RIZETTE PALOGAN

BSCE – 2A

CHAPTER 7
TESTING OF WOOD: SAMPLES FOR BENDING, COMPRESSION,
SHEAR, TENSION, AND WATER CONTENT

WOOD IS AN ORGANIC MATERIAL AND NATURAL COMPOSITE OF

CELULOSE FIBERS WHICH ARE STRONG IN TENSION EMBEDED IN THE
MATRIX OF LIGNIN WHICH RESISTS COMPRESSION. IT HAS BEEN USED
FOR THOUSANDS OF YEARS FOR BOTH FUEL AND AS A CONSTRUCTION
MATERIALS. WOOD AND TIMBER MATERIAL UNDERGO SIMPLE
TENSION, COMPRESSION AND FLEXURAL TESTING TO DETERMINE
THEIR SUITABILITY FOR A SPECIFIC APPLICATION.

2 COMMON FORMS OF WOODS:

1. NATURAL WOODS
PRODUCTS THAT ARE HARVESTED DIRECTLY FROM TREES
AND DO NOT EXPERIENCEANY FUNDAMENTAL CHANGES. THESE
MATERIALS GENERALLY SHOWCASE THEGRAINS AND DEFECTS
THAT ARE FOUND IN NATURAL GROWN TREES.
2. ENGINEERED WOODS
WOODS THAT IS MADE FROM NATURAL WOOD THAT HAS
BEEN ALTERED IN AFUNDAMENTAL WAY SO AS TO CHANGE
THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE WOOD IT WAS MADE FROM.

TESTING OF WOODS
1. BENDING FLEXURAL TEST
2. COMPRESSION TEST
3. SHEAR TEST
4. TENSION TEST
5. WATER CONTENT

BENDING FLEXURAL TEST

BEND TESTING, SOMETIMES CALLED FLEXURE TESTING OR
TRANSVERSE BEAM TESTING, MEASURES THE BEHAVIOR OF MATERIALS
SUBJECTED TO SIMPLE BEAM LOADING. IT IS COMMONLY PERFORMED
ON RELATIVELY FLEXIBLE MATERIALS SUCH AS POLYMERS, WOOD, AND
COMPOSITES. THE OBJECTIVE OF BENDING TEST ON A WOODEN BEAM IS
TO STUDY THE BENDING OR FLEXURAL BEHAVIOR OF THE WOODEN
BEAM AND TO DETERMINE THE MODULUS OF ELASTICITY AND
MODULUS OF RUPTURE OF THE WOOD.
  FLEXURAL STRENGTH - THE MAXIMUM STRESS AT THE OUTERMOST
FIBER ON EITHER THE COMPRESSION OR TENSION SIDE OF THE
SPECIMEN
 FLEXURAL MODULUS - CALCULATED FROM THE SLOPE OF THE
STRESS VS. STRAIN DEFLECTION CURVE.
THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT FORMS OF FLEXURALTESTING
THREE-POINT BEND TEST
PROVIDES VALUES FOR THE MODULUS OF ELASTICITY IN
BENDING , FLEXURAL STRESS , FLEXURAL STRAIN  AND THE FLEXURAL
STRESS–STRAIN RESPONSE OF THE MATERIAL. THE MAIN ADVANTAGE
OF A THREE-POINT FLEXURAL TEST IS THE EASE OF THE SPECIMEN
PREPARATION AND TESTING. HOWEVER, THIS METHOD HAS ALSO SOME
DISADVANTAGES: THE RESULTS OF THE TESTING METHOD ARE
SENSITIVE TO SPECIMEN AND LOADING GEOMETRY AND STRAIN RATE.
 CONSISTS OF THE SAMPLE PLACED HORIZONTALLY UPON TWO
POINTS AND THE FORCE APPLIED TO THE TOP OF THE SAMPLE
THROUGH A SINGLE POINT SO THAT THE SAMPLE IS BENT IN THE
SHAPE OF A V

FOUR-POINT BEND TEST

  PROVIDES VALUES FOR THE MODULUS OF ELASTICITY IN
BENDING , FLEXURAL STRESS , FLEXURAL STRAIN  AND THE FLEXURAL
STRESS-STRAIN RESPONSE OF THE MATERIAL. THIS TEST IS VERY
SIMILAR TO THE THREE-POINT BENDING FLEXURAL TEST. 
 ROUGHLY THE SAME EXCEPT THAT INSTEAD OF THE FORCE
APPLIEDTHROUGH A SINGLE POINT ON TOP IT IS APPLIED
THROUGH TWO POINTS SOTHAT THE SAMPLE EXPERIENCES
CONTACT AT FOUR DIFFERENT POINTS AND IS BENT MORE IN THE
SHAPE OF A U

COMPRESSION TEST
IS USED TO DETERMINE HOW A PRODUCT OR MATERIAL REACTS
WHEN IT IS COMPRESSED, SQUASHED, CRUSHED OR FLATTENED BY
MEASURING FUNDAMENTAL PARAMETERS THAT DETERMINE THE
SPECIMEN BEHAVIOR UNDER A COMPRESSIVE LOAD. 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. 
 COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH- TELLS YOU HOW MUCH OF A LOAD
A WOOD SPECIES CAN WITHSTAND PARALLEL TO THE GRAIN. HOW
MUCH WEIGHT WILL THE LEGS OF A TABLE SUPPORT BEFORE
THEY BUCKLE? BENDING STRENGTH (ALSO KNOWN AS THE
 MODULUS OF RUPTURE) SHOWS THE LOAD THE WOOD CAN
WITHSTAND PERPENDICULAR TO THE GRAIN.

THERE ARE TWO DIFFERENT FORMS OF COMPRESSION TESTING:

GRAIN COMPRESSION TESTING
REQUIRES THE LOAD TO BE APPLIED ALONG THE GRAINS OF
THE TEST SAMPLE

PERPENDICULAR GRAIN COMPRESSION TESTING

REQUIRES THE LOAD TO BE APPLIED PERPENDICULARLY TO
THE GRAIN OF THE WOOD SAMPLE.

SHEAR TEST
SHEAR STRENGTH MEASURES A MATERIAL'S ABILITY TO RESIST
FORCES THAT CAUSE THE MATERIAL TO SLIDE AGAINST ITSELF. MANY
TYPES OF SHEAR TESTS ARE PERFORMED ON A UNIVERSAL TEST
MACHINE AND THE DIFFERENCE CAN BE ATTRIBUTED TO HOW TWO
MATERIALS ARE JOINED TOGETHER FOR TESTING. POPULAR METHODS
OF TESTING INCLUDE SINGLE LAP SHEAR BEVELLED AND JOGGLED
DOUBLE LAP SHEAR, AND DOUBLE-BUTT LAP SHEAR. A COMMON SHEAR
TEST WOULD INVOLVE TESTING A MATERIAL THAT HAS BEEN GLUED
TOGETHER.
 THE SHEARING STRENGTH OF WOOD IS 10-15OF ITS
TENSILE STRENGTH IN THE DIRECTION OF THE GRAIN. SHEARING
STRENGTH IS WEAKENED BY KNOTS AND FAULTS AND CRACKS
THAT APPEAR IN THE WOOD. THE ELASTICITY AND DURABILITY
OF WOOD INCREASE AS ITS DENSITY INCREASES.

TENSILE TEST
A TENSILE TEST APPLIES TENSILE  PULLING FORCE TO A MATERIAL
AND MEASURES THE SPECIMEN'S RESPONSE TO THE STRESS. BY DOING
THIS, TENSILE TESTS DETERMINE HOW STRONG A MATERIAL IS AND
HOW MUCH IT CAN ELONGATE. TENSILE TESTS OF WOOD ARE
CONDUCTED PARALLEL AND PERPENDICULAR TO THE WOOD GRAIN,
USING BOTH LARGE AND SMALL SPECIMENS. CARE MUST BE TAKEN
WHEN PREPARING WOOD SAMPLES FOR PARALLEL TESTING TO ENSURE
THAT THE GROWTH RINGS, THROUGH THE GAGE SECTION, RUN
PARALLEL TO THE DIRECTION OF FORCE APPLICATION.
 WOOD MATERIAL IS PLACED INTO A UNIVERSAL TESNG MACHINE
AND LOADED IN A MANNER THAT PULLS THE SAMPLE APART
RESULTING IN THE SAMPLE FAILING IN TENSION.

MOISTURE CONTENT TEST

 THE MOISTURE CONTENT OF WOOD ALSO IS AN IMPORTANT
PARAMETER INFLUENCING ALMOST ALL MECHANICAL PROPERTIES.
STRENGTH PROPERTIES OF WOOD INCREASE WITH ITS DECREASING
MOISTURE CONTENT. IN GENERAL, WOOD IS DRIED TO 15-20 PERCENT
MOISTURE FOR TYPICAL STRUCTURAL APPLICATION RATHER THAN
USING IT IN GREEN CONDITION. STRENGTH PROPERTIES OF WOOD ALSO
CAN BE ESTIMATED USING THE FOLLOWING EQUATION FOR GIVEN
MOISTURE CONTENT, SO THAT WOOD CAN BE USED WITH A HIGHER
EFFICIENCY FOR ANY APPLICATIONS:
 
P=

WHERE:
P = PROPERTY VALUE
M = MOISTURE CONTENT
P12 = PROPERTY VALUE AT 12 PERCENT MOISTURE CONTENT
PG = PROPERTY VALUE AT GREEN MOISTURE CONTENT
MP = MOISTURE CONTENT AT WHICH PROPERTY IS CHANGED  MP IS
ASSUMED 25 PERCENT FOR MOST SPECIES, BASED ON USDA FOREST
SERVICE, 1999

 WOOD IS HYGROSCOPIC, WHICH MEANS ITS MOISTURE CONTENT

WILL FLUCTUATEB ASED ON THE RELATIVE HUMIDITY RH  OF
THE SURROUNDING AIR. AS HUMIDITY INCREASES, THE MOISTURE
CONTENT INCREASES, ANDTHE WOOD EXPANDS, AND AS THE
HUMIDITY DECREASES, MOISTURE CONTENT DECREASES, AND THE
WOOD SHRINKS.