Modelling moisture-related mechanical properties of wood Part II: Computation of properties of a model of wood and comparison with experimental data

✍ Scribed by I. D. Cave

• Publisher: Springer
• Year: 1978
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 595 KB
• Volume: 12
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0043-7719
• DOI: 10.1007/bf00350818

✦ Synopsis

Starting with simple concepts of the molecular structure and models of the stiffness and swelling behaviour of lignin, hemi-cellulose and cellulose and building up through the various levels of organisation in the wood cell wall a model has been constructed that simultaneously predicts the variation with moisture content change of both the longitudinal Young's modulus and longitudinal shrinkage of wood. The model closely predicts both longitudinal shrinkage and Young's modulus as they vary with the moisture content of the wood. The model also takes into account structural variations in the form of changes in cell wall layer thickflesses and mean cellulose microfibril orientation. * This simplification, together with the over-simple representation of the interaction between sheets discussed above, however, results in the loss of all information relating to interlayer stresses. * However, Hill's "Self consistent theory of a fibre composite" is not valid for the extreme low values suggested by Cousins (in press).