Mechanical Properties of Earlywood and Latewood Sections of Scots Pine Wood

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the mechanical properties of earlywood (EW) and latewood (LW) sections of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) wood, and determine the relationship between calculated and measured values. The bending strength, modulus of elasticity in bending, and the tensile strength of EW and LW sections were determined. The mechanical properties were calculated using EW and LW mechanical properties and LW proportion. Also, mechanical properties were determined in standard size samples and compared to the calculated properties. In earlywood and latewood sections, the bending strength was 37.3 MPa and 93.9 MPa, the modulus of elasticity in bending was 1557.6 MPa and 3600.4 MPa, and the tensile strength was 58.6 MPa and 189.6 MPa, respectively. The results showed that the LW section had higher mechanical properties than those of the EW section for all of the measured mechanical properties. The calculated bending strength, modulus of elasticity, and tensile strength values were 53.3 MPa, 2133.7 MPa, and 95.5 MPa, respectively. The calculated bending strength and modulus of elasticity values were lower compared to the measured values, while the calculated tensile strength values were higher than that of the measured values.