Comparison of Micro- and Standard-Size Specimens in Evaluating the Flexural Properties of Scots Pine Wood

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the flexural properties (bending strength and modulus of elasticity) of Scots pine wood (Pinus sylvestris L.) using micro- and standard-size test specimens. In the standard- and micro-size specimens, the average bending strengths were evaluated as 72.8 and 62.4 MPa, and the bending modulus of elasticity was 9917 and 2884 MPa, respectively. These results showed that the bending strength and modulus of elasticity values of the micro-size specimens were lower than those of the standard-size specimens. The statistically significant effects included the specimen size, individual trees, and the interactions of the specimen size and trees on the bending strength and modulus of elasticity. Furthermore, regression analyses indicated a positive linear regression between the flexural properties of the micro- and standard-size specimens. The results indicated that micro-size specimens can be used to estimate the flexural properties of Scots pine wood when obtaining standard-size specimens is not possible.