SPECIFIC GRAVITY AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF ANINGERIA ROBUSTA WOOD FROM NIGERIA

Sourcing of choice timber species is becoming increasingly difficult in the forests of West Africa including Nigeria. There is a need to provide alternative species by investigating the technical qualities of species that are hitherto not harvested. Six trees of Aningeria robusta were sampled at the base, 10, 30, 50, 70 and 90% of merchantable length and partitioned into the inner, middle and outer wood along the radial plane. Specific gravity (SG) and selected mechanical properties, namely, modulus of rupture (MOR), compressive strength parallel to grain (MCS) and impact bending (IB) were investigated. Data were analysed using analysis of variance. The overall mean SG was 0.44, while the mean values for MOR, MCS and IB were 89.05 N mm-2, 27.45 N mm-2 and 0.2 m respectively. Significant variations existed between sampling heights in SG and MOR, while variations in MCS and IB were not significant along the bole. For all properties investigated, no significant variation was found from the inner to the outer wood. The wood properties of this species indicate that it has the potential to substitute some popular species in the market. Its radial and axial uniformity may be exploited in marketing strategy.