La via del legno: dal bosco agli elementi strutturali

Opposite to the changes in wood properties by genetic and environmental modifications, reliability of the current values of some mechanical properties, acquired from trees grown in the past, must be considered with caution and requires continuous updating of the tests evaluation. The awareness that every cubic centimeter of board or beam possesses the unique properties and that the variations of those properties are anisotropic, causes that the characterization of the properties of a material so heterogeneous placed in work can only be accomplished by means of the test of each single element in the actual size provided by its application. Could be of considerable importance the structural tests taken at the stage of the trunk in order to define threshold values that allow to analyze how the processes can alter the mechanical properties of wood and consequently the quality for structural purposes