RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF STRUCTURAL SIZE AND SMALL CLEAR SPECIMENS OF TIMBER

The trend towards European marking for structural timber requires testing of some mechanical properties in structural sizes. However, this strength prerequisite has not been carried out for most tropical species, including Malaysian timbers. Existing strength data of Malaysian timbers are based on mechanical tests of small clear specimens. Groundwork testing was conducted on some selected commercial species to detect potential strength correlation between structural size and small clear specimens. Bending test for mixed hardwood species was conducted on structural size and small clear specimens. Weak correlation was observed between the bending strength of small clear and structural size specimens. Modulus of elasticity relationship was found to be consistent even for unconditioned and ungraded specimens.