Sensitivity and Efficiency Analyses of Two Wood Cell Wall Structural Models
Publication: Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 150, Issue 8
Abstract
This study evaluated two fundamental assumptions about the geometry of the wood cell wall to develop a mechanistic characterization of wood behavior at the scale of wood structural components. This paper used a three-step homogenization scheme implemented through homogenization techniques and finite-element analyses to evaluate a multilayered cell wall and a simplified single-layer method. Both earlywood and latewood geometries were considered. A three-part sensitivity analysis assessed the influence of wood constituent proportions, microfibril angle, and cellulose crystallinity on cell wall stiffness. Sensitivity to constituent ratios was evaluated through a Monte Carlo simulation of 1,000 sampled points and correlation analysis. Sensitivity to microfibril angle and cellulose crystallinity was evaluated through parametric characterization. The investigation found that both methods provided an accurate assessment of wood stiffness when compared with experimentally determined values. Care should be taken when modeling higher densities of wood, and use of either method in higher order models should be determined by the resolution of input data and computational needs.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
The authors gratefully acknowledge the thoughtful comments of the reviewers, which have significantly improved this work. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship under Grant No. 1840280. Any opinion, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
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Published In
Journal of Engineering Mechanics
Volume 150 • Issue 8 • August 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Aug 9, 2023
Accepted: Feb 8, 2024
Published online: May 25, 2024
Published in print: Aug 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Oct 25, 2024
ASCE Technical Topics:
- Analysis (by type)
- Building materials
- Engineering fundamentals
- Engineering materials (by type)
- Homogeneity
- Material mechanics
- Material properties
- Materials engineering
- Sensitivity analysis
- Structural analysis
- Structural behavior
- Structural engineering
- Structural members
- Structural systems
- Structures (by type)
- Walls
- Wood and wood products
- Wood structures
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