PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF COMMON ASH (FRAXINUS EXCELSIOR L.)

Nowadays hardwood is increasingly used in timber construction, partly as a substitute for softwood members and partly in combination with softwood. In principle, hardwood shows orthotropic behavior similar to softwood. However, the magnitudes and the ratios of the mechanical parameters between the three anatomical directions differ and depend strongly on the individual microstructure of the species. The aim of our study was to characterize the orthotropic mechanical behavior of common ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) under varying equilibrium wood moisture conditions. As a result, we determined a dataset of selected moisture dependent elastic and strength parameters for different load types and orientations. Furthermore, important physical properties of ash, such as differential swelling ratio, water absorption coefficient, water vapor resistance and thermal conductivity, were obtained within this study.