Enhancing the knowledge of wood properties and processing characteristics of PNG timbers - Testing of Basic Physical & Mechanical Properties

Abstract

Six  mechanical  properties,  namely  flexural  bending  strength  (MOR),  stiffness  (MOE),  compression strength parallel and perpendicular to the grain, shear parallel to the grain, and hardness were evaluated for 26 PNG species using 2,641 small clear specimens from 130 trees. Heavy  hopea  (Hopea  iriana)  always  offered  the  best  mechanical  properties  of  all  selected  species, providing significantly higher properties in all categories. Pellita (Eucalyptus pellita), Malas (Homalium foetidum), and Kwila (Intsia bijuga) are other species that usually performed significantly better than the average. PNG boxwood (Xanthopyllum papuanum), PNG mersawa (Anisoptera  thurifera),  and  Bl..