INFLUENCE OF SITES ON THE PHYSICAL AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF NATIVE TROPICAL WOODS

Abstract

The Amazon rainforest displays wide ecological diversity, reflected in its wood variation. The study evaluated the influence of different locations on the properties of wood from native tropical species extracted from the Brazilian Amazon. The most frequent species in the locations were selected, and a total of 104 trees were extracted. The logs were sawed breakdown to make beams (50 × 110 × 2,000 mm). The wood density and mechanical resistance of these samples were determined. The wood density ranged of 0.25-1.00 g/cm3, modulus of elasticity and rupture in static bending ranged of 5,982-19,025 MPa and 35-204 MPa, respectively. For compressive strength parallel to the grain, the range was 24-111 MPa; the strength of wood compressed parallel was 20-245 MPa, and the shear strength was 50-245 MPa. The study detected differences in the physical and mechanical properties of the woods regarding the origin of the sites (Amazonas-Pará/Brazil), with the modulus of elasticity and the wood density showing the greatest variations.