Relationships between the compressive, tensile, and flexural elasticity modulus for tropical woods

Abstract

The NBR 7190-3 (ABNT, 2022) presents various methods to determine the wood's modulus of elasticity, allowing for the adoption of equivalence between the modulus of elasticity in compression (E_c0) and tension (E_t0). However, it does not provide a way to estimate the modulus of elasticity in bending (E_M0), and such estimates do not consider the variation in anatomical structures among species. Faced with this gap, it is necessary to evaluate whether these equations are valid for different species. This article evaluated the elastic properties of three species: Cumaru (Dipteryx odorata), Marupá (Simarouba amara Aubl., Simaroubaceae) and Roxinho (Peltogyne spp., Leguminosae). For this purpose, a non-destructive flexural test was initially conducted, followed by compression and tension tests. Microscopic images were compared to understand the influence of anatomical structures on stiffness properties. The results confirmed the equivalence between E_c0 and E_t0. The higher concentration of parenchyma cells in Cumaru and Roxinho is responsible for statistically lower values of E_M0 compared to E_c0 and E_t0.