Tensile strength of softwood butt end joints. Part 1: Effect of grain angle on adhesive bond strength

To study the effect of grain angle on the adhesive bond strength in wood, three-part Norway spruce wood specimens were bonded and tested in tension. The two axially orientated outer parts of the specimens were joined with the middle part by means of three adhesives typically used for load-bearing constructions, i.e. one-component polyurethane (PUR), melamine-urea-formaldehyde (MUF) and phenol-resorcinol-formaldehyde (PRF). The grain angle of the middle part was varied from 0° (end grain to end grain) to 90° (flat grain to end grain) in incremental steps of 10°. In general, PRF- and MUF-bonded samples exhibited highest tensile strength at end grain to end grain orientation of the three parts, while specimens bonded with PUR showed only 25% of the strength measured for PRF and MUF, respectively. At high grain angles (90°) all specimens showed similar strength values in the range of 30% of maximum strength of MUF- and PRF-bonded specimens. To explain the changing strength levels at different grain angle a composite failure criterion was applied.