Compression Strength of Oak and Ash Wood Perpendicular to Grain

Abstract

The strength of oak and ash wood was studied by compressing it perpendicular to grain in radial and tangential directions. The dependence of the strength on the number of annual rings in sample cross-section was analyzed. Experiments were carried out with oak and ash wood samples, the cross-section of which contained from 4 to 14 annual rings. Mean conventional density of oak wood is 613 kg/m3 that of ash wood is 555 kg/m3. It was found that the strength of compressed oak wood of the mentioned density in radial direction comprises 21.45 MPa, in tangential is 9.43 MPa, while that of ash wood in radial direction is 10.73 MPa in tangential is 15.25 MPa. Compressed oak wood perpendicular to grain in both directions, while ash wood in radial direction, the strength decreases with increasing number of annual rings in sample cross-section, i.e. when annual rings become narrower.