The Mechanical Properties of Wood Part 7


A common defect in standing timber results from radial splits which extend inward from the periphery of the tree, and almost, if not always, near the base. It is most common in trees which split readily, and those with large rays and thin bark. The primary cause of the splitting is frost, and various theories have been advanced to explain the action.

R. Hartig[35] believes that freezing forces out a part of the imbibition water of the cell walls, thereby causing the wood to shrink, and if the interior layers have not yet been cooled, tangential strains arise which finally produce radial clefts.

[Footnote 35: Hartig, R.: The diseases of trees (trans. by Somerville and Ward), London and New York, 1894, pp. 282-294.]

Another theory holds that the water is not driven out of the cell walls, but that difference in temperature conditions of inner and outer layers is itself sufficient to set up the strains, resulting in splitting. An air temperature of 14F. or less is considered necessary to produce frost splits.

A still more recent theory is that of Busse[36] who considers the mechanical action of the wind a very important factor. He observed: (_a_) Frost splits sometimes occur at higher temperatures than 14F. (_b_) Most splits take place shortly before sunrise, _i.e._, at the time of lowest air and soil temperature; they are never heard to take place at noon, afternoon, or evening. (_c_) They always occur between two roots or between the collars of two roots, (_d_) They are most frequent in old, stout-rooted, broad-crowned trees; in younger stands it is always the stoutest members that are found with frost splits, while in quite young stands they are altogether absent, (_e_) Trees on wet sites are most liable to splits, due to difference in wood structure, just as difference in wood structure makes different species vary in this regard. (_f_) Frost splits are most numerous less than three feet above the ground.

[Footnote 36: Busse, W.: Frost-, Ring- und Kernrisse. Forstwiss.

Centralb., XXXII, 2, 1910, pp. 74-81.]

When a tree is swayed by the wind the roots are counteracting forces, and the wood fibres are tested in tension and compression by the opposing forces; where the roots exercise tension stresses most effectively the effect of compression stresses is at a minimum; only where the pressure is in excess of the tension, _i.e._, between the roots, can a separation of the fibre result. Hence, when by frost a tension on the entire periphery is established, and the wind localizes additional strains, failure occurs. The stronger the compression and tension, the severer the strains and the oftener failures occur.

The occurrence of reports of frost splits on wind-still days is believed by Busse to be due to the opening of old frost splits where the tension produced by the frost alone is sufficient.

Frost splits may heal over temporarily, but usually open up again during the following winter. The presence of old splits is often indicated by a ridge of callous, the result of the cambium's effort to occlude the wound. Frost splits not only affect the value of lumber, but also afford an entrance into the living tree for disease and decay.


_Heart shake_ occurs in nearly all overmature timber, being more frequent in hardwoods (especially oak) than in conifers. In typical heart shake the centre of the hole shows indications of becoming hollow and radial clefts of varying size extend outward from the pith, being widest inward. It frequently affects only the butt log, but may extend to the entire hole and even the larger branches. It usually results from a shrinkage of the heartwood due probably to chemical changes in the wood.

When it consists of a single cleft extending across the pith it is termed _simple heart shake_. Shake of this character in straight-grained trees affects only one or two central boards when cut into lumber, but in spiral-grained timber the damage is much greater. When shake consists of several radial clefts it is termed _star shake_. In some instances one or more of these clefts may extend nearly to the bark. In felled or converted timber clefts due to heart shake may be distinguished from seasoning cracks by the darker color of the exposed surfaces.

Such clefts, however, tend to open up more and more as the timber seasons.

_Cup_ or _ring shake_ results from the pulling apart of two or more growth rings. It is one of the most serious defects to which sound timber is subject, as it seriously reduces the technical properties of wood. It is very common in sycamore and in western larch, particularly in the butt portion. Its occurrence is most frequent at the junction of two growth layers of very unequal thickness. Consequently it is likely to occur in trees which have grown slowly for a time, then abruptly increased, due to improved conditions of light and food, as in thinning. Old timber is more subject to it than young trees. The damage is largely confined to the butt log. Cup shake is often associated with other forms of shake, and not infrequently shows traces of decay.

The causes of cup shake are uncertain. The swaying action of the wind may result in shearing apart the growth layers, especially in trees growing in exposed places. Frost may in some instances be responsible for cup shake or at least a contributing factor, although trees growing in regions free from frost often have ring shake. Shrinkage of the heartwood may be concentric as well as radial in its action, thus producing cup shake instead of, or in connection with, heart shake.

A local defect somewhat similar in effect to cup shake is known as _rind gall_. If the cambium layer is exposed by the removal of the entire bark or rind it will die. Subsequent growth over the damaged portion does not cohere with the wood previously formed by the old cambium. The defect resulting is termed rind gall. The most common causes of it are fire, gnawing, blazing, chipping, sun scald, lightning, and abrasions.

_Heart break_ is a term applied to areas of compression failure along the grain found in occasional logs. Sometimes these breaks are invisible until the wood is manufactured into the finished article. The occurrence of this defect is mostly limited to the dense hardwoods, such as hickory and to heavy tropical species.

It is the source of considerable loss in the fancy veneer industry, as the veneer from valuable logs so affected drops to pieces.

The cause of heart break is not positively known. It is highly probable, however, that when the tree is felled the trunk strikes across a rock or another log, and the impact causes actual failure in the log as in a beam.

_Resin_ or _pitch pockets_ are of common occurrence in the wood of larch, spruce, fir, and especially of longleaf and other hard pines. They are due to accumulations of resin in openings between adjacent layers of growth. They are more frequent in trees growing alone than in those of dense stands. The pockets are usually a few inches in greatest dimension and affect only one or two growth layers. They are hidden until exposed by the saw, rendering it impossible to cut lumber with reference to their position. Often several boards are damaged by a single pocket. In grading lumber, pitch pockets are classified as small, standard, and large, depending upon their width and length.


[Footnote 37: For detailed information regarding insect injuries, the reader is referred to the various publications of the U.S. Bureau of Entomology, Washington, D.C.]

The larvae of many insects are destructive to wood. Some attack the wood of living trees, others only that of felled or converted material. Every hole breaks the continuity of the fibres and impairs the strength, and if there are very many of them the material may be ruined for all purposes where strength is required.

Some of the most common insects attacking the wood of living trees are the oak timber worm, the chestnut timber worm, carpenter worms, ambrosia beetles, the locust borer, turpentine beetles and turpentine borers, and the white pine weevil.

The insect injuries to forest products may be classed according to the stage of manufacture of the material. Thus round timber with the bark on, such as poles, posts, mine props, and sawlogs, is subject to serious damage by the same class of insects as those mentioned above, particularly by the round-headed borers, timber worms, and ambrosia beetles. Manufactured unseasoned products are subject to damage from ambrosia beetles and other wood borers. Seasoned hardwood lumber of all kinds, rough handles, wagon stock, etc., made partially or entirely of sapwood, are often reduced in value from 10 to 90 per cent by a class of insects known as powder-post beetles. Finished hardwood products such as handles, wagon, carriage and machinery stock, especially if ash or hickory, are often destroyed by the powder-post beetles. Construction timbers in buildings, bridges and trestles, cross-ties, poles, mine props, fence posts, etc., are sometimes seriously injured by wood-boring larvae, termites, black ants, carpenter bees, and powder-post beetles, and sometimes reduced in value from 10 to 100 per cent. In tropical countries termites are a very serious pest in this respect.


Vast amounts of timber used for piles in wharves and other marine structures are constantly being destroyed or seriously injured by marine borers. Almost invariably they are confined to salt water, and all the woods commonly used for piling are subject to their attacks. There are two genera of mollusks, _Xylotrya_ and _Teredo_, and three of crustaceans, _Limnoria, Chelura_, and _Sphoeroma_, that do serious damage in many places along both the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

These mollusks, which are popularly known as "shipworms," are much alike in structure and mode of life. They attack the exposed surface of the wood and immediately begin to bore. The tunnels, often as large as a lead pencil, extend usually in a longitudinal direction and follow a very irregular, tangled course. Hard woods are apparently penetrated as readily as soft woods, though in the same timber the softer parts are preferred.

The food consists of infusoria and is not obtained from the wood substance. The sole object of boring into the wood is to obtain shelter.

Although shipworms can live in cold water they thrive best and are most destructive in warm water. The length of time required to destroy an average barked, unprotected pine pile on the Atlantic coast south from Chesapeake Bay and along the entire Pacific coast varies from but one to three years.

Of the crustacean borers, _Limnoria_, or the "wood louse," is the only one of great importance, although _Sphoeroma_ is reported destructive in places. _Limnoria_ is about the size of a grain of rice and tunnels into the wood for both food and shelter. The galleries extend inward radially, side by side, in countless numbers, to the depth of about one-half inch. The thin wood partitions remaining are destroyed by wave action, so that a fresh surface is exposed to attack. Both hard and soft woods are damaged, but the rate is faster in the soft woods or softer portions of a wood.

Timbers seriously attacked by marine borers are badly weakened or completely destroyed. If the original strength of the material is to be preserved it is necessary to protect the wood from the borers. This is sometimes accomplished by proper injection of creosote oil, and more or less successfully by the use of various kinds of external coatings.[38] No treatment, however, has proved entirely satisfactory.

[Footnote 38: See Smith, C. Stowell: Preservation of piling against marine wood borers. Cir. 128, U.S. Forest Service, 1908, pp. 15.]


[Footnote 39: See Von Schrenck, H.: The decay of timber and methods of preventing it. Bul. 14, U.S. Bu. Plant Industry, Washington, D.C., 1902. Also Buls. 32, 114, 214, 266.

Meineoke, E.P.: Forest tree diseases common in California and Nevada, U.S. Forest Service, Washington, D.C., 1914.

Hartig, R.: The diseases of trees. London and New York, 1894.]

Fungi are responsible for almost all decay of wood. So far as known, all decay is produced by living organisms, either fungi or bacteria. Some species attack living trees, sometimes killing them, or making them hollow, or in the case of pecky cypress and incense cedar filling the wood with galleries like those of boring insects. A much larger variety work only in felled or dead wood, even after it is placed in buildings or manufactured articles. In any case the process of destruction is the same.

The mycelial threads penetrate the walls of the cells in search of food, which they find either in the cell contents (starches, sugars, etc.), or in the cell wall itself. The breaking down of the cell walls through the chemical action of so-called "enzymes" secreted by the fungi follows, and the eventual product is a rotten, moist substance crumbling readily under the slightest pressure. Some species remove the ligneous matter and leave almost pure cellulose, which is white, like cotton; others dissolve the cellulose, leaving a brittle, dark brown mass of ligno-cellulose. Fungi (such as the bluing fungus) which merely stain wood usually do not affect its mechanical properties unless the attacks are excessive.

It is evident, then, that the action of rot-causing fungi is to decrease the strength of wood, rendering it unsound, brittle, and dangerous to use. The most dangerous kinds are the so-called "dry-rot" fungi which work in many kinds of lumber after it is placed in the buildings. They are particularly to be dreaded because unseen, working as they do within the walls or inside of casings. Several serious wrecks of large buildings have been attributed to this cause. It is stated[40] that in the three years (1911-1913) more than $100,000 was required to repair damage due to dry rot.

[Footnote 40: Dry rot in factory timbers, by Inspection Dept.

Associated Factory Mutual Fire Insurance Cos., 31 Milk Street, Boston, 1913.]

Dry rot develops best at 75F. and is said to be killed by a temperature of 110F.[41] Fully 70 per cent humidity is necessary in the air in which a timber is surrounded for the growth of this fungus, and probably the wood must be quite near its fibre saturation condition. Nevertheless _Merulius lacrymans_ (one of the most important species) has been found to live four years and eight months in a dry condition.[42]

Thorough kiln-drying will kill this fungus, but will not prevent its redevelopment. Antiseptic treatment, such as creosoting, is the best prevention.

[Footnote 41: Falck, Richard: Die Meruliusfaule des Bauholzes, Hausschwammforschungen, 6. Heft., Jena, 1912.]

[Footnote 42: Mez, Carl: Der Hausschwamm. Dresden, 1908, p. 63.]

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