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Abstract
As most wood-based composite products are made by compressing wood in the transverse direction, usually at elevated temperature, stress-strain response of wood under this stressing mode has a great influence not only on the design of the manufacturing process, but also on the end product properties. This paper describes a study to develop a mechanics-based method of predicting the complete stress-strain response of wood under radial compression, based on material properties of the cell wall and the dimensions of the cellular structure. The basis of the method is two previously developed micro-mechanical models for predicting gross elastic modulus and yield stress of wood under radial compression. Verification tests were conducted using white spruce specimens. It is demonstrated that using these two models, the entire stress-strain response encompassing the elastic, plastic and densification regions can be predicted with good accuracy.