Experimental Study of Physical Properties and Impact Bending Strength of Clonal Eucalyptus Wood

The aim of this study is to estimate the physical properties, absorbed energy, impact bending strength, and Monnin hardness of clonal Eucalyptus wood (E. grandis, E. camaldulensis) from the region Maamora (North-West of Morocco). The physical properties, impact bending strength, and Monnin hardness were evaluated on standard samples according to the French norms AFNOR. The obtained results show that the wood of two Eucalyptus clones is classified in the category of medium density, nervous, and normal quality wood. The E. camaldulensis wood has high average values of volumetric, tangential, radial, and longitudinal shrinkage, which are 17.440; 10.731; 6.957; and 0.373% compared to E. grandis wood, which are 14.851; 9.383; 5.718; and 0.366%, respectively. The mean values of absorbed energy and impact bending strength are great for the radial direction compared to the tangential direction for both E. camaldulensis and E. grandis wood. Moreover, the E. camaldulensis wood exhibits high values for absorbed energy, impact bending strength, and Monnin hardness than that of E. grandis wood. The correlation analyses appeared that the shrinkages (volumetric, radial, tangential), impact bending strength, and Monnin hardness have a significantly positive correlation with the oven-dry density of E. grandis and E. camaldulensis wood. The good knowledge of clonal Eucalyptus wood shrinkage may help us to take suitable procedures to reduce their influence (such as collapses) during drying this wood type. Furthermore, knowing its physical and mechanical properties is necessary to reveal the possibility of their use in construction, carpentry, and other works.