Wood Handbook, Wood as an Engineering Material

Chapter 5 Mechanical Properties of Wood

Table 5–3b. Strength propertiesof some commercially important woods grown in the United States (inch–pound)a

Static bending

Impact

bending

(in.)

Com-

pression

parallel

to grain

(lbf in–2)

Com-

pression

perpen-

dicular

to grain

(lbf in–2)

Side

hard-

ness

(lbf)

Modulus

of

rupture

(lbf in–2)

Modulus

of

elasticityc

( 106 lbf in–2)

Work

to

maxi-

mum

load

(in-lbf in–3)

Common species

names

Moisture

content

Specific

gravityb

Shear

parallel

to

grain

(lbf in–2)

Tension

perpen-

dicular

to grain

(lbf in–2)

Hardwoods

Alder, red Green 0.37 6,500 1.17 8.0 22 2,960 250 770 390 440

12% 0.41 9,800 1.38 8.4 20 5,820 440 1,080 420 590

Ash

Black Green 0.45 6,000 1.04 12.1 33 2,300 350 860 490 520

12% 0.49 12,600 1.60 14.9 35 5,970 760 1,570 700 850

Blue Green 0.53 9,600 1.24 14.7 — 4,180 810 1,540 — —

12% 0.58 13,800 1.40 14.4 — 6,980 1,420 2,030 — —

Green Green 0.53 9,500 1.40 11.8 35 4,200 730 1,260 590 870

12% 0.56 14,100 1.66 13.4 32 7,080 1,310 1,910 700 1,200

Oregon Green 0.50 7,600 1.13 12.2 39 3,510 530 1,190 590 790

12% 0.55 12,700 1.36 14.4 33 6,040 1,250 1,790 720 1,160

White Green 0.55 9,500 1.44 15.7 38 3,990 670 1,350 590 960

12% 0.60 15,000 1.74 16.6 43 7,410 1,160 1,910 940 1,320

Aspen

Bigtooth Green 0.36 5,400 1.12 5.7 — 2,500 210 730 — —

12% 0.39 9,100 1.43 7.7 — 5,300 450 1,080 — —

Quaking Green 0.35 5,100 0.86 6.4 22 2,140 180 660 230 300

12% 0.38 8,400 1.18 7.6 21 4,250 370 850 260 350

Basswood, American Green 0.32 5, 000 1.04 5.3 16 2,220 170 600 280 250

12% 0.37 8,700 1.46 7.2 16 4,730 370 990 350 410

Beech, American Green 0.56 8,600 1.38 11.9 43 3,550 540 1,290 720 850

12% 0.64 14,900 1.72 15.1 41 7,300 1,010 2,010 1,010 1,300

Birch

Paper Green 0.48 6,400 1.17 16.2 49 2,360 270 840 380 560

12% 0.55 12,300 1.59 16.0 34 5,690 600 1,210 — 910

Sweet Green 0.60 9,400 1.65 15.7 48 3,740 470 1,240 430 970

12% 0.65 16,900 2.17 18.0 47 8,540 1,080 2,240 950 1,470

Yellow Green 0.55 8,300 1.50 16.1 48 3,380 430 1,110 430 780

12% 0.62 16,600 2.01 20.8 55 8,170 970 1,880 920 1,260

Butternut Green 0.36 5,400 0.97 8.2 24 2,420 220 760 430 390

12% 0.38 8,100 1.18 8.2 24 5,110 460 1,170 440 490

Cherry, black Green 0.47 8,000 1.31 12.8 33 3,540 360 1,130 570 660

12% 0.50 12,300 1.49 11.4 29 7,110 690 1,700 560 950

Chestnut, American Green 0.40 5,600 0.93 7.0 24 2,470 310 800 440 420

12% 0.43 8,600 1.23 6.5 19 5,320 620 1,080 460 540

Cottonwood

Balsam, poplar Green 0.31 3,900 0.75 4.2 — 1,690 140 500 — —

12% 0.34 6,800 1.10 5.0 — 4,020 300 790 — —

Black Green 0.31 4,900 1.08 5.0 20 2,200 160 610 270 250

12% 0.35 8,500 1.27 6.7 22 4,500 300 1,040 330 350

Eastern Green 0.37 5,300 1.01 7.3 21 2,280 200 680 410 340

12% 0.40 8,500 1.37 7.4 20 4,910 380 930 580 430

Elm

American Green 0.46 7,200 1.11 11.8 38 2,910 360 1,000 590 620

12% 0.50 11,800 1.34 13.0 39 5,520 690 1,510 660 830

Rock Green 0.57 9,500 1.19 19.8 54 3,780 610 1,270 — 940

12% 0.63 14,800 1.54 19. 2 56 7,050 1,230 1,920 — 1,320

Slippery Green 0.48 8,000 1.23 15.4 47 3,320 420 1,110 640 660

12% 0.53 13,000 1.49 16.9 45 6,360 820 1,630 530 860

Hackberry Green 0.49 6,500 0.95 14.5 48 2,650 400 1,070 630 700

12% 0.53 11,000 1.19 12.8 43 5,440 890 1,590 580 880