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7. To perform compression test on wooden cubes

when the load is applied (17-12-08)
 Parallel to grains
 Perpendicular to grains

Objectives
 To determine the compressive strength of the wooden cubes
 To observe the anisotropic behavior of the wood.
 To determine the modulus of elasticity and modulus of stiffness.

Apparatus
500 KN SHMADZU UTM, Wooden Cubes, Vernier Caliper, Deflection Gauges.

Related Theory
Compressive Strength
Maximum stress that a material can bear in compression is termed as compressive strength.
Modulus of Elasticity (E)
It is the ratio of unit stress to unit strain and is determined by slop of straight line from zero to
proportional limit in a stress strain diagram.
𝝈 𝑷 𝜹 𝑷𝑳 𝟏
𝑬= → 𝝈 = 𝑬𝝐 → = 𝑬 → 𝜹 = 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝜹 ∝
𝝐 𝑨 𝑳 𝑨𝑬 𝑬
Modulus of Stiffness (K)
It is defined as force required producing unit deformation.
𝑷
𝑷 ∝ 𝜹 → 𝑷 = 𝑲𝜹 𝑠𝑜 𝑤𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑠𝑎𝑦 𝑲 =
𝜹
Isotropic Materials
Isotropic materials are those materials which exhibits same properties in different direction for
example steel.
Anisotropic Materials
Anisotropic materials are those materials which do not show same properties in different
directions.

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Failure Mechanism in Different Directions

 Failure of Wooden Cube when load is applied
o Parallel to Grains
When the load is applied parallel to grains, the wooden sample will take more load to fail, the
ability of wood to take more load parallel to grains before failure is because each fiber act as
column to the applied load and even after the failure of the single fiber the rest of the fibers
will keep on taking the load.
 Failure of Wooden Cube when load is applied
o Perpendicular to Grains
When the load is applied perpendicular to the grains, the wooden sample takes comparatively
less load. This is because the failure of the single fiber will lead to the failure of the whole
sample. The strength of the wooden sample when the load is applied parallel to the grains is
about ten times more as compare to when the load is applied perpendicular to grains.

Procedure
 First of all determine the dimension of all three sides of the wooden cube by the Vernier
caliper.
 Then fix the cube in the machine as shown in figure.
 We increased the load in increments.
 We noted the load and deflection readings on machine and deflection gauges
respectively.

Calculations and Observations

Cube Dimensions

Specimen Length Width Height

(mm) (mm) (mm)
Parallel To
49.1 49.65 54.5
Grains
Perpendiular
49.5 50.5 50.2
To Grains

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 Readings of Experiment when load is applied

o Parallel to Grains
L = 49.1 mm H = 54.5 mm A = 2437.82 mm2
Deflection
Sr. Deformation
Load Gauge %strain Stress (Mpa) E (Mpa) K (N/mm)
No (mm)
Reading
σ=
KN N δ (δ/H)*100 σ/ε P/δ
load/area
1 0 0 100 0 0.0000 0.0000 #DIV/0! #DIV/0!
2 5 5000 110 0.254 0.4661 2.0510 440.079516 19685.03937
3 10 10000 117 0.4318 0.7923 4.1020 517.740607 23158.86985
4 15 15000 121 0.5334 0.9787 6.1530 628.6850228 28121.48481
5 20 20000 125 0.635 1.1651 8.2041 704.1272256 31496.06299
6 25 25000 128 0.7112 1.3050 10.2551 785.8562786 35151.85602
7 30 30000 131 0.7874 1.4448 12.3061 851.7668051 38100.0762
8 35 35000 134 0.8636 1.5846 14.3571 906.0460623 40528.02223
9 40 40000 137 0.9398 1.7244 16.4081 951.5232778 42562.24729
10 45 45000 140 1.016 1.8642 18.4591 990.178911 44291.33858
11 50 50000 143 1.0922 2.0040 20.5101 1023.440735 45779.16133
12 55 55000 146 1.1684 2.1439 22.5611 1052.36406 47072.92023
13 60 60000 148 1.2192 2.2371 24.6122 1100.19879 49212.59843
14 65 65000 152 1.3208 2.4235 26.6632 1100.19879 49212.59843
15 70 70000 155 1.397 2.5633 28.7142 1120.202404 50107.37294
16 75 75000 158 1.4732 2.7031 30.7652 1138.136679 50909.58458
17 80 80000 162 1.5748 2.8895 32.8162 1135.689074 50800.1016
18 85 85000 166 1.6764 3.0760 34.8672 1133.538147 50703.88929
19 90 90000 171 1.8034 3.3090 36.9182 1115.694548 49905.73361
20 95 95000 176 1.9304 3.5420 38.9692 1100.19879 49212.59843
21 100 100000 181 2.0574 3.7750 41.0203 1086.616089 48605.03548
22 105 105000 188 2.2352 4.1013 43.0713 1050.189754 46975.66213
23 110 110000 196 2.4384 4.4741 45.1223 1008.515557 45111.54856
24 115 115000 219 3.0226 5.5461 47.1733 850.5738544 38046.71475

50.0000

40.0000

30.0000

20.0000

10.0000

0.0000
0.0000 1.0000 2.0000 3.0000 4.0000 5.0000

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 Readings of Experiment when load is applied

o Perpendicular to Grains
L = 49.5 mm H = 50.5 mm A = 2499.75 mm2
Deflection
Sr. Deformation
Load Gauge %strain Stress (Mpa) E (Mpa) K (N/mm)
No (mm)
Reading
σ=
KN N δ (δ/H)*100 σ/ε P/δ
load/area
1 0 0 100 0 0 0 #DIV/0! #DIV/0!
2 2 2000 116 0.4064 0.8210101 0.8001 97.45068995 4921.259843
3 4 4000 120 0.508 1.0262626 1.6002 155.9211039 7874.015748
4 6 6000 123 0.5842 1.180202 2.4002 203.3753529 10270.45532
5 8 8000 125 0.635 1.2828283 3.2003 249.4737663 12598.4252
6 10 10000 126.5 0.6731 1.359798 4.0004 294.1907621 14856.63349
7 12 12000 128 0.7112 1.4367677 4.8005 334.1166513 16872.89089
8 14 14000 129 0.7366 1.4880808 5.6006 376.3612853 19006.24491
9 16 16000 130 0.762 1.5393939 6.4006 415.7896105 20997.37533
10 18 18000 132 0.8128 1.6420202 7.2007 438.5281048 22145.66929
11 20 20000 133 0.8382 1.6933333 8.0008 472.4881937 23860.65378
12 22 22000 134 0.8636 1.7446465 8.8009 504.4506303 25474.75683
13 24 24000 135 0.889 1.7959596 9.6010 534.586642 26996.62542
14 26 26000 136 0.9144 1.8472727 10.4010 563.0484308 28433.94576
15 28 28000 138 0.9652 1.949899 11.2011 574.4461723 29009.5317
16 30 30000 140 1.016 2.0525253 12.0012 584.7041397 29527.55906
17 32 32000 142 1.0668 2.1551515 12.8013 593.9851578 29996.25047
18 34 34000 144 1.1176 2.2577778 13.6014 602.422447 30422.33357
19 36 36000 146 1.1684 2.360404 14.4014 610.1260588 30811.36597
20 38 38000 149 1.2446 2.5143434 15.2015 604.5920356 30531.8978
21 40 40000 151 1.2954 2.6169697 16.0016 611.4553095 30878.49313
22 42 42000 156 1.4224 2.8735354 16.8017 584.7041397 29527.55906
23 43.9 43940 163 1.6002 3.2327273 17.5778 543.7439132 27459.06762

20.0000

15.0000

10.0000

5.0000

0.0000
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5

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Comparison between Two Graphs

%age strain on x-axis and Stress (MPa) on y axis

50.0000

45.0000

40.0000

35.0000

30.0000

25.0000 Parallel

20.0000 Perpendicular

15.0000

10.0000

5.0000

0.0000
0.0000 1.0000 2.0000 3.0000 4.0000 5.0000 6.0000

Cube after Fracture

Figure 2 when the load is applied parallel to grains Figure 1 when the load is applied perpendicular to grains

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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.

If we are designing any wood structure, we should keep in mind that load should be applied on
wood to the parallel to its grains because doing so strength is approximately ten times more
than when the load is applied perpendicular to grains.

When the Load is Applied Parallel to Grains

 In this type of loading shear failure cracks start developing near the edges at about 45
degrees.
 But due to Platen Effect and Eccentricity, failure is not purely shear failure, so that’s way
we see a in between crack in the sketch of wooden cube after fracture.

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When the Load is Applied Perpendicular to Grains

 In this type of loading, failure is also due to shear failure because in this layers of wood
have slides over each other.
 We can easily see bulging effect.

7 Compression Test on Wooden Cubes 07Civil73