Experimental and numerical determination of the longitudinal modulus of elasticity in wooden structures

This paper aims to experimentally and numerically determine the longitudinal modulus of elasticity by the four-point bending method. Samples of wooden beams over which the experimental research was performed were made of silver fir (Abies alba) as prescribed by standard EN 408. The experimental part includes determining bending strength and deformation forces. Experimentally determined bending strength and deflection forces were the input data for evaluating the modulus of elasticity of wooden beams. A numerical analysis of the bending strength by the finite element method was carried out using the ANSYS software package. The numerical model agreed well with the experiments in terms of bending. A numerical model can predict the bending of beams of different sizes. Results showed that the experimental and numerical values are close and usable for further exploitation. Comparison between the experimental and computational force versus the displacement response showed a very good correlation in the results for the fir wood specimens under four-point bending tests.