Characterisation and categorisation of the diversity in viscoelastic vibrational properties between 98 wood types

Iris Brémaud (1) , Yves El Kaïm (2) , Daniel Guibal (3) , Kazuya Minato (4) , Bernard Thibaut (1) , Joseph Gril (1)

1 MAB - Mécanique de l'Arbre et du Bois
2 Servex - Moyens expérimentaux
3 UPR Bois tropicaux - Production et valorisation des bois tropicaux
4 Laboratory of Forest Resources Circulatory System

Context Increased knowledge on diversity in wood properties would have implications both for fundamental research and for promoting a diversification of uses as material. *Aims The objective is to contribute to overcoming the critical lack of data on the diversity of wood dynamic mechanical/viscoelastic vibrational properties, by testing lesser-known species and categorizing sources of variability. *Methods Air-dry axial specific dynamic modulus of elasticity (E'/γ) and damping coefficient (tanδ) were measured on a wide sampling (1792 specimens) of 98 wood types from 79 species. An experimental device and protocol was designed for conducting systematic (i.e. rapid and reproducible) characterizations. *Results Diversity at the specimens' level corroborates the "standard" relationship between tanδ and E'/γ, which is discussed in terms of orientation of wood elements and of chemical composition. Diversity at the species level is expressed on the basis of results for normal heartwood, with specific gravity (γ) ranging from 0.2 to 1.3. Axial E'/γ ranges from 9 to 32 GPa and tanδ from 4×10-3 to 19×10-3. Properties distribution follows a continuum, but with group characteristics. The lowest values of tanδ are only found in certain tropical hardwoods. Results can also suggest alternative species for musical instruments making.

Mots clés: wood diversity; specific gravity; viscoelastic vibrational properties; damping coefficient; dynamic mechanical properties; specific dynamic modulus of elasticity

Domaines: Matériaux; Mécanique des matériaux [physics.class-ph]; Mécanique des matériaux [physics.class-ph]; Vibrations [physics.class-ph]; Vibrations [physics.class-ph]

Iris Brémaud, Yves El Kaïm, Daniel Guibal, Kazuya Minato, Bernard Thibaut, et al.. Characterisation and categorisation of the diversity in viscoelastic vibrational properties between 98 wood types. Annals of Forest Science, 2012, 69 (3), pp.373-386. ⟨10.1007/s13595-011-0166-z⟩. ⟨hal-00808242⟩