Moisture dependent physical-mechanical properties from beech wood in the main directions

Hardwood is increasingly trying to get established in the building industry in order to realise a larger material output and to take advantage of the superior mechanical properties of hardwood in comparison to softwood for structural applications. For calculations of stress and strain in boards and glued-laminated timbers it is essential to know the specific values of wood in the main directions: longitudinal, radial and tangential. Therefore, the specific values of Young’s modulus, shear modulus, Poisson’s ratio, the specific values of strength and also these of mass and heat flux (diffusion coefficient, thermal conductivity) were determined on European beech.