Characterisation of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Unthinned and Unpruned Plantation-Grown <i>Eucalyptus nitens</i> H.Deane & Maiden Lumber
The use of fast-growing plantation eucalypt (i.e., pulpwood eucalypt) in the construction of high-value structural products has received special attention from the timber industry in Australia and worldwide. There is still, however, a significant lack of knowledge regarding the physical and mechanic...
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| Format: | Article |
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MDPI AG
2019-02-01
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| Series: | Forests |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/2/194 |
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| author | Mohammad Derikvand Nathan Kotlarewski Michael Lee Hui Jiao Gregory Nolan |
| author_facet | Mohammad Derikvand Nathan Kotlarewski Michael Lee Hui Jiao Gregory Nolan |
| author_sort | Mohammad Derikvand |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The use of fast-growing plantation eucalypt (i.e., pulpwood eucalypt) in the construction of high-value structural products has received special attention from the timber industry in Australia and worldwide. There is still, however, a significant lack of knowledge regarding the physical and mechanical properties of the lumber from such plantation resources as they are mainly being managed to produce woodchips. In this study, the physical and mechanical properties of lumber from a 16-year-old pulpwood <i>Eucalyptus nitens</i> H.Deane & Maiden resource from the northeast of Tasmania, Australia was evaluated. The tests were conducted on 318 small wood samples obtained from different logs harvested from the study site. The tested mechanical properties included bending modulus of elasticity (10,377.7 MPa) and modulus of rupture (53 MPa), shear strength parallel (5.5 MPa) and perpendicular to the grain (8.5 MPa), compressive strength parallel (42.8 MPa) and perpendicular to the grain (4.1 MPa), tensile strength perpendicular to the grain (3.4 MPa), impact bending (23.6 J/cm<sup>2</sup>), cleavage (1.6 kN) and Janka hardness (23.2 MPa). Simple linear regression models were developed using density and moisture content to predict the mechanical properties. The variations in the moisture content after conventional kiln drying within randomly selected samples in each test treatment were not high enough to significantly influence the mechanical properties. A relatively high variation in the density values was observed that showed significant correlations with the changes in the mechanical properties. The presence of knots increased the shear strength both parallel and perpendicular to the grain and significantly decreased the tensile strength of the lumber. The results of this study created a profile of material properties for the pulpwood <i>E. nitens</i> lumber that can be used for numerical modelling of any potential structural product from such a plantation resource. |
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| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1999-4907 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-12T04:49:01Z |
| publishDate | 2019-02-01 |
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| series | Forests |
| spelling | doaj.art-83f3877568704e6cba5de683cd92f79a2022-12-22T03:47:22ZengMDPI AGForests1999-49072019-02-0110219410.3390/f10020194f10020194Characterisation of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Unthinned and Unpruned Plantation-Grown <i>Eucalyptus nitens</i> H.Deane & Maiden LumberMohammad Derikvand0Nathan Kotlarewski1Michael Lee2Hui Jiao3Gregory Nolan4Australian Research Council, Centre for Forest Value, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, AustraliaAustralian Research Council, Centre for Forest Value, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, AustraliaCentre for Sustainable Architecture with Wood (CSAW), University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, AustraliaSchool of Engineering, AMC, College of Sciences and Engineering, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS 7005, AustraliaAustralian Research Council, Centre for Forest Value, University of Tasmania, Launceston, TAS 7250, AustraliaThe use of fast-growing plantation eucalypt (i.e., pulpwood eucalypt) in the construction of high-value structural products has received special attention from the timber industry in Australia and worldwide. There is still, however, a significant lack of knowledge regarding the physical and mechanical properties of the lumber from such plantation resources as they are mainly being managed to produce woodchips. In this study, the physical and mechanical properties of lumber from a 16-year-old pulpwood <i>Eucalyptus nitens</i> H.Deane & Maiden resource from the northeast of Tasmania, Australia was evaluated. The tests were conducted on 318 small wood samples obtained from different logs harvested from the study site. The tested mechanical properties included bending modulus of elasticity (10,377.7 MPa) and modulus of rupture (53 MPa), shear strength parallel (5.5 MPa) and perpendicular to the grain (8.5 MPa), compressive strength parallel (42.8 MPa) and perpendicular to the grain (4.1 MPa), tensile strength perpendicular to the grain (3.4 MPa), impact bending (23.6 J/cm<sup>2</sup>), cleavage (1.6 kN) and Janka hardness (23.2 MPa). Simple linear regression models were developed using density and moisture content to predict the mechanical properties. The variations in the moisture content after conventional kiln drying within randomly selected samples in each test treatment were not high enough to significantly influence the mechanical properties. A relatively high variation in the density values was observed that showed significant correlations with the changes in the mechanical properties. The presence of knots increased the shear strength both parallel and perpendicular to the grain and significantly decreased the tensile strength of the lumber. The results of this study created a profile of material properties for the pulpwood <i>E. nitens</i> lumber that can be used for numerical modelling of any potential structural product from such a plantation resource.https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/2/194static bendingimpact bendingtensile strengthcompressive strengthshear strengthcleavagehardnesswood failure modes |
| spellingShingle | Mohammad Derikvand Nathan Kotlarewski Michael Lee Hui Jiao Gregory Nolan Characterisation of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Unthinned and Unpruned Plantation-Grown <i>Eucalyptus nitens</i> H.Deane & Maiden Lumber Forests static bending impact bending tensile strength compressive strength shear strength cleavage hardness wood failure modes |
| title | Characterisation of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Unthinned and Unpruned Plantation-Grown <i>Eucalyptus nitens</i> H.Deane & Maiden Lumber |
| title_full | Characterisation of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Unthinned and Unpruned Plantation-Grown <i>Eucalyptus nitens</i> H.Deane & Maiden Lumber |
| title_fullStr | Characterisation of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Unthinned and Unpruned Plantation-Grown <i>Eucalyptus nitens</i> H.Deane & Maiden Lumber |
| title_full_unstemmed | Characterisation of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Unthinned and Unpruned Plantation-Grown <i>Eucalyptus nitens</i> H.Deane & Maiden Lumber |
| title_short | Characterisation of Physical and Mechanical Properties of Unthinned and Unpruned Plantation-Grown <i>Eucalyptus nitens</i> H.Deane & Maiden Lumber |
| title_sort | characterisation of physical and mechanical properties of unthinned and unpruned plantation grown i eucalyptus nitens i h deane amp maiden lumber |
| topic | static bending impact bending tensile strength compressive strength shear strength cleavage hardness wood failure modes |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4907/10/2/194 |
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