Water's Effect on the Strength

of Wood
by Kelsey Kress, Bryan Heinzelman,
and Cody Corsetti
SRJC
Engineering 45
December 2009

Purpose
To see the effects of moisture on the
strength of the wood, by soaking four
different types of wood for various
amounts of time and then compressing
them.

The Test
All samples had the same starting
dimensions of .75x3.5x5 in.
The 4 types of wood used were:
Douglas Fir
Pine
Redwood
Red Oak

The Test
The 4 samples included:
one that had been oven dried(the control)
one that had soaked for 2.5 hrs
one that had soaked for a day
one that had soaked for 10 days.

Douglas Fir
Most widely used lumber in the framing of
houses.
Doug Fir is softwood, the type of wood that is
easy to work with.
It's the most plentiful softwood in North
America
It is relatively inexpensive

Douglas Fir
Douglas Fir has a superior strength-toweight ratio
This ratio is the stress at failure relative to the
density of the wood.

Its specific gravity allows for great

nail/plate holding ability.

Douglas Fir
Douglas Fir has great dimensional
stability.
This is the ability of the wood to retain its
shape when subjected to various types of
temperature, moisture, pressure and other
stresses.

Pine
Used in high-value carpentry such as
flooring, paneling, trim, and furniture.
Finishes nicely with a coat of stain or varnish.
After milling, it has little insect or decay
resistances; as a result, it is generally
used indoors.

Redwood
Used for siding, decking, trim, paneling,
and many other applications where the
finished product needs to be aesthetically
pleasing.
Has a reddish-brown color that darkens with
age.

Redwood is lightweight and easy to cut

and nail/screw into

Redwood
Redwood resists shrinking, warping, splitting and
insects, which allows it to be used in abusive
environments.
Its cell structure has thousands of air cavities,
which gives it a superior insulating ability.
Its lack of resin makes it partially resistant to fire.

Red Oak
Used to make wine barrels, flooring, and cabinets;
another type of wood that produces a nice-looking
finished product
It is close grained, heavy, and difficult to cut/penetrate.
It is one of the best types of wood used in steam
bending.
Red oak is a hardwood and, as such, it has many
more pores and capillaries than does softwood.
Red Oak was the most expensive of all our woods,
coming in at $2.30 a foot.

Microscopic View of Each Wood Type

Hardwood (e.g.
Red Oak)

Softwood (e.g.
Doug Fir, Pine and
Redwood)

Procedure
We oven dried all 16
of our samples over
night to ensure that all
water content was
removed.

Procedure
We then weighed all
of them to determine
the mass before
soaking.

Procedure
The wet samples
were soaked for
logarithmic time
periods (e.g. 2.4 hrs,
24 hrs, and 10 days).

Procedure
We ran a
compression test on
the dry, control
sample; increments of
compression length
were recorded at
every thousand
pounds of added
force.

Procedure
After soaking for the
amount of specified time,
we removed the wet
samples from the water,
recorded their mass after
soaking, and then ran a
compression test on
them.
Again, compression length
was recorded at every
thousand pounds of added
force.

Procedure
We then plotted stress vs. strain curves for
all four types of the samples to determine
the modulus of elasticity, yield strength,
and possible tensile strength of the
respective woods.

% Water Content vs. Log of Time

Soaked

Water Content is (Mass H2O absorbed)/ (Final Mass)*100

Here is data:
Dry:

D.F.
Pine
Rdwd
Rdoak

12.09%
26.35%
2.69%
13.70%

1 day:

0
0
0
0

2.4 Hr:

D.F.
Pine
Rdwd
Rdoak

D.F
Pine
Rdwd
Rdoak

12.04%
25.97%
12.90%
11.25%

10 day:

D.F.
Pine
Rdwd
Rdoak

24.84%
40.12%
19.35%
22.64%

% Water Content vs. Time

Note: The 1-daysoak samples had to
be re-dried and then
re-soaked. This
could have led to
incorrect
measurements,
which cause the
unexpected dip in the
graph.

Results
When testing the red oak,
the tensile test machine
was turning on and off.
This is a possible reason
for the inaccurate data
points that caused the
jump in the graph.

Results

Results

Results

Results
Modulus of Elasticity in lbs/in2 (Slope of
Elastic Region)

Dry

2 Hrs

1 Day

10 Days

Doug Fir

17907

16402

11974

10369

Pine

21797

4717.5

7207.2

4278

Red Oak

34287

29680

23424

18820

Redwood

13265

13941

6637.8

12602

Yield Strength in lbs/in2 (Top of Elastic

Region)

Dry

2 Hrs

1 Day

10 Days

Doug Fir

1255.586

856.0813

857.0253

855.1686

Pine

669.4337

278.9307

281.6441

165.7614

Red Oak

941.1192

996.4791

963.768

757.1046

Redwood

284.9003

461.2333

341.6856

338.0967

Conclusion

As soaking time increased, both the

modulus of elasticity and yield strength
generally declined as well.

References

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lumber
http://www.bearcreeklumber.com/species/douglasfir.html#more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strength_to_weight_ratio
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Specific_gravity
http://composite.about.com/library/glossary/d/bldef-d1670.htm
http://www.bearcreeklumber.com/species/ppine.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine#Uses
http://www.softwood.org/PPWeb/EN/PPine_Char.htm
http://www.bearcreaklumber.com/species/redwood.html
http://en.wikpedia.org/wiki/Sequoia#Cultivation_and_uses
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oak
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardwood
http://plants.usda.gov/plantguide/pdf/cs_quru.pdf
http://www.ces.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-288-W.pdf