Fracture analysis of wood under variable environment
Abstract
The better knowledge of crack driving forces is very important in the assessment of the reliability of timber structures. This work is part of the CLIMBOIS project related to the effects of climatic and mechanical variations on the durability of timber structures. It deals with several fracture tests performed in climatic chamber on the cracking of specimens machined in Douglas and White Fir species. Opening mode crack growth is studied with adapted specimen’s geometry. Both static and creep tests are performed, in variable humidity environment, with specific experimental set ups. The evolutions crack lengths are posted versus time. Experimental results obtained offer better understanding of the fracture behavior under variable environment of the studied species.