Within-Stem Variation in Wood Properties of Red Pine (Pinus Resinosa AIT.)

Some physical and mechanical properties, including tension parallel-to-grain, tension perpendicular-to-grain, and shear parallel-to-grain, and their variations within the tree stem of red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) were evaluated in this study. All these wood properties were obtained based on small clear specimens. Results indicate that wood properties tended to increase from pith to bark in the radial direction and decrease from bottom to top in the longitudinal direction. These variations in wood properties can be mainly attributed to the differences in wood characteristics of juvenile and mature wood. The influence of growth ring orientation was not statistically significant on shear strength parallel-to-grain and tensile strength perpendicular-to-grain. Information on variation in mechanical properties of wood across a tree stem is essential to investigate the influence of sawing pattern on mechanical properties of lumber products