Strength Classification of Some Selected African Hardwood Species following the BS 5756 Code

Timber is one of the naturally occurring engineering materials, and has been used for the construction of buildings, ship and many other structural elements. The near lack of information on the mechanical properties of some of the timber species in Nigeria is a call for concern for all stakeholders in the construction industry where this material is often used. This work carried out physical and mechanical tests such as compressive, tensile and bending strength tests on five timber species from Abeokuta, Southwest Nigeria. The species are Mahogany tree (Afzelia africana), Albizia tree (Albizia zygia), African birch tree (Anogeissus leiocarpus), Beech tree (Gmelina arborea) and Salt and oil tree (Cleistopholis patens). The results from the tests were used to determine the strength class of each wood based on the BS 5756 classification. Salt and oil tree was classified as D60, Beech wood and Mahogany were D40, while both Albizia and African birch woods were classified as D70, which is the highest strength