Characterization of balsa wood mechanical properties required for continuum damage mechanics analysis

Balsa wood has attained commercial importance because of its exceptional lightweight and its insulating properties. The use of balsa as core material in sandwich construction for aircraft and for other lightweight structures has greatly increased the use of this unique material. In the present study, the mechanical properties of balsa wood required for the continuum damage mechanics analysis are calculated using experimental, analytical, and numerical results. Extensive experiments are carried out that evaluate the tension, compression, and shear properties. Equivalent modulus has been calculated from the bi-modulus behavior of balsa wood obtained from the experiments. The properties that could not be obtained from the experiments were calculated using analytical solutions. The mechanical properties obtained were compared with the results available in literature and the numerical solutions using LS-DYNA. Finally, the mechanical properties are calibrated using GENOAa commercial software based on the wood cell constituent properties and experimental results.