ABSTRACT

The main objective of this study is to know, the coupled impact of climatic variations (moisture content, temperature …), wood defects (crack initiations and crack propagations) and the creep loading on the behavior of the notched beams of European species: white fir (Abies Alba Mil, WF) and Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga Menziesii, DF). After machining, the beams were stored at room temperature (Relative humidity 22% and Temperature of 12°C). The beams have been notched at the ends and loaded in 4-point bending test. The crack propagation and the climatic parameters, were monitored manually every hour from 8 am to 9 pm, during 10 days. The results show that, the climatic variations have a significant impact on the rise of the beam deflection. It has also been noticed that during the drying phase, the increase of creep is favor by the initiations and the propagations of the cracks witch occurs during drying processes.