Evaluation of the Potential Use of Oiticica-Amarela Wood for Structural Applications

Abstract

In relation to other materials such as concrete, plastic, steel and aluminum, wood has a number of advantages, such as beauty, high mechanical resistance to mass, good thermal insulation and easy workability. Still, wood presents environmental advantages when compared to other building materials (cement, concrete, steel and aluminum), beause it is recyclable, renewable, biodegradable and requires low energy needs for its processing. Taking so many advantages of the wooden use, it’s necessary to aim a rational use for this raw material, as an example, there are the physical and mechanical properties, which are important for the structural use of the species in the design of wood structures. This work aimed to characterize the wood species Clarisia racemosa (Oiticica-Amarela), objectifying its viable use for structural purposes. The tests to obtain the physical and mechanical properties were carried out according to the recommended established by Brazilian Standard ABNT NBR 7190 (1997), allowing the classification of such species in strength class C60 (hardwoods), as well as evaluating the possibility of estimation (linear, exponential, geometric and logarithmic models) of the physical and mechanical properties in function of the apparent density. The results obtained from the regression models implied the possibility of estimating only the mechanical property of compressive strength parallel to the fibers (fc0) as a function of the apparent density (ρap, 12%).