Stress model of a wood fibre in relation to collapse

Abstract

A wood fibre cell from a Tasmanian Eucalypt is typically cylindrical in shape with a length to diameter ratio of approximately 50:1. Early in the process of seasoning for solid timber, when the fibre lumens are still saturated, internal tension within a fibre can rise to a value high enough to cause it to physically flatten, or collapse. A stress model of a fibre cell has been developed which predicts the stress and strain distributions within the fibre wall as a function of temperature, moisture content, and fibre wall strength properties and size in the early stages of drying. This model will be used together with measurement of the behaviour of collapse prone timbers to determine conditions which will avoid collapse during seasoning. © 1995 Springer-Verlag.