applied at right angles to
the axis of a bar so as to cause it to bend, they occasion a shortening of the
longitudinal fibers on the concave side and an elongation of those on the
convex side.

6-FAILURES IN BEAMS
(1) Simple tension, in which there is a direct pulling in two of the wood on the
underside of the beam due to a tensile stress parallel to the grain
(2) Cross-grained tension, in which the fracture is caused by a tensile force acting
oblique to the grain. This is a common form of failure where the beam has diagonal,
spiral or other form of cross grain on its lower side.
(3) Splintering tension, in which the failure consists of a considerable number of
slight tension failures, producing a ragged or splintery break on the under surface of
the beam.This is common in tough woods.
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(4) Brittle tension, in which the beam fails by a clean break extending entirely
through it. It is characteristic of a brittle wood which gives way suddenly without
warning, like a piece of chalk.
(5) Compression failure has few variations except that it appears at various
distances from the neutral plane of the beam. It is very common in green timbers.
The compressive stress parallel to the fibers causes them to buckle or bend as in an
endwise compressive test.
(6) Horizontal shear failure, in which the upper and lower portions of the beam slide
along each other for a portion of their length either at one or at both ends is fairly
common in air-dry material and in green material when the ratio of the height of the
beam to the span is relatively large.

7-TOUGHNESS: TORSION
 Wood that is difficult to split is said to be tough
 Toughness includes flexibility and is the reverse of brittleness, in that tough
woods break gradually and give warning of failure.
 Toughness is dependent upon the strength, cohesion, quality, length, and
arrangement of fiber, and the pliability of the wood

8-HARDNESS
 The term hardness is used in two senses, namely:
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  resistance to indentation, and (2) resistance to abrasion or scratching
 In the latter sense hardness combined with toughness is a measure of the
wearing ability of wood and is an important consideration in the use of wood
for floors, paving blocks, bearings, and rollers.

9-CLEAVABILITY
Cleavability is the term used to denote the facility with which wood is split. A
splitting stress is one in which the forces act normally like a wedge.

10-RESILIENCE
Is the amount of work done upon a body in deforming it. Within the elastic limit it
is also a measure of the potential energy stored in the material and represents the
amount of work the material would do upon being released from a state of stress
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Factors affecting Mechanical properties of wood
 Specific Gravity: generally mechanical properties increases with increase of
specific gravity
 Knots: The influence of knots depends on their size, location, shape, and
soundness; attendant local slope of grain; and type of stress to which the
wood member is subjected.
 Slope of Grain (Fiber angle): fiber parallel to grain gives maximum strength.

Factors affecting Mechanical properties of wood

 Annual Ring Orientation: 90° and 0° shows no difference (Highest) but other
shows less mechanical strength
 Temperature: Increasing with decrease with temperature
 Moisture content
 Reaction Wood
 Juvenile Wood
 Extractives

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Methods of determining Mechanical Properties
Several types of test is used to express mechanical properties of wood Depending
upon the degree of destruction it can be divided into:-
1. Nondestructive Methods: No damage done to the original samples.
2. Semi-destructive methods: Some degree of destruction is allowed to measure
different properties.
3. Destructive methods: Totally destroy the sample, not eligible to use after test.

1-Non-destructive Methods
 Ultrasonic sound test
 Bending tests (MOE)
 Bing software
 Transverse Vibration Techniques
 Stress Wave Techniques
 X-Ray analysis

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2-Semi-destructive methods
 Screw withdrawal measurement
 Pin pushing
 Drawbar with a push-apart wedge
 Triangular Bar

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3-Destructive methods
Complete destructive method is used very limited now-a-days
 Bending test (MOR)
 Tensile Strength test

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Reference:

 https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Compressive-strength-of-natural-wood-
and-densified-wood-a-d-g-Schematics-of_fig11_322991664
 https://books.google.iq/books?
id=_y5VKbZmp4EC&pg=PA407&lpg=PA407&dq=metallurgy+of+wood&s
ource=bl&ots=7B9DzcWR7n&sig=ACfU3U21DtYlMsgvdOUaHT2rNtuWK
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 Ddc2A&hl=ar&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj1z5TimZHqAhUTuHEKHY0gDLEQ
6AEwC3oECAgQAQ#v=onepage&q=metallurgy%20of%20wood&f=false
 https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/swoo20
 https://www.researchgate.net/journal/1748-
0272_Wood_Material_Science_and_Engineering
 Mechanical Properties of Wood David W. Green, Jerrold E. Winandy, and
David E. Kretschmann.
 ASTM. [Current edition]. Standard methods for testing small clear specimens
of timber. ASTM D143-94. West Conshohocken, PA: American Society for
Testing and Materials.
 Bendtsen, B.A. 1976. Rolling shear characteristics of nine structural
softwoods. Forest Products Journal.26(11): 51–56.
 Bendtsen, B.A.; Freese, F.; Ethington, R.L. 1970. Methods for sampling
clear, straight-grained wood from the forest.Forest Products Journal. 20(11):
38–47.

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