EXPERIMENTAL TESTING OF BIRCH WOOD
In this study the fracture energy has been evaluated for birch, which is a relatively common hardwood in Sweden. The Nordtest method has been used to extract the fracture energy through a 3-point bending setup. The fracture energy was studied in the weakest load orientation of the orthotropic wood, which was tensile loading perpendicular to its grain. The directional systems of radial-longitudinal
