Experimental investigation on Iroko wood used in shipbuilding

The paper deals with investigations about mechanical properties of Iroko, a hardwood species used for structures in shipbuilding as glued laminated timber. Experimental tests have been carried out to assess strength, stiffness and density of Iroko in accordance with current EN Standards. All the results obtained by tensile and three-point bending tests, along with the statistical analyses performed to define the characteristics values of some mechanical properties, are reported in the paper. These values allowed to assign the strength class, reported in EN 338 Standard, to the investigated Iroko wood population. The experiments have taken into account both solid timber strips and scarf-jointed strips, in order to evaluate the influence of such a type of joint, which is widely used in wooden shipbuilding on strength and stiffness. Eventually, peculiar investigations have been carried out to analyse the failure mode of some test pieces through special experimental techniques: three-dimensional computed tomography and infrared thermography.

[1]  Jakub Sandak,et al.  Application of imaging techniques for detection of defects, damage and decay in timber structures on-site , 2015 .

[2]  D Croccolo,et al.  Design of a cutting head for a crosscutting machine , 2017 .

[3]  Vincenzo Crupi,et al.  Computed tomography-based reconstruction and finite element modelling of honeycomb sandwiches under low-velocity impacts , 2014 .

[4]  Peter Niemz,et al.  Non-destructive testing of wood and wood-based materials , 2012 .

[5]  E. Guglielmino,et al.  Crack-tip thermal and mechanical hysteresis in Shape Memory Alloys under fatigue loading , 2014 .

[6]  María Jesús Morales Conde,et al.  Infrared Thermography Applied to Wood , 2012 .

[7]  Manuel Dierick,et al.  Impact of internal structure on water-resistance of plywood studied using neutron radiography and X-ray tomography , 2014 .

[8]  Chiara Colombo,et al.  A review of thermographic techniques for damage investigation in composites , 2013 .

[9]  M. Ahmadi,et al.  Effect of PVDF nanofibers on the fracture behavior of composite laminates for high-speed woodworking machines , 2017 .

[10]  Gamaliel López,et al.  Estimation of wood density using infrared thermography , 2013 .

[11]  Internal Damage Investigation of Composites Subjected to Low-Velocity Impact , 2014 .

[12]  Elisabetta Rosina,et al.  Moisture detection in wood and plaster by IR thermography , 2004 .

[13]  Alexander Dillenz,et al.  Detecting glue deficiency in laminated wood—a thermography method comparison , 2003 .

[14]  E. Zanetti,et al.  Thermoelastic and elastoplastic effects measured by means of a standard thermocamera , 2004 .

[15]  Gamaliel López,et al.  Detection of Singularities and Subsurface Defects in Wood by Infrared Thermography , 2014 .

[16]  F. Kamke,et al.  Quantitative wood–adhesive penetration with X-ray computed tomography , 2015 .

[17]  Ana Pavlovic,et al.  Optimisation of tool path for wood machining on CNC machines , 2017 .

[18]  Alberto Marino,et al.  Fatigue analysis of butt welded AH36 steel joints: Thermographic Method and design S–N curve , 2009 .

[19]  Vincenzo Crupi,et al.  Prediction model for the impact response of glass fibre reinforced aluminium foam sandwiches , 2015 .