Construction

and Building

Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 1720–1725

MATERIALS
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The effects of ply organization and loading direction on

bending strength and modulus of elasticity in laminated veneer
lumber (LVL) obtained from beech (Fagus orientalis L.) and
lombardy poplar (Populus nigra L.)
Erol Burdurlu *, Murat Kilic, Abdullah Cemil Ilce, Ozan Uzunkavak
Hacettepe University, School of Vocational Technology, Department of Wood Products Industrial Engineering, 06532, Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey

Received 7 April 2005; received in revised form 19 April 2005; accepted 31 May 2005
Available online 29 September 2006

Abstract

The effects of ply organization and loading direction on bending strength and modulus of elasticity in laminated wood materials
produced from 3 mm thick veneers, of beech (Fagus orientalis L.) and lombardy poplar (Populus nigra L.) placed one on top of the other
in various arrangements were examined in this study. Kleiberit 303 (PVAc), a vinyl (polyvinyl acetate – PVAc) based glue was used in
lamination. Eight hundred samples were prepared in order to measure oven-dry specific gravity, bending strength and modulus of elas-
ticity values perpendicular and parallel to the glue line of a total of 10 different arrangements, eight of which have different laminated ply
organizations, namely (AAAAAAA) (7A), (BBBBBBB) (7B), (ABBBBBA), (ABABABA), (AABBBAA), (AABABAA), (ABBABBA),
(BABABAB), in which (A) represents beech wood and (B) represents poplar wood and the other two, which consist of solid beech and
solid poplar wood in same dimensions as control samples. The samples were subjected to tests perpendicular and parallel to the glue line
in accordance with the ISO 16978 standard. As a result of statistical analysis of the data obtained from the tests, the bending strength and
modulus of elasticity values of solid woods both perpendicular and parallel to the glue line were observed to be smaller than those values
of laminated woods made of the same species of woods. It was also observed that as contribution rate of beech in lamination increases,
the bending strength and modulus of elasticity values increase.
 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Laminated veneer lumber (LVL); Beech; Lombardy poplar; Bending strength; Modulus of elasticity; Specific gravity; Glue

1. Introduction and literature review
Laminated lumber is defined as ‘‘the structural compo-
nent produced by gluing layers one on top of the other, with
grain directions parallel to each other’’ [1]. According to
this definition, wooden veneers with equal or different thick-
nesses obtained from the same or different tree species are
fixed using a variety of suitable adhesives, one plate being
on top of other and making sure that the grain directions
are parallel to each other for producing laminated lumber.
By using this technique, laminated materials can be manu-
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 312 2978950; fax: +90 312 2976885.
E-mail address: burdurlu@hacettepe.edu.tr (E. Burdurlu).
factured having different structural properties compared
to solid woods obtained from the same or different tree spe-
cies with the same thickness as the laminated materials. It is
possible to use methods including cold or hot bending pro-
cesses. Using inexpensive or low-grade materials in the
inner plies can reduce the processing costs. Moreover, com-
posite materials that have different structural properties can
also be manufactured in different ways with the aim of com-
bining some other industrial materials with wood.
Veneers having a maximum thickness of 3.2 mm are
used in the production of small sized laminated compo-
nents used in the furniture industry. Such laminated woo-
den components are called ‘‘laminated veneer lumber
(LVL)’’ [2].

0950-0618/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2005.05.002
 E. Burdurlu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 1720–1725
The physical and mechanical properties of laminated
materials manufactured on the basis of aforementioned
principles vary according to the type of trees from which
the lumber is manufactured, general properties of different
materials used in the layers, the composition of wood spe-
cies, glue type, ply thicknesses, etc. [3,4].
The quality of wood used in laminated lumber influences
the bending strength of the material [5]. Beams made of
first-grade veneer have a 6% higher bending strength com-
pared to the ones made of second or third-grade veneer [6].
As the number of knots, diameter of knots and the distance
between knots increases, the bending strength of the lami-
nated material decreases [7]. The width of layers used in
lamination does not affect the bending strength and modu-
lus of elasticity of laminated materials [8,9]. As the thick-
ness of layers used in lamination increases, the bending
strength decreases and the modulus of elasticity varies
according to the wood species [9–12]. The wood species
and glue type affect the strength properties of laminated
materials [8,10–17].
Various materials other than wood can be used for
improving the structural properties of laminated materials
in the production process. In the lamination of fir wood
with graphite–epoxy and polyester–glass to increase the
hardness and strength, it was determined that the hardness
of laminated materials with graphite–epoxy is higher than
that of laminated materials with polyester–glass and that
lamination with polyester–glass gives better results in bend-
ing tests than lamination with graphite–epoxy [18]. It was
determined that the spreading of cracks at the moment of
determination of strength limit against cracks that can
occur due to tensions in wooden laminated beams in vari-
ous forms [19].
As it can be understood by examining the studies made,
factors such as wood species, wood quality, adhesive type,
and thickness of layers used in laminated material produc-
tion influence the properties of manufactured products. In
addition, it is also mentioned in previous studies that struc-
tural components with higher quality can be produced by
using low-grade wood in the lamination processes [5]. In
this study, layers obtained from poplar (P. nigra), a fast-
growing, low-cost tree species that is quite widespread in
A B
A B
A B
A B
A B
A B
A B
7A 7B
A A
A A
B B
B A
B B
A A
A A
AABBBAA AABABAA
Fig. 1. Ply organizations of the samples: (A) solid beech; (B) solid poplar.
1721
Turkey, and beech (Fagus orientalis L.), a tree species hav-
ing relatively better structural properties, and more expen-
sive than poplar, were put together in different layer
arrangements. It is aimed to determine the effects of ply
organizations on bending strength and modulus of elastic-
ity in two wood species.
2. Materials and method
Beech (F. orientalis lipsky) woods used in this study were
obtained from the Mengen district in Bolu and poplar (P.
nigra) woods were obtained from the Beytepe district in
Ankara, Turkey. Trees were cut in accordance with ISO
4471 standarts [20]. Round logs obtained from trees were
cut into stocks in rough sizes by taking into consideration
the final layer dimensions of 3 mm · 20 mm · 360 mm
(thickness · width · length), and by making sure that the
growth rings were perpendicular to the surface. The stocks
were dried in a drying kiln until a moisture content of 10%
was reached and were stored in natural environment.
Afterwards, samples having dimensions of
5 mm · 50 mm · 450 mm were cut out of the stocks. They
were sanded on both sides with 50-grit sandpaper in a
top and bottom belt-sanding machine until the finished
sample thickness of 3 mm was obtained. The preparation
and determination of the dimensions of the samples were
made according to the ISO 16978 standards [1]. Kleibert
303 (PVAc) (160 g/m2), a vinyl (polyvinyl acetate – PVAc)
based glue, with the quality meeting D4 EN 204 standards
[21], was applied on a single surface of each layer by fol-
lowing the recommendations of the manufacturing com-
pany. The glued layers were assembled together, one on
the top of the other, and were pressed in a pressing machine
for 5 min under a pressure 1 N/mm2 and a temperature of
50 ± 1 C to form seven-ply samples in eight different com-
positions, (AAAAAAA), (BBBBBBB), (ABBBBBA),
(ABABABA), (AABBBAA), (AABABAA), (ABBABBA),
(BABABAB), with (A) representing beech woods and (B)
representing poplar woods (Fig. 1). Pressed pieces were
transformed into specific gravity experiment samples with
finished dimensions of 20 mm · 20 mm · 30 mm, and the
modulus of elasticity and bending strength samples with
A A
B B
B A
B B
B A
B B
A A
ABBBBBA ABABABA
A B
B A
B B
A A
B B
B A
A B
ABBABBA BABABAB
1722 E. Burdurlu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 1720–1725

finished dimensions of 20 mm · 20 mm · 360 mm. Thus,
pressing was continued until a total of 640 samples were
produced with 16 samples each for specific gravity, bending
strength and modulus of elasticity tests perpendicular and
parallel to the glue line (Fig. 2) for each ply organization.
Solid beech and poplar samples (160) were also prepared
in the same dimensions as a control group.
The samples that had been prepared for experiments
were put in a climatization chamber, in which the temper-
ature was 20 ± 2 C and the relative humidity was
65 ± 5%, until the weights of the samples remained con-
stant (until reaching a rate of 12% moisture content), for
the purpose of homogenization of moisture by volume
before the experiments. Then the samples were put into
plastic bags to prevent loss of moisture and were kept until
the experiments.
The measuring of the specific gravities of the samples
were made in accordance with the ISO 3131 standarts
[22] and the measuring of the modulus of elasticity and
bending strength was made in accordance with the ISO
16978 standards.
The F-test was applied for determining the effects of
solid materials obtained from both types of wood and eight
Fig. 2. Test specimens according to the loading directions: (a) loading
perpendicular to the glue lines; (b) loading parallel to the glue lines.
different ply organizations on specific gravity, bending
strength and modulus of elasticity values. In the case the
difference between groups was significant, then a compari-
son was made with Duncan’s multiple range test, at
(a = 0.05) confidence level. The analysis of variance
(ANOVA), arithmetic mean, standard deviation, standard
error, minimum and maximum calculations were made
by using version 11.5 of the SPSS software.
3. Results and discussion
The samples from two different wood species, which
were prepared for measuring the effects of air-dry specific
gravity, ply organizations and loading direction on bending
strength and modulus of elasticity values, were subjected to
tests according to the relevant standards. The results are
given in Table 1.
The F-test was used to find out whether there was any
difference between air-dry specific gravity, bending strength
and modulus of elasticity values and to analyze whether or
not differences were significant. Hence, it was detected that
there were differences between the air-dry specific gravities,
bending strengths and modulus of elasticity with a signifi-
cance (a = 0.05) and at a confidence levels of 95% and that
the differences were significant (P < 0.05) (Table 1).
Duncan’s multiple range test was used to find out
between which groups there are differences. The homogene-
ity groups found as the result of the test are given in Table 2.
As it can be seen in Table 2, laminated beech wood has
the highest air-dry specific gravity, 0.731 g/cm3 and solid
beech has the second highest air-dry specific gravity of
0.703 g/cm3. In addition, solid poplar has the lowest air-
dry specific gravity of 0.400 g/cm3, while laminated poplar
wood with glue in its structure has the second lowest air-
dry specific gravity of 0.438 g/cm3. In laminated materials,
as the contribution rate of beech having a higher specific
gravity increases, the specific gravities of laminated materi-

Table 1
Air-dry specific gravity, bending strength, and modulus of elasticity values corresponding to different woods, loading direction and ply organization types
Woods and ply Air-dry specific Bending strength (N/mm2) Fsum = 178.53, Modulus of elasticity (N/mm2) Fsum = 155.02,
organization type gravity (g/cm3) p = 0.000 p = 0.000
Fsum = 442.54,
Perpendicular to glue Parallel to glue line Perpendicular to glue Parallel to glue line
p = 0.000 line line
Average Standard Average Standard Average Standard Average Standard Average Standard
deviation deviation deviation deviation deviation
Solid beech 0.703 0.028 130.43 8.03 134.13 3.64 11,063.36 450.44 11,685.64 542.65
Solid poplar 0.400 0.028 65.45 4.26 68.83 3.46 5750.19 492.96 6126.57 280.45
ABBBBBA 0.548 0.027 84.08 8.03 86.16 6.84 8949.57 1670.60 7814.85 791.79
ABABABA 0.623 0.015 99.63 5.72 106.42 4.87 9564.20 533.96 9363.64 430.69
AABBBAA 0.611 0.012 103.11 5.74 104.07 3.64 10,277.01 473.84 9081.68 407.74
AABABAA 0.660 0.021 113.59 6.38 116.68 8.06 10,443.50 565.09 10,060.35 649.29
ABBABBA 0.587 0.014 93.66 7.77 100.21 5.76 9134.32 625.07 8800.16 574.49
BABABAB 0.581 0.015 93.40 5.98 105.64 6.13 6874.15 804.64 8350.87 629.12
AAAAAAA 0.731 0.012 152.36 14.05 148.30 14.51 12,679.69 1231.30 13,235.10 666.13
BBBBBBB 0.438 0.013 81.40 7.51 84.40 7.33 6894.87 606.05 6819.14 564.98
Total 0.588 0.102 101.71 25.06 105.48 23.41 9163.09 2189.60 9133.80 2930.7
 E. Burdurlu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 1720–1725 1723

Table 2
Duncan’s multiple range test for woods and ply organization types, air-dry specific gravities, bending strengths, and modulus of elasticity perpendicular to
the glue line
Woods and ply organization type a = 0.05
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Duncan’s multiple range test for air-dry specific gravities
Poplar (A) 0.400
7B 0.438
ABBBBBA 0.548
BABABAB 0.581
ABBABBA 0.587
AABBBAA 0.611
ABABABA 0.623
AABABAA 0.660
BEECH (B) 0.703
7A 0.731
Duncan’s multiple range test for bending strengths
Poplar 65.45
7B 81.40
ABBBBBA 84.08
BABABAB 93.40
ABBABBA 93.66
ABABABA 99.63 99.63
AABBBAA 103.11
AABABAA 113.59
Kayin 130.43
7A 152.36
Duncan’s multiple range test for modulus of elasticity
Poplar 5750.1
BABABAB 6874.1
7B 6894.8
ABBBBBA 8949.5
ABBABBA 9134.3
ABABABA 9564.2 9564.2
AABBBAA 10,277.0 10,277.0
AABABAA 10,443.5 10,443.5
Beech 11,063.3
7A 12,679.6

als produced increase as expected. There is no statistical
difference between the specific gravity values of materials
in the pairs (BABABAB)–(ABBABBA) and (AABB-
BAA)–(ABABABA) materials in each pair having an equal
beech to poplar ratio. Similarly, and as expected, since glue
was used in the structure, the specific gravities of laminated
beech (7A) and laminated poplar (7B) are higher than solid
beech and solid poplar.
In the samples in which loading was made perpendicular
to the glue line, while laminated beech has the highest
bending strength value of 152.36 N/mm2, solid beech has
the second highest value. The lowest value is 65.45 N/
mm2 in solid poplar. Laminated poplar has the second low-
est bending strength perpendicular to the glue line at
81.40 N/mm2. The bending strength differences between
laminated wood materials produced with the ply organiza-
tions (7B) and (ABBBBBA), (BABABAB) and (ABB-
ABBA), and (AABBBAA) and (ABABABA) are
insignificant. Any organization in each pair can be used
instead of the other for obtaining the same bending
strengths perpendicular to the glue line (Table 2). In the
samples in which loading was made perpendicular to the
glue line, the bending strength of laminated beech (7A) is
17% higher than that of solid beech and the bending
strength of laminated poplar is 23% higher than that of
solid poplar. In other words, the bending strengths perpen-
dicular to the glue line of laminated materials are higher
than those of corresponding solid materials. The increase
is assumed to be due to glue usage and layered structure.
In the samples in which loading was made perpendicular
to the glue line, laminated beech appears to have the highest
modulus of elasticity at 12,679.6 N/mm2. It is followed by
the modulus of elasticity of solid beech at 11,063.3 N/
mm2. Solid poplar has the lowest modulus of elasticity at
5750.1 N/mm2 and the (BABABAB) ply organization has
the second lowest modulus of elasticity at 6874.1 N/mm2.
The modulus of elasticity differences between the laminated
composite materials produced with ply organizations of
(7B)-(BABABAB), (ABBBBBA)–(ABBABBA)–(ABAB-
ABA), (ABABABA)–(AABBBAA)–(AABABAA), and
(AABBBAA)–(AABABAA)–(solid beech) are insignificant.
Any one of the organizations in each pair can be used
instead of any other for obtaining the same modulus of elas-
ticity. Since the modulus of elasticity perpendicular to the
1724 E. Burdurlu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 1720–1725

glue line of beech is higher than that of poplar, the increase
in contribution rate (number of plies) of beech in lamination
results in an increase in the overall modulus of elasticity of
the material. The highest modulus of elasticity value of
12,679.6 N/mm2 perpendicular to the glue line depends on
achieving the air-dry specific gravity with the 7A ply organi-
zation, of which all the layers are made of beech and which
has the highest specific gravity of 0.731 g/cm3. The lowest
modulus of elasticity value of 5750.1 N/mm2 perpendicular
to the glue line is obtained with solid poplar, whose specific
gravity is the lowest at 0.400 g/cm3 (Table 2).
It was determined that the modulus of elasticity perpen-
dicular to the glue line of laminated beech (7A) is 14%
higher than that of solid beech and that modulus of elastic-
ity perpendicular to the glue line of laminated poplar (7B)
is 19% higher than that of solid poplar. In other words, the
modulus of elasticity values perpendicular to the glue line
of laminated materials are higher than those of solid mate-
rials made of the same species of wood. The glued and plied
structure may be the cause of the increase.
The bending strength and modulus of elasticity values
according to the ply organization in case the loading is
made parallel to the glue line are given in Table 1. As it
can also be seen from an examination of the table, the lam-
inated beech (7A) has the highest bending strength of
148.3 N/mm2 parallel to the glue line according to the
alternative ply structure. This is followed with a bending
strength of 134.1 N/mm2 in solid beech and 116.6 N/mm2
in the (AABABAA) ply organization. The lowest bending
strength parallel to the glue line is obtained in solid poplar
at 68.8 N/mm2. The difference in bending strengths parallel
to the glue line in the (7B)–(ABBBBBA) and (ABBABBA–
AABBBAA–BABABAB–ABABABA) ply organizations is
insignificant (Table 3). Consequently, in practice, any ply
organization within the group can be preferred.
The highest modulus of elasticity value (13,235.1 N/
mm2) parallel to the glue line was obtained in the laminated
beech (7A). However, the difference between the values of
the modulus of elasticity parallel to the glue line of solid
beech and laminated beech (7A) is insignificant (Table 3).
Consequently, the lamination of beech is not influential
in the increase of the modulus of elasticity parallel to the
glue line. The lowest modulus of elasticity value
(6126.5 N/mm2) parallel to the glue line was obtained in
the solid poplar (Table 1). However, the differences
between the modulus of elasticity values parallel to the glue
line in solid poplar and the (BABABAB), (7B) and
(ABBBBBA) ply organizations were insignificant (Table 3).
The t-test with Bonferroni correction was used to deter-
mine whether or not the differences between the bending
strength and modulus of elasticity values perpendicular
and parallel to the glue line according to the ply organiza-
tions were significant. According to the test results, the dif-
ferences between the modulus of elasticity values
perpendicular and parallel to the glue line were insignifi-
cant. The differences between the bending strengths per-
pendicular and parallel to the glue line were significant in
the ABABABA vs BABABAB ply organizations and were
insignificant for the other ply organizations. Consequently,
the loading direction in the laminated structural elements is
not generally influential on the bending strength and mod-
ulus of elasticity.

Table 3
Duncan’s multiple range tests for woods and ply organization types, air-dry specific gravities, bending strengths and modulus of elasticity parallel to the
glue line
Woods and ply organization type a = 0.05
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Duncan’s multiple range test for bending strengths
Poplar 68.83
7B 84.80
ABBBBBA 86.16
ABBABBA 100.21
AABBBAA 104.07
BABABAB 105.64
ABABABA 106.42
AABABAA 116.68
Kayin 134.13
7A 148.30
Duncan’s multiple range test for modulus of elasticity
Poplar 6126.57
BABABAB 6819.14 6819.14
7B 7814.85 7814.85 7814.85
ABBBBBA 8350.87 8350.87 8350.87
ABBABBA 8800.16 8800.16
ABABABA 9081.68 9081.68
AABBBAA 9363.64 9363.64
AABABAA 10,060.35 10,060.35
Beech 11,685.64 11,685.64
7A 13,235.10
 E. Burdurlu et al. / Construction and Building Materials 21 (2007) 1720–1725
In conclusion, the bending strength and modulus of
elasticity of laminated poplar and beech both perpendicu-
lar and parallel to the glue line are higher compared to
solid poplar and solid beech. The differences between the
modulus of elasticity value parallel to the glue line of solid
beech and the modulus of elasticity value parallel to the
glue line of laminated beech are insignificant. Conse-
quently, it is more advantageous to use laminated wood
in structural elements. As expected, as the ratio of contri-
bution of the beech, which has a higher density, increases,
then both the bending strength and the modulus of elastic-
ity increases. The AABABAA was determined to be the
most reasonable ply organization when the bending
strength and modulus of elasticity values of laminated
composite materials produced were examined.
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