Professor Handouts
G.Giordano – Tecnologia del legno Vol.1,2,3. UTET , Torino, 1981
Wood Handbook-Wood as Engineering Material, Forest Products Society,
1999 USA.
Learning Objectives
Understanding wood structure and behaviour, getting knowledge about
characterisation standards and techniques.
Prerequisites
Nothing
Teaching Methods
Lectures in classroom
Further information
Attending lectures, although non compulsory, is strongly
recommended
Teaching equipments: Video projector, PC,
Type of Assessment
Oral examination on the subjects.
Evaluation criteria: command of basic concepts, ability to apply them in
real cases, adequateness of technical language.
Course program
Wood as a material of biological origin: implications on the Carbon cycle.
The structure of wood: elements of ultrastructure of the cell wall, types of
wood structures.
The nomenclature of wood species, elements of macroscopic and
microscopic identification.
The defects of the wood. - The relationships wood water, the water
contained in the wood, equilibrium moisture, effects of changes in
humidity on the behavior of the wood, shrinking swellings. Cupping and
other types of deformation. The density and basal density.
Mechanical characteristics of wood. Elastic behavior. Influence of defects
and humidity on resistance. Viscoelastic behavior and mechano sorption.Modified wood.