SOME ENGINEERING PROPERTIES OF LOCALLY USED TIMBER

ABSTRACT

The variation or change in the properties of materials is very common to all materials. Due to the fact that timber is a natural material and the tree is subjected to different constant changing conditions such as moisture, soil condition and growing space, this causes the variation in the wood properties. Here the variation of the properties of timber will be determined by carrying out test on the timber (compression test, tensile test, flexural test and moisture content). Six different timber specimens were used in establishing the properties, three of which were hardwood and the other three softwood. In each of the test (compression test, tensile test, flexural test and moisture content), one timber specimen has four samples which was tested on and an average result was obtained. In the case of hardwood, Ekki (Lophrin Alatol) had the highest average compressive strength of 47.47Mpa and 46.17Mpa for parallel and perpendicular to grain respectively, Ekki (Lophrin Alatol) also had the highest average tensile strength and flexural strength of values 39.84Mpa and 290.08Mpa with an average moisture content of 18.63%. For softwood, Bomba (Bombax Buonopozense) had the highest average compressive strength of 21.05Mpa and 13.35 Mpa for parallel and perpendicular to grain respectively, Bomba (Bombax Buonopozense) also had the highest average tensile strength and flexural strength of values 11.75Mpa and 8.3Mpa respectively with an average moisture content of 19.46%.