ANALYSIS OF WOOD BENDING PROPERTIES ON

STANDARDIZED SAMPLES AND STRUCTURAL SIZE BEAMS

TESTS

MATERIALS/APPARATUS/EQUIPMENT
 Wood

 Zwick / Roell Material Testing Machine - Test equipment and arrangements for static
bending test

 Test equipment and arrangements for the four-point bending test

PROCEDURES

The wood beams were analysed by laboratory tests performed at the Faculty of
Civil Engineering and Building Services of “Gheorghe Asachi” Technical University of
Iaşi. The wood used to create specimens is of softwood species, namely spruce. Both
small and large specimens were manufactured to achieve the conditions imposed by the
standards for determining wood behaviour to static bending tests, ASTM D 143-09 Test
Methods for Small Clear Specimens of Timber, ASTM D 198-09 Test Methods of Static
Tests of Lumber in Structural Sizes and SR EN 408:2004: Structuri de lemn. Lemn masiv
şi lemn lamelat încleiat. Determinarea anumitor proprietăţi fizice şi mecanice.
Before tests, the wood elements were checked to determine the nominal value of
their real dimension. The moisture content for each specimen has been measured. To
verify the laboratory conditions, humidity and air temperature have been measured in the
room where the tests were conducted, having the values of 60% and 21°C, respectively.
The following are the results of laboratory tests performed on specific wood
specimens subjected to static bending.

ILLUSTRATION, COMPUTATION, DATA AND TABULATION

 Static Three-Point Bending Test of Wood Specimens

To determine the static bending (flexural) strength of wood, laboratory tests were
carried out according to SR ISO 3133:2008 and ASTM 04.10 Wood D143-09. The
working procedure and the achievement of expressing quality of specimens have
complied with these the standards (SR ISO 3133, 2008). Experimental tests were made
using the equipment Zwick / Roell Material Testing Machine BP1-F1000SN.M11.
According to the standard, a total of 10 specimens was considered, having the dimensions
of 20 mm × 20 mm in cross-section (b × h) and 380 mm length.
Specimens were simply supported, the distance (L) between supports was of 240
mm, and the load was applied midway (the mid-span of 240 mm –(Fig. 3), on the radial
surfaces. The load was applied continuously with constant test speed of 0.85 MPa/s,
providing a break for specimens in 102 s (about 1.7 min) (Budescu et al., 1982).
Following the static bending (flexural) test (Fig. 3), the results shown in Table 1
were obtained. The corrections of the results to moisture content (MC) of 12% are
presented in Table 2.

Table 1
Static Bending (Flexural) Test Data on Small Specimens
Specime ρrel W% Pmax δmax S δmax,real σbW EL
n number g/m 3 N mm mm mm MPa MPa
1 472.16 7.4 1,730 7.5 0.30 7.20 74.54 7,120
2 478.64 7.4 2,090 6.5 0.30 6.20 83.84 8,200
3 502.02 8.0 1,830 5.8 0.25 5.55 74.11 7,130
4 490.39 7.0 2,030 6.1 0.30 5.80 80.94 8,850
5 508.48 7.2 2,120 5.9 0.15 5.75 88.74 9,200
6 521.10 7.6 2,340 7.3 0.20 7.10 95.91 10,300
7 498.11 7.2 2,000 6.3 0.35 5.95 85.89 8,840
8 524.76 7.0 2,430 7.3 0.35 6.95 93.26 9,400
 9 498.11 7.4 1,880 5.9 0.35 5.55 76.93 7,800
10 502.04 7.8 1,960 6.4 0.15 6.25 80.76 7,510
Mean 498.50 7.4 2,041 6.5 0.27 6.23 83.49 8,435
Value

Data from Tables 1 and 2 represents: ρrel – relative density ofspecimens, [g/m3];
W – specimens moisture content according to ISO SR EN13183-1, [g/m 3] (SR EN
13183-1, 2003); Pmax – failure load, [N]; δmax – apparent deflection at failure, [mm]; S –
total crushing, taking into account local crushing of the load application and the bearing
areas, [mm]; δmax, real – failure deflection, also considering local crushing, mm]; EL –
elasticity modulus, [MPa]; σbW –static bending strength for W moisture content during the
test, calculated with the relation

M z , max P max L/2 3 Pmax

σ bW = = = ,
Wz bh 2 /6 2 b h2

Table 2
Modified Static Bending (Flexural) Test Data to 12% MC
Specimen W σbW σb12 EL EL12
number % MPa MPa MPa MPa

1 7.4 74.54 111.95 7,120 7,596.47

2 7.4 83.84 127.26 8,200 8,748.74
3 8.0 74.11 103.89 7,130 7,544.90
4 7.0 80.94 128.78 8,850 9,493.74
5 7.2 88.74 138.75 9,200 9,842.43
6 7.6 95.91 143.56 10,300 10,959.30
7 7.2 85.89 133.92 8,840 9,457.29
8 7.0 93.26 150.26 9,400 10,083.74
9 7.4 76.93 115.88 7,800 8,321.97
10 7.8 80.76 116.57 7,510 7,968.87
Mean value 7.4 83.49 127.08 8,435 9,003.46

Fig. 3 – Static bending test: force vs. displacement graph and failure modes of wood
specimens.
σb12, [MPa], is the static bending strength for moisture content of 12%, determined by the
relationship
σ bW −16.6
σ b 12=σ bW + ( W −12 ) ,
0.276−W
EL12, [MPa] – elasticity modulus for moisture content of 12%, determined by the
relationship
1,857−0.0237 W
E L12=E L
1,857−0.0237 × 12

The mean elasticity modulus for the three-bending test reached a value of 9,003.46 MPa.

 Static Four-Point Bending Test of Wood Beams

The four-point bending test of wood was developed according to ASTM 04.10
Wood D143-09 and SR EN 408:2004. More accurately speaking, the beams were
subjected to third-point loading, which is a special case of fourpoint bending where the
two loads were placed at a distance a = L/3 from the supports, where L is the beam span
(ASTM 04.10, 2004; Eurocode EC5, 1995). Experimental tests were made on the
Universal Hydraulic Press WAW- 600E and the deflection at mid span was determined
by means of an ”Epsilon Technology Corp” transducer attached to the beam at the neutral
axis level.
Structural size beam have a rectangular shape with the cross-sectional dimensions
of 100 mm × 160 mm (b × h), and 2,600 mm length. The span of the beams was selected
to be of 2,400 mm. The load was applied in two points, placed symmetrically on the
beam, at a = 800 mm distance from the supports faces.
Tests were performed with a number of 9 structural size beams (Fig. 5). Constant
speed of load application was imposed to 0.100 kN/s. The obtained results are presented
in Table 3, with: t, [s] – test duration; δ, [mm] – apparent deflection at time t ≈ 300 s; P,
[N] – load at t ≈ 300 s; EL, [MPa] – elasticity modulus for moisture content of W%,
determined with relation (ASTM 04.10, 2004)

23 P L3
E L= ,
108 b h3 Δ

Fig. 5 – Static bending test: force vs. displacement graph and failure modes of wood
beams.
 Table 3
Static Bending (Flexural) Test Data on Structural Size Beams
Beam t δ P EL EL12
number s mm N MPa MPa
1 286 24.31 27,430 8,109.96 8,525.51
2 261 23.55 22,890 6,986.07 7,407.20
3 306 23.20 28,950 8,968.88 9,509.55
4 300 20.64 30,810 10,729.01 11,311.11
5 300 20.69 30,700 10,664.87 11,275.63
6 300 23.05 30,000 9,354.66 10,031.37
7 301 24.50 30,530 8,956.50 9,658.40
8 301 24.35 27,500 8,117.30 8,680.03
9 321 32.06 30,600 6,860.18 7,356.44
Mean value 297.33 24.04 28,823 8,749.72 9,306.14

where Δ, [mm], is the full-span deflection according to the load P, measured at the
neutral axis level, at mid-span of the beam of length L; EL12, [MPa] – elasticity modulus
for moisture content of 12%, determined by the formula given in Wood Handbook (2010)

E L 1,857−0.0237 W
E L12=
1,857−0.0237 × 12

Therefore, the mean elasticity modulus for the four-bending test has the value of 9,306.14
MPa.

 Evaluation of the Strength Class for the Analysed Wood Elements

The characteristic density, average elasticity modulus and bending strength values
with humidity adjustments, presented in Tables 1,...,3, have been corrected by statistical
analysis and are presented in Table 4.

The tabulated values (standardized) were based on the estimated average property
values obtained on all wood specimens. The characteristic value was obtained as the
product of the average values of property due to the wood test specimens and the average
coefficient of variation for the property.
Average coefficients of variation for the mechanical properties are a statistical
estimate of the influences identified by testing in laboratory conditions, caused by the
variability of sizes, by those defects invisible in a natural element and by the
environmental conditions in which the tree grew. The average coefficients of variation
require a large number of results obtained in laboratory tests. In the paper “Wood
Handbook, Wood as an Engineering Material” (2010), the average values for the
coefficients of variation, pk , are presented. These coefficients were obtained by
statistical mediation of results existing in the technical literature for wood products,
worldwide. The value of the average coefficient of variation for characteristic bending
strength evaluation is pk = 16%.
Determination of strength class to group of wooden beams used to create
specimens for laboratory testing is based on the result for the modulus of elasticity.
According to the corrections in Table 4, the elasticity modulus is E = 9,365.114 ...
9,792.037 MPa, therefore the strength class for the analyzed wood is considered to be
C18.
The characteristic bending strength is now evaluated using the average
coefficients of variation

f m ,k =σ b 12 P k =21.12 MPa

European norm DIN EN 384-2004 shows that all the important characteristic
strength and stiffness properties can be approximated from either bending strength,
modulus of elasticity or density (DIN EN 384-2004). The values obtained in this manner
are presented in Table 5 and compared to the values given by SR EN 338, 1997 for wood
of strength class C18.