Dependence of the mechanical properties of wood on temperature, moisture content and tree species at elevated temperatures

As a basis for the assessment of mechanical properties of wooden structure in fire, bending strength and Young's modulus are measured at elevated temperatures below piloted ignition temperature for different moisture contents on seven tree species. The measurements for temperatures below 100°C on three most common tree species for structural members cover wide range of moisture content. Tests on selected conditions sensitive to the mechanical properties are run on additional four tree species for the examination of the density dependence of the mechanical properties, and resulted in the simple correlation.