Compression

Compression of wood and wood-based materials

plays an important role in almost any construction proj-
ects. If the compression strength or bending strength of
a 2-inch by 4-inch beam is not known, deection due to
bearing a load may cause signicant deformation, which
could even lead to its failure during service life. There-
fore, most softwood construction lumber is graded based
Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service Division of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources
Strength Properties of Wood for Practical Applications
Mechanical properties of wood play an important
role when used for different design applications. Wood is
widely used for structural purposes. This fact sheet sum-
marizes some of the basic concepts related to mechani-
cal characteristics of wood, including viscoelasticity,
compression, shear, bending strength properties and how
such characteristics should be taken into consideration
for an efcient practical design.
Viscoelasticity
In contrast to metals and plastics, wood is an orthotro-
pic material, meaning its properties will be independent
in three directions longitudinal, tangential and radial, as
illustrated in Figure 1. Another unique property of wood
is its viscoelasticity, which can be described as having
both plastic and elastic characteristics when exposed to
a certain deformation.
Elastic materials easily stretch under an applied load.
However, they return to their original conditions once
the load is released. In contrast, plastic materials stay at
the stretched condition even if the load is released after
a long period time. The behavior of wood products is
between the above two types of conditions.
A bookshelf example can be used to illustrate the
viscoelasticity of wood: A number of books are put on a
shelf and, in time, it will have a limited amount of sag-
ging deformation. When all books are removed from the
shelf, it will never return to its original at condition.
Thus, there will be a residual deformation left because
of its viscoelasticity. Figure 2 illustrates the viscoelastic
behavior of wood, as in the bookshelf example.
FAPC-162
Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center
FOOD TECHNOLOGY
FACT SHEET
405-744-6071 www.fapc.biz
Adding Value to Oklahoma
f a p c
Salim Hiziroglu
FAPC Wood Products Specialist
Figure 1. Orthotropic structure of wood.
on allowable load resistance, which can be determined
from a stress test. However, strength properties of hard-
wood lumber are not that critical because a majority of
it is used for furniture manufacturing and is not exposed
to substantial loads.
Compression or shear strength of a wood beam or
truss used extensively for construction can be calculated
based on the following equation:
Sigma () = P/A, where is stress, P is load and A
is surface area.
In general, stress is the load per unit area and is
expressed in pound per square inch (psi), kilogram per
square centimeter (kg/cm
2
) or any other units. Figures 3
and 4 show compression and shear stress developed by
a perpendicularly applied load on small wood blocks.
MOE and MOR
In the case of bending a beam, we are dealing with
modulus of elasticity (MOE) and modulus of rupture
(MOR) to evaluate its load resistance. While MOE is
a measure of the stiffness of a body, MOR is related to
maximum strength that can be resisted by a member.
Both are expressed as stress similar to most of the other
mechanical properties of wood. The following two equa-
tions are used to calculate MOE and MOR of wood with
a rectangular cross section:
MOE = (P L
3
) / (48 I D)

MOR = (P
max
L) / (b d
2
)
I = (bd
3
) / 12
162-2
Where:
P = load below proportional limit (lb.)
P
max
= failure load (lb.)
L = test span (in.)
b = width of the sample (in.)
d = thickness of the sample (in.)
D = center deection (in.)
I = moment of inertia, which is the inertia of a rigid
body with respect to its rotation and, in the case of a
rectangular cross section, is expressed as in
4
.
In general, depending on the species, wood has MOE
and MOR values of 800,0002,500,000 psi and 5,000
15,000 psi, respectively. If a Red Oak with an approximate
MOE value of 2,000,000 psi is used to make the bookshelf
mentioned above, its deection deformation will be less
than that of Aspen, which has a lower MOE.
Both MOE and MOR values of different species can
be obtained from various references for a particular de-
sign. Table 1 displays some of the mechanical properties,
including MOE and MOR, of several species. Figure 5
also illustrates a typical beam bending with deection as
a result of a central load.
Moisture Content
The moisture content of wood also is an important
parameter inuencing almost all mechanical properties.
Strength properties of wood increase with its decreasing
moisture content. For example, air-dried wood with aver-
age moisture content of 12-13 percent will have higher
strength properties than that of wood with 20 percent
moisture content. In general, wood is dried to 15-20
Specie MOE (psi) MOR (psi) Compression
// to the grain
(psi)
Shear // to the
grain (psi)
Specic gravity
Douglas Fir 1,950,000 12,400 3,780 900 0.48
Sitka Spruce 1,570,000 10,200 5,610 1,150 0.40
White Pine 1,240,000 8,600 4,800 900 0.35
Eastern Redcedar 880,000 8,800 3,520 1,010 0.47
Red Pine 1,630,000 11,000 6,070 1,210 0.46
Cottonwood 1,100,000 6,800 4,020 790 0.34
Red Oak 2,200,000 15,400 6,770 2,020 0.63
Red Maple 2,200,000 13,400 6,540 1,850 0.54
White Oak 1,030,000 10,300 6,060 1,820 0.64
Black Walnut 1,680,000 14,600 1,010 1,370 0.55
Table 1. Some of the mechanical properties of various species at 12 percent moisture content.
(From Wood Handbook, 1999)
162-3
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 efciency for any applications:
P = P
12
(P
12
/ P
g
)
(12-M / Mp12)

Where:
P = property value
P
12
= property value at 12 percent moisture content
P
g
= property value at green moisture content
M = moisture content
M
p
= moisture content at which property is changed
(M
p
is assumed 25 percent for most species, based on
USDA Forest Service, 1999).
Example: If a Douglas Fir beam has MOR values of
7,700 psi at green moisture content and 12,400 psi at 12
percent air-dry conditions, its MOR value at 18 percent
moisture content can be calculated as below:
P = 12,400 (12,400 / 7,700)
(-6 / 13)

P = 12,400 x 1.610
-0.461
P = 12,400 / (1.610)
0.461
P = 9,959 psi

Further Information
Detailed information about mechanical proper-
ties of wood and wood products also can be found
in the following literature:
Wood Handbook (1999). Wood as an engineering
material. USDA Forest Products Lab: Madison,
Wisconsin.
Hoadley, B. (2000). Understanding Wood. The Taun-
ton Press: Newtown, Connecticut.
Ambsore, J. (1994). Simplied Design of Wood
Structures. John Wiley & Sons, Incorporated:
New York.
Smith, I., Landis, E., & Gong, M. (2003). Fracture
and Fatigue in Wood. John Wiley & Sons, Incor-
porated: New York.
Bowyer, J., Smulsky, R., & Haygreen, J. (2007). For-
est Products & Wood Science, An Introduction.
Blackwell Publishing Incorporated: Malden,
Massachusetts.
Figure 2. Viscoelastic behavior of wood. Figure 3. Compression parallel to grain.
162-4
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Figure 5. Bending of a wood beam. Figure 4. Sheer stress of a sample.