Wood Tests

April 24, 2013

CVE 230
Mechanics of Materials
Spring 2013

Lab Report #5

PREPARED BY:

Juan Villa


Wood is one of the most used tools by mankind. This tool has been used since the beginning of
time by cavemen to construct houses, boats, fences, weapons, utilities, etc. now a days; we are
still just advanced cavemen using wood for the same purposes as before and for even more
purposes. Wood is available everywhere for us to use. Unfortunately, we tend abuse the
quantities of wood. In any case, wood is fundamentalcomponent of our civilization used for
many different things. The table in which my laptop is laying on as I type this lab report is
made out of wood. Even the chair in which Im sitting is made out of wood. The roof thats on
top of me is also most likely made out of wood. As you can see wood is used heavily by
humanity. In this lab report we would test differently types of woods underdifferent conditions
and put them into both tension and compression tests.
LAB REPORT #1
TESTI NG OF FRESH AND HARDENED CONCRETE

Prepared by Juan Villa Page 2

I) Introduction
In this lab, the behavior of wood under axial compression parallel to and perpendicular to the grain
will be evaluated for the determination of certain mechanical properties of wood. The effect of
moisture on the mechanical properties of wood will also be evaluated. Finally the modulus of
rupture and failure under bending will be studied.

II) Materials and Methods:
The materials used in this experiment include Douglas Fir specimens and beam specimen. The tools
used for this lab included a Tinius Olsen machine, a mechanical extensometer, and the Navigator
Software.
The initial cross sectional area and the initial length were obtained for both specimens. The two
specimens were then submitted to compression tests using the Tinus Olsen machine. As the
specimens had an increasing load applied to them, the values of the load were recorded, along with
deformation. The specimens were compressed both perpendicular and parallel to the grains. As the
test was conducted, the specimens being tested were carefully observed, but more importantly,
their deformation. As the specimens were put under a controlled load, they started to fracture and
that is when we would stop. The same procedure was done for both the wet and dry specimens. A
bending test was also executed, with a beam instead of a Douglas wood specimen. The same
procedure was followed and the same machine was used for that experiment. The only difference
was that in the previous tests, we put the specimens under compression, and we were now putting
them under compression. All of the failure loads for the entire test done were recorded and saved
by Navigation software used.

III) Results and Discussions

The purpose of this experiment was to plot the stress-strain curves for Douglas Wood in different
configurations, these included wet, dry, parallel and perpendicular. The other purpose was also to
obtain the yield strength, ultimate strength compression, and modulus of elasticity for both
specimens.
The relationship the data demonstrates for load and deflection is that of a positive correlation, the
more load is applied to an object, the more deflection (displacement) there will be. Therefore, the
increasing stress that exists as the applied force increases is related positively with the strain of the
material because of its increasing deflection. This relationship is supported by the data that has
been collected from the compression tests.
LAB REPORT #1
TESTI NG OF FRESH AND HARDENED CONCRETE

Prepared by Juan Villa Page 3

The values of the ultimate compressive strength for the Douglas wood, parallel and perpendicular
were all recorded and shown in below the graphs. For the Douglas Fir, parallel and perpendicular,
the values were derived by using the table provided by the TA. Knowing that stress = force/area the
values for all the stresses were calculated in excel. The same procedure was done to calculate the
strain, load and deformation. Excel was very useful for this lab.
The modulus of elasticity calculated for the wooden samples were also recorded. They were
obtained by selecting the most linear portions of the stress versus strain plots and finding the
average slope of the line.
Plots:
Parallel Wet:


Maximum Compressive Strength: 0.017ksi
Modulus of Elasticity: 154263.8
0.017
-0.002
0
0.002
0.004
0.006
0.008
0.01
0.012
0.014
0.016
0.018
-500 0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000
S
t
r
e
s
s

(
k
s
i
)

Strain
Douglas For Parallel Wet

LAB REPORT #1
TESTI NG OF FRESH AND HARDENED CONCRETE

Prepared by Juan Villa Page 4

Yield Stress = 0.012ksi
Parallel Dry:

Maximum Compressive Strength: 0.01965ksi
Modulus of Elasticity: 265888.706
Yield Stress = 0.0055ksi




0.01965
-5.00E-03
0.00E+00
5.00E-03
1.00E-02
1.50E-02
2.00E-02
2.50E-02
-1000 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
S
t
r
e
s
s

(
p
s
i
)

Strain
Douglas Fir Parallel Dry
LAB REPORT #1
TESTI NG OF FRESH AND HARDENED CONCRETE

Prepared by Juan Villa Page 5

Perpendicular Dry

Maximum Compressive Strength: 0.0061ksi
Modulus of Elasticity: 1927.132
Yield Stress = 0.00553ksi
Bending Testing:
The maximum deflection is determined by the equation

EI
PL
48
3
= A

L= 18 ; A= 2x2; P = 5.05 (chosen from table) A = 0.000577 inch (chosen from table)
0.0061
-0.001
0
0.001
0.002
0.003
0.004
0.005
0.006
0.007
-5 0 5 10 15 20
S
t
r
e
s
s

(
p
s
i
)


Strain
Douglas For Perpendicular Dry
LAB REPORT #1
TESTI NG OF FRESH AND HARDENED CONCRETE

Prepared by Juan Villa Page 6


) 12 / ) 3 ^ 2 * 2 (( 48
) 18 )( 05 . 5 (
00577 . 0
3
E
=
E = 461
The bending stress of at the outer fibers is determined by the equation:


2
3 2
3
12
1
2 4
bh
PL
bh
h PL
I
Mc
=
|
.
|

\
|
|
.
|

\
|
= = o
P = 5.05N ; L= 18; b= 2 ; h=2
= o
2
2
3
bh
PL

=
2
2 * 2 * 2
) 18 )( 05 . 5 ( 3

= o 17.04psi
Part III
Stress = 17.04
E = 461
Strain = Stress/E
Strain = 0.037

LAB REPORT #1
TESTI NG OF FRESH AND HARDENED CONCRETE

Prepared by Juan Villa Page 7


Ultimate Stress = 0.0985 psi
Yield Stress = 0.0666psi
Modulus of Elasticity = 11218.62
IV) Conclusion
The values that we obtained, in the context of engineering would be used if there was a
construction project and we needed to know the characteristics of the wood that we were going to
use. Getting these values would give both the engineers and the construction companys predictions
as to how the material would be have and therefore they can better assist on the project at hand.
The compression tests conducted on both wooden specimens were by far the most essential
portion of this experiment. The results from these tests were meant to demonstrate the
relationship that exists between the stress and strain of an object. And also to show the significant
difference in efficiency between specimens which experience loads parallel and perpendicular to
the grain. This investigation also displays the ability there is of deriving the yield strength, ultimate
compressive strength, and modulus of elasticity from a materials plot of stress and strain.
0.066
0.0985
0
0.02
0.04
0.06
0.08
0.1
0.12
0 200 400 600 800 1000 1200
t
r
e
s
s

(
p
s
i
)

Strain
Douglas Fir Beam
E = 11218.62
LAB REPORT #1
TESTI NG OF FRESH AND HARDENED CONCRETE

Prepared by Juan Villa Page 8

When comparing the compressive strengths to the manner in which the grain of the wooden
specimens were placed for the compression tests, the most efficient manner was parallel.

V) References:
ASTM D143, Standard Methods of Testing Small Clear Specimens of Timber, Vol. 4.10.