Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Representativeness of wood biomechanical properties measured after storage in different conditions

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Trees Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Obtaining representative values of green wood properties is essential for studies investigating the biomechanical aspects of tree development and ecology. Here, we compare the biomechanical properties of wood stored in various conditions between their collection in the field and their measurement. The study was performed on a large sample of wood specimens from different tropical species and different location in the trees, representing a wide diversity in wood structures. Elastic and viscoelastic properties are measured on green wood, and measured again after storage in different conditions: immersion in cold water during various durations, storage in an ethanol solution with or without washing in water, and air drying with or without rehydration. The systematic and random errors induced by these storage methods are quantified. Storage in cold water is the best way to preserve wood native properties. Soaking in ethanol is a fair alternative regarding elastic properties, but induces a significant change in viscoelastic properties. Air drying causes important, and partly irreversible, changes in mechanical properties. However, regarding elastic properties, this change is a systematic bias so that the air-dried elastic modulus provides a good basis for comparative studies of green wood stiffness.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Alméras T, Fournier M (2009) Biomechanical design and long-term stability of trees: morphological and wood traits involved in the balance between weight increase and the gravitropic reaction. J Theor Biol 256:370–381

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Alméras T, Thibaut A, Gril J (2005) Effect of circumferential heterogeneity of wood maturation strain, modulus of elasticity and radial growth on the regulation of stem orientation in trees. Trees 19:457–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alméras T, Derycke M, Jaouen G, Beauchêne J, Fournier M (2009) Functional diversity in gravitropic reaction among tropical seedlings in relation to ecological and developmental traits. J Exp Bot 60:4397–4410

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Alvarez-Clare S, Kitajima K (2007) Physical defence traits enhance seedling survival of neotropical tree species. Funct Ecol 21:1044–1054

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Archer RR (1986) Growth stresses and strains in trees. Springer, Berlin

    Google Scholar 

  • Baraloto C, Paine CET, Poorter L, Beauchêne J, Bonal D, Domenach AM, Hérault B, Patiño S, Roggy JC, Chave J (2010) Decoupled leaf and stem economics in rain forest trees. Ecol Lett 13:1338–1347

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bergman R, Cai Z, Carll CG, Clausen CA, Dietenberger MA, Falk RH, Frihart CR, Glass SV, Hunt CG, Ibach RE, Kretschmann DE, Lebow ST, Rammer DR, Ross RJ, Stark NM, Wacker JP, Wang X, White RH, Wiedenhoeft AC, Wiemann MC, Zelinka SL (2010) Wood handbook. Wood as an engineering material. USDA, Madison

    Google Scholar 

  • Björdal CG, Nilsson T, Petterson R (2007) Preservation, storage and display of waterlogged wood and wrecks in an aquarium: “Project Aquarius”. J Archaeol Sci 34:1169–1177

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brémaud I (2006) Diversité des bois utilisés ou utilisables en facture d’instruments de musique. Etude expérimentale des propriétés vibratoires en direction axiale de types de bois contrastés en majorité tropicaux. Relations à des déterminants de microstructure et de composition chimique secondaire. University of Montpellier 2, Montpellier

  • Brémaud I, Minato K, Langbour P, Thibaut B (2010) Physico-chemical indicators of inter-specific variability in vibration damping of wood. Ann For Sci 67(7):707p1–707p8

    Google Scholar 

  • Chave J, Coomes D, Jansen S, Lewis SL, Swenson NG, Zanne AE (2009) Towards a worldwide wood economics spectrum. Ecol Lett 12:351–366

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Clair B, Ruelle J, Thibaut B (2003) Relationship between growth stresses, mechano-physical properties and proportion of fibres with gelatinous layer in chestnut (Castanea Sativa Mill). Holzforschung 57:189–195

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coutand C, Jeronimidis G, Chanson B, Loup C (2004) Comparison of mechanical properties of tension and opposite wood in Populus. Wood Sci Technol 38:11–24

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Coutand C, Fournier M, Moulia B (2007) The gravitropic response of poplar trunks: key roles of prestressed regulation and the kinetics of cambial growth versus wood maturation. Plant Physiol 114:1166–1180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fournier M, Stokes A, Coutand C, Fourcaud T, Moulia B (2006) Tree biomechanics and growth strategies in the context of forest functional ecology. In: Herrel A, Speck T, Rowe NP (eds) Ecology and biomechanics. Taylor & Francis CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp 1–33

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Greenhill AG (1881) Determination of the greatest height consistent with stability that a vertical pole or mast can be made, and the greatest height to which a tree of given proportions can grow. In: Proceedings of the Cambridge Philosophical Society, vol 4, pp 65–73

  • Isnard S, Speck T, Rowe NP (2005) Biomechanics and development of the climbing habit in two species of the siyth american palm genus Desmoncus (Arecaceae). Am J Bot 92:1444–1456

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Jaouen G, Alméras T, Coutand C, Fournier M (2007) How to determine sapling buckling risk with only a few measurements. Am J Bot 94:1583–1593

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kifetew G, Thuvander F, Berglund L, Lindberg H (1998) The effect of drying on wood fracture surfaces from specimens loaded in wet condition. Wood Sci Technol 32:83–94

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matsunaga M, Sugiyama M, Minato K, Norimoto M (1996) Physical and mechanical properties required for violin bow materials. Holzforschung 50:511–517

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Matsunaga M, Minato K, Nakatsubo F (1999) Vibrational property changes of spruce wood by impregnation with water-soluble extractives of pernambuco (Guilandina echinata Spreng.). J Wood Sci 45:470–474

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Ménard L, McKey D, Rowe NP (2009) Developmental plasticity and biomechanics of treelets and lianas in Manihot aff, quinquepartita (Euphorbiaceae): a branch-angle climber of French Guiana. Ann Bot 103:1249–1259

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Moulia B, Coutand C, Lenne C (2006) Posture control and skeletal mechanical acclimation in terrestrial plants: implications for mechanical modeling of plant architecture. Am J Bot 3:1477–1489

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muller U, Joscak T, Teischinger A (2003) Strength of dried and re-moistened spruce wood compared to native wood. Holz Als Roh-Und Werkstoff 61:439–443

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niklas KJ (1994) The allometry of safety-factors for plant height. Am J Bot 81:345–351

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Niklas KJ, Spatz HC (2004) Growth and hydraulic (not mechanical) constraints govern the scaling of tree height and mass. PNAS 101:15661–15663

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Niklas KJ, Spatz HC (2010) Worldwide correlations of mechanical properties and green wood density. Am J Bot 97:1587–1594

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Obataya E, Umezawa T, Nakatsubo F, Norimoto M (1999) The effects of water-soluble extractives on the acoustic properties of reed (Arundo donax L.). Holzforschung 53:63–67

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson BA (1993) Wood preservation. Spon, FN, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Rowe NP, Isnard S, Gallenmüller F, Speck T (2006) Diversity of mechanical architectures in climbing plants: an ecological perspective. In: Herrel A, Speck T, Rowe NP (eds) Ecology and biomechanics. A mechanical approach to the ecology of animals and plants. Taylor & Francis, CRC Press, Boca Raton

    Google Scholar 

  • Russo SE, Jenkins KL, Wiser SK, Uriarte M, Duncan RP, Coomes DA (2010) Interspecific relationships among growth, mortality and xylem traits of woody species from New Zealand. Funct Ecol 24:253–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakagami H, Matsumura J, Oda K (2009a) In situ visualization of hardwood microcracks occurring during drying. J Wood Sci 55:323–328

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Sakagami H, Tsuda K, Matsumura J, Oda K (2009b) Microcracks occurring during drying visualized by confocal laser scanning microscopy. IAWA J 30:179–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Sterck FJ, Van Gelder HA, Poorter L (2006) Mechanical branch constraints contribute to life history variations across tree species in a Bolivian rainforest. J Ecol 94:1192–1200

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thuvander F, Kifetew G, Berglund LA (2002) Modeling of cell wall drying stresses in wood. Wood Sci Technol 36:241–254

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Gelder HA, Poorter L, Sterck FJ (2006) Wood mechanics, allometry, and life-history variation in a tropical rain forest tree community. New Phytol 171:367–378

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yamamoto H, Ruelle J, Arakawa Y, Yoshida M, Clair B, Gril J (2010) Origin of the characteristic hygro-mechanical properties of the gelatinous layer in tension wood from Kunugi oak (Quercus acutissima). Wood Sci Technol 44:149–163

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Yano H (1994) The changes in the acoustic properties of Western Red Cedar due to methanol extraction. Holzforschung 48:491–495

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work was carried out in the framework of the Woodiversity project, funded by the French National Research Agency [ANR05-BDIV-012-04]. The authors would like to thank Iris Brémaud for useful discussions about the manuscript and Shanshan Chang for help with experimental work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire de Mécanique et Génie Civil (LMGC), Université Montpellier 2, CNRS, Place E. Bataillon, cc 048, 34095, Montpellier, France

    Jana Dlouhá, Tancrède Alméras & Bruno Clair

  2. Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry in Brno, Zemědělská 3, 613 00, Brno, Czech Republic

    Jana Dlouhá

Authors
  1. Jana Dlouhá
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Tancrède Alméras
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Bruno Clair
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jana Dlouhá.

Additional information

Communicated by S. Mayr.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Dlouhá, J., Alméras, T. & Clair, B. Representativeness of wood biomechanical properties measured after storage in different conditions. Trees 26, 695–703 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-011-0636-9

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00468-011-0636-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation