Elastic constants for wood by an ultrasonic method

SummaryUltrasonic measurements were carried out on cubic specimens of six species (pine, spruce, douglas-fir, oak, beech, tulip-tree). An orthotropic model of wave propagation was used to interpret these measurements and compute estimates of the elastic compliances. In order to calculate the off-diagonal stiffness terms, velocities were computed on samples with faces at an angle to the principal directions. The elastic compliance matrix was calculated by inverting the stiffness matrix.