To perform Compression Test on Wooden Cubes
Parallel to grains
Perpendicular to grains
Objective
To determine the compressive strength of wood
To determine the modulus of elasticity of wood
To determine the modulus of stiffness of wood
To determine the anisotropic behaviour of wood
Apparatus
5oo Ton Shimardzu Universal Testing Machine
Wooden samples (2 samples)
Vernier caliper
Deflection gauge
Related Theory
Compressive Strength
The maximum stress that a material can bear in compression is called compressive
strength.
Modulus of Elasticity
It is the ratio of strength to strain and is determined by the slope of straight line from
zero to proportional limit of stress strain diagram.
σ
E=
ϵ
σ =¿E x ϵ
Page 1
δ ∝ 1/¿
Modulus of Stiffness
It is the force required to produce unit deformation.
P
K=
δ
Isotropic Materials
The materials which exhibit same properties in different direction are known as
isotropic material e.g. steel.
Anisotropic Materials
The materials which exhibit different properties in different directions e.g. wood.
Failure of Wooden Cube when Load is applied
Parallel to
grains
When load is applied parallel to grains, the wooden sample will take more load to fail.
The ability of wood to take more loads parallel to grains before failing is because each
fiber acts as a column to take parallel loads.
Perpendicular to grains
When load is applied perpendicular to grains, wooden sample takes comparatively less
load. This is because the failure of single fiber will cause the failure of whole sample.
Note
The strength of wooden sample when load is applied parallel to the grains is about 10
times more as compared to when load is applied perpendicular to the grains.
Procedure
First of all determine the dimension (L, W, and H) of all three sides of the wooden cube
by the Vernier Caliper. Then fix the cube in the machine and apply load in increments.
And note the readings of load and deflection readings. Then calculate the deformation,
stress, and strain, and modulus of elasticity and modulus of stiffness.
Observations and Calculations
Page 2
Sample No 1 (grains parallel)
H = 52 mm
A = 2489.76 mm2
Sample No 2 (grains perpendicular)
H = 50 mm
A = 2634.075 mm2
Bulging and sliding of
Cracking fibers
Sample 1
Load Deflection Cumulativ δ P σ P
ϵ = σ = E= K=
P guage e deflection H A ϵ δ
reading δ
(KN) (No. of (mm) (N/mm2) (N/mm2) (N/mm2)
divisions)
5 14 0.356 6.84x10-3 2.008 293.567 14044.94
10 19 0.8386 0.01612 4.016 249.132 11924.636
15 23 1.4228 0.0274 6.025 219.891 10542.592
20 27 2.1086 0.0406 8.033 197.857 9487.666
25 30 2.8786 0.0554 10.041 181.245 8684.777
30 33 3.7088 0.0713 12.049 168.990 8088.869
35 36 4.6232 0.0889 14.058 158.133 7570.514
Page 3
40 39 5.6132 0.1079 16.066 148.897 7126.060
45 43 6.702 0.1288 18.074 140.326 6714.414
50 46 7.8744 0.1514 20.082 132.642 6349.690
Sample 2
Load Deflection Cumulative δ P σ P
ϵ = σ = E= K=
P guage deflection δ H A ϵ δ
reading
(KN) (No. of (mm) (N/mm2) (N/mm2) (N/mm2)
divisions)
1 9 0.2286 4.572x10-3 0.3796 83.027 4374.45
2 15 0.6086 0.01217 0.7593 62.391 3286.23
3 20 1.1666 0.02233 1.1389 51.003 2686.73
4 24 1.7262 0.0345 1.5186 44.017 2317.23
5 28 2.4374 0.0487 1.8982 38.977 2051.37
6 34 3.301 0.066 2.2778 34.51 1817.63
7 40 4.317 0.0863 2.6575 30.794 1621.49
8 48 5.5362 0.1107 3.0371 27.435 1445.03
9 61 7.0856 0.1417 3.4168 24.113 1270.18
10 93 9.4478 0.1889 3.796 20.095 1058.45
Page 4
Graph for sample1
Stress, Strain Graph
25
20
Stress (MPa)
15
10
0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16
Strain 𝝐
Load, Stiffness Graph
16000
14000
12000
Stiffness K (N/mm2)
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Load (KN)
Page 5
Graph for sample2
Stress, Strain Graph
4
3.5
2.5
Stress (MPa)
1.5
0.5
0
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.1 0.12 0.14 0.16 0.18 0.2
Strain 𝝐
Load, Stiffness Graph
5000
4500
4000
3500
Stiffness K (N/mm2)
3000
2500
2000
1500
1000
500
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
Load (KN)
Page 6
Comments:
When the load is applied parallel to grains, the failure of the sample is due to shear failure, which
results in cracks at edges, and during load applied perpendicular to grains, the failure is also shear
failure where fiber have slide over one another and bulging.
Page 7
