Abstract
An experiment was conducted to determine the moisture content, tangential and radial
shrinkage, and ultimate compressive strength of SPF parallel to the grain. Moisture content was
determined using a handheld moisture content meter prior to testing. Tangential and radial
dimensions were also determined prior to testing. After drying two samples each of oak and
SPF, we found average tangential and radial shrinkage values of 1.3% and 2.1%, respectively.
The average moisture content from the hand held moisture content meter for the oak and SPF
of 10.0% and 11.1% compared favorably to the oven-determined moisture contents of 9.8% and
11.3%. The average ultimate compressive strength of two SPF samples tested parallel to the
grain was 4,400 psi, which compared reasonably well to published values of 5,000 psi. This
laboratory showed that our testing procedures result in values similar to published values.
Introduction
Characterizing the mechanical properties of wood is critical to the design process. In order to
characterize these properties, adequate testing and data analysis procedures must be
developed and implemented. The purpose of this laboratory is to become familiar with testing
methods used to characterize the mechanical properties of wood. Another objective of this
laboratory data is to compare results from our testing to published values of mechanical
properties of wood.
Methods
Wood samples were obtained from a local home-improvement store. SPF samples were
construction grade 2” by 2” furring strips, while oak was very clear 2” by 2” stock used for finish
work and appears to be northern red oak.
Four samples each of oak and SPF were cut into 8-inch segment using a radial arm saw. Three
samples of each species were used to for compression testing parallel to the grain, while the
fourth sample of each species was cut into approximately 2.5-inch samples to be used for
compression testing perpendicular to the grain and for specific gravity (SG) determination. The
dimensions of all samples were measured using a General UltraTech digital calipers.
Compression testing parallel to the grain was performed using MTS Q-Test XXXX, which has a
25,000 lb load cell. The test was performed using the “AGEN_240_8in_Wood” compression test
method, which is based on the ASTM D143 standard for small wood specimens. Cross section
measurement are input to the Q-Test so that stress can be calculated.
After testing each specimen was examined for mode of failure. Data were analyzed in Microsoft
Excel. Modulus of elasticity was estimated by visually inspecting the stress versus strain graph
and identifying the straight-line portion of the graph and calculating the slope for that portion of
the graph. The working, or proportional, limit was taken as the maximum of the straight line
portion of the stress versus strain portion of the graph. The peak stress was taken as the
maximum stress on the stress versus strain graph.
