Evaluation of Tension Perpendicular to Grain Strengths in Small Clear Samples of Sugar Maple for Radial,Tangential and 45-Degree Loading Directions

The discussion of the importance of the perpendicular tension strength to better understand the wood's mechanical behavior in several situations, such as shrinkage analysis, glued laminated beam failure analysis, has become clear that more basic input information on tension perpendicular to grain is needed. This work investigated tension perpendicular to grain properties in three different orientations, for radial, tangential and 45-degree directions, using Sugar Maple specimens, and testing methodology according to ASTM D143. In addition, the influence of the density on tension strength values for each direction was analyzed. Furthermore, the failure modes of radial, tangential and inclined specimens are shown and a numerical simulation is presented in order to verify the tendency of the ruptures. From the statistical analysis, it can be concluded that the experimental results of tension perpendicular to grain strength loaded in the radial and tangential directions show a significant statistical difference. Strengths obtained at 45-degrees differ significantly from the other directions.