A comparison between the Iosipescu and off-axis shear test methods for the characterization of Pinus Pinaster Ait

In this work, the applicability of the Iosipescu and off-axis test methods for the shear characterization of clear wood was investigated. Wood of maritime pine ( Pinus Pinaster Ait.) was used. Iosipescu shear tests were carried out for oriented specimens in the three natural symmetry planes of wood (LR, LT and RT planes), whereas off-axis tests were performed only in the LR and LT planes. Finite element analyses were conducted in order to access the stress and strain fields in the test section of the specimens. It was found that the Iosipescu and off-axis tests provide different shear moduli values. It was also shown that the Iosipescu test gives lower and upper bounds of shear strengths, whereas the off-axis test gives only a lower bound, directly from the measured loads.