Moisture-dependent mechanical properties of longitudinally compressed wood

Since the properties of wood significantly change with its moisture content, it is important to know the effect of different moisture conditions on wood. A brief summary is provided on this topic in the first part of this article. The compression along the wood grain is a modification resulting in better pliability. The moisture dependence of mechanical properties of longitudinally compressed wood is not known yet. For this purpose, the results in this article are considered as basic research results. Bending- and compression tests on beech specimens compressed longitudinally by 20% were carried out at different moisture contents. Changing moisture content has almost no significant effect on the modulus of rupture of wood that has been longitudinally compressed, compared to the sensitivity to changes in moisture content of untreated wood. However, the effect of moisture content on the change of bending modulus of elasticity, compressive strength parallel to the grain and bendability coefficient diverges significantly. As a result of these changes, there is a great difference in the pliability with different moisture contents of treated wood. For the best pliability during bending, the moisture content of longitudinally compressed wood must be close to its fiber saturation point.