ISSN: 1945-7553
CODEN: JTEVAB
Page Count: 7

Compression Testing of Lumber: A Comparison of Methods

Green, DW
Supervisory Research General Engineer and Supervisory Mathematical Statistican, USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI

Evans, JW
Supervisory Research General Engineer and Supervisory Mathematical Statistican, USDA Forest Service, Forest Products Laboratory, Madison, WI

(Received 15 March 1991; accepted 12 July 1991)

Abstract

A study was conducted to compare compression strength values obtained using short segments cut from full-length lumber and tested in accordance with ASTM D 4761-87 with those values obtained using full-leagth specimens and tested in accordance with ASTM D 198-84. Tests were conducted on Southern Pine lumber conditioned to a target moisture content of 9%. To obtaim a short-segment compression strength estimate within a factor of about 1.05 of those obtained by testing full-length (3-m [10-ft]) specimens, it is necessary to select two of the apparent worst strength-reducing defects in the full-length specimen using ASTM D 245-84 sorting criteria.

Keywords:
strength, compression, parallel-to-grain, wood, lumber, ASTM D 198-84, ASTM D 4761-87

Paper ID: JTE11911J
DOI: 10.1520/JTE11911J
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