CEMARE Working Group 4 - Relating wood and fibre properties to structure and formation

 

The properties of reaction wood differ anatomically, physically, mechanically and chemically from normal wood. The observed extent of differences varies among species.  Therefore, typologies beyond the conventional definition of compression and tension wood will be elaborated.

This Working Group provides the link between the other Working Groups by addressing some aspects of the structure-properties relationship in wood and paper, with special focus given to the extreme cases represented by reaction wood, without neglecting other sources of variation such as juvenile wood.

Furthermore, this Working Group will work on the experimental characterisation of all types of unusual tissues at various scales, and the development of mechanical models attempting to explain the differences. For instance characterisation of cell wall properties through the following approaches will be encouraged:

• Micromechanical testing
• Finite element analysis (FEA)
• Mechanical event simulation (MES)
• Micro-macro and homogenisation.

Although devoted to basic aspects of material properties, this Working Group addresses the practical concerns of the wood and paper industries, by developing the background knowledge necessary to address problems related to natural variability and reaction wood occurrence. Therefore it is expected that scientists involved in these two sectors will participate actively in this Working Group.