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Anisotropic tensile characterisation of Eucalyptus nitens timber above its fibre saturation point, and its application

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posted on 2023-05-21, 14:47 authored by Chen, X, Cheng, Y, Andrew ChanAndrew Chan, Damien HollowayDamien Holloway, Gregory NolanGregory Nolan
Plantation-grown Eucalyptus nitens (E. nitens) has been grown predominantly for the pulp and paper industry. In this study, the suitability of E. nitens as a structural material is examined using static tensile tests in a universal testing machine. The anisotropic tensile behaviour of 240 Eucalyptus nitens small clear wood samples with a diversity of grain angles was examined in both dry and wet conditions. The samples had a highly anisotropic tensile characterisation in the context of both a low moisture content (MC = 12%) and a high moisture content (MC > its fibre saturation point, FSP). The results showed that, in a high moisture content condition, the wood showed a lower failure strength and more ductility at all grain angles than in a low moisture content condition. The underlying failure mechanism of Eucalyptusnitens timber in tension was determined in detail from the perspective of the microstructure of wood cellulose polymer composites. The mean tensile failure strengths perpendicular and parallel to the fibre direction were, respectively, 5.6 and 91.6 MPa for the low MC and 3.8 and 62.1 MPa for the high MC condition. This research provides a basis for using E. nitens as a potential structural tensile member. The moisture modification factors of Eucalyptus timber at a mean level are higher than those of the traditional construction material, Pinus radiata, implying that E. nitens is promising as a material to be used for tensile members in water saturated conditions.

History

Publication title

Polymers

Volume

14

Issue

12

Article number

2390

Number

2390

Pagination

1-14

ISSN

2073-4360

Department/School

School of Engineering

Publisher

MDPI AG

Place of publication

Switzerland

Rights statement

© 2022 The authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This is an open access article under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Timber materials

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