Wood as a linear orthotropic viscoelastic material

Summary Measurements were made of the principal components of the creep compliance tensor in the radial-longitudinal and the tangential-longitudinal planes of Douglas-fir at 10 percent moisture content. Extensional creep compliance measurements at angles to the grain were also made. The results show that creep parallel to grain occurs at an increase in volume, and that creep at angles to the grain can be predicted from standard transformation equations. It is concluded that wood can be regarded as a linear orthotropic viscoelastic material.